Durave or Durava or Durawa are a southern coastal
Sinhalese caste in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. Their traditional occupation is
toddy
Toddy may refer to:
Places
* Toddy Bridge, a pedestrian bridge in Singapore
* Toddy Pond, a pond in Antarctica
* Todmorden, a town in Yorkshire, England, informally called Toddy
People
* Ralph "Toddy" Giannini (1917–1996), American basketb ...
tapping. They trace their ancestry to medieval period migrants from South India. The term Durave arise from Tamil word Duraivan (துறைவன்) means person belongs to port region. The caste of Duraivan still exist in the district of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu where they indulge in fishing, toddy taping and trade.
Current status
They were converted to Catholic religion soon after arrival of
Portuguese colonials in 1505 ACE. Using this opportunity they have upgraded themselves in relation to the dominant
Govigama
Govigama (also known as Goyigama, Govikula, Govi Vansa or Goyi Vansa) is a Sinhalese caste found in Sri Lanka. They form approximately half of the Sinhalese population and are traditionally involved in agriculture. The term Govigama became popular ...
caste.
They along with other southern Sinhalese castes such as
Karave and
Salagama have played an important role in the historically left political and right parties. They are mostly
Theravada
''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...
Buddhists today and were instrumental in the revival of Buddhism during the British colonial period. The un-Buddhistic practice of caste discrimination introduced into the
Sangha
Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...
by the
Siyam Nikaya in the late 18th century has been overcome by patronising the
Amarapura Nikaya and the
Ramanna Nikayas. Sitinamaluwe Dhammajoti (Durawa) was the last nongovigama monk to receive upasampada before the 1764
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Further reading
* Bryce Ryan, ''Caste in Modern Ceylon'', Rutgers University Press, 1953.
Sinhalese castes
Brewing and distilling castes