(EBS World) Life with the Axe: Sri Lanka's Last Vedda Tribe
Living a Stone Age existence with magic metal axes
The Yakkha or Yakshi are "ogres" -- Sasquatch, Almas, Asian Bigfoot, Orang pendek (living Indonesian Hobbit), "Wild Men" Yeti and Chinese Yeren -- in Buddhist cosmology and Hindu, Jain, and the lore of the subcontinent. It may be that known human tribes living in the wild were referred to as Yakkhas and Yakshas as well:
Yaksha (Sanskrit यक्ष, Yakṣa, Pali Yakkha, female Yakkhini or Yakshi, likely the source of Yeti) are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness [4][5].
- YAKKHA: A class of non-human beings (amanussā), they are mentioned with devas, rakkhasas, dānavas, gandhabbas, kinnaras, and Mahoragas (? Nāgas) (e.g., J.v.420). In other lists (e.g., PvA. 45, 55) they range immediately above the ghosts (petas); in fact, some of the happier petas are called yakkhas. Elsewhere (e.g., A.ii.38) they rank, in progressive order, between humans (manussā) and deva-messengers (gandhabbā). There are many different kinds: spirits, ogres, dryads, ghosts, spooks. In the early records, yakkha, like nāgā, as an appellative, was not depreciative. Thus, not only is Sakka, king of the devas, so referred to (M.i.252; J.iv.4; DA.i.264), but even the Buddha is spoken of as a yakkha in poetic diction (M.i.386). Many devas, such as Kakudha, are also so addressed (S.i.54). More: palikanon.com
Yakshas appear in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts (where they are cannibal humanoid ogres with telepathic shapeshifting powers of transformation, who are known to cohabitate with human women and produce hybrid offspring, suggesting they are with the same species at least to some extent, the most famous of these being the Yakkha Alavaka and his very wise questions put to the Buddha in Sn I.10 Āḷavaka Sutta, ), as well as ancient and medieval era temples of South Asia and Southeast Asia as guardian deities [5][6]. The feminine form of the word is Yakṣī [7] or Yakshini (Sanskrit यक्षिणी, Yakṣiṇī, Pali Yakkhini) [8]. More
- These are the remaining members of the Vedda Tribe: The Vedda (Sinhalese වැද්දා, Tamil வேடர் or Vēḍar, also the Wanniyalaeto [4]. They are a minority indigenous group of people in Sri Lanka who, among other sub-communities such as Coast Veddas, Anuradhapura Veddas, and Bintenne Veddas [5], are accorded "indigenous" status. The Vedda minority in Sri Lanka may become completely assimilated [6]. Most already speak the dominant Sinhalese language (Sinhala) instead of their exotic indigenous languages, which are nearing extinction. It has been hypothesized that the Vedda were likely the earliest inhabitants of the island of Sri Lanka and have lived there since before the arrival of other groups from the nearby Indian mainland [7][8]. More
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| Kirat Yakkha in traditional dress |
The Yakkha people are subsistence farmers who inhabit the lower Arun valley in Eastern Nepal. They number only a few thousand and their language is nearly extinct [4][5]. They are closely related to Limbu people. More
