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In this paper I shall analyse the rituals forSanni Yaka('the demon ofSanni').Sanni Yakais also known asKōla Sanniyaand is a pantheistic deity who incorporates eighteen other demons known asDahaaṭa Sanni(eighteenSanni) or simply asSanni Yakku(Sannidemons;Yakkuis plural ofYakā). The rituals performed for theSanni Yakkuappear in a large-scale ceremony known as theSanni Yäkuma, 'the demon ceremony of theSanni'. In my analysis I shall emphasize the dramatic aspects of the rituals, where the demons appear on stage in masked representations. In these rituals a great deal of comic dialogue and obscenities prevail. Their significance has been missed by Wirz who describes one of these rituals, thedolaha pelapāliya(spectacle for the twelve gods) in the following terms: 'This scene is called simply 'pelapāliya', which may best be translated as 'dance suite', or 'musical show.' … In reality, it is only interposed for diversion and has no deeper meaning' (1954: 59). A highly sophisticated anthropologist presumably refers to similar comic humour when he says that 'after more hocus-pocus,Riri Yakais eventually told that by the orders of the Buddha (Budu anin) and the power of the gods (deviyangē balē) he must accept thedola(offering) and remove his curse from the patient' (Ames, 1964: 42). Almost identical words are spoken toKōla Sanniyain theSanni Yäkumaritual, but we shall interpret and unravel the symbolic meaning of these humorous ritual dramas and consider their evolution and social functions.

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