SOCIO-CULTURAL CHANGE IN MEEMURE VILLAGE IN KANDY DISTRICT; TWENTY YEARS AFTER THE PROHIBITION OF CHENA CULTIVATION

Abstract

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Introduction In the recent past many cultures around the world have undergone extensive changes. Meemure village is an interesting example that has continuously undergone changes in the last two decades. Meemure is traditionally an agricultural village with a population of about 331 people, which has its own specific culture as a result of being isolated from mainstream Sri Lankan society for a long time and some of the unique cultural traits associated with Meemure cannot be seen elsewhere in the country. Mythical stories related to king Rawana have dignified the prehistory of this village and have disclosed that the villagers are descendants of king Rawana and the Yaksha tribe. Meemure villagers have developed specific cultural traits from the beginning. Religious practices and rituals, food customs, Chena cultivation practices, paddy cultivation practices are among the unique traditional systems they developed and maintained. However, they were confronted with a huge problem after the government prohibited their Chena cultivation practice in 1988. Various cultural practices related to kinship and marriage, economy, religion, and traditional knowledge, etc. are entwined together to form one fully integrated cultural system. When one or more traits get disrupted it affects the whole cultural system. Other factors that contributed to the change in the Meemure culture are the increase in the assimilation with outside society, the exodus of the young generation, a decline in the practice of the traditional knowledge system, innovation, devolution, and forcible change: forced to adapt only to paddy cultivation. These factors cause, misery and community degradation which is colloquially known as a "Culture Crash". Some cultures cannot survive after being exposed to cultural changes. People of the Meemure village underwent this phase. Even though some of these cultural changes could be beneficial and adaptive, it might still be difficult for individuals within that particular culture to accept them. Thus cultural change is considered as a social problem even though it is a part of the necessary process of adaptation. The main objective of this study was to discover the consequences of the prohibition of Chena cultivation toward Meemure village and its unique culture. Materials and Methods