Case file · High strangeness
Thovil: demon exorcism in Ceylon
Swiss ethnologist Paul Wirz documented in 1954 the all-night thovil ceremonies of southern Sri Lanka, in which masked dancers summon and expel the yakku (demons) that cause illness.
1954 CE · 6.03, 80.22 · status: account
The account
The rites address demons such as the Mahasona and the Riri Yaka. The masks used in thovil and sanni yakuma became the island's best-known folk art.