A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Maha-Mudā is the daughter of the Yaksanī guarding the approach to the Kulē-bakā garden. Her mother shelters a wandering prince and marries her to him. Learning that his unhappiness comes from his need to see the garden, Maha-Mudā tells her mother, who has rats dig a tunnel through which he obtains the flowers. She accompanies him back to his earlier wife Diribari-Lakā and then to his father’s kingdom, where the flowers restore the king’s sight. Parker translates her name as Great Happiness. Her spirit parentage is explicit, but no separate monstrous anatomy or personal transformation is described.
Origins & earliest records
Sri Lankan narratives collected and translated by H. Parker
Records & interpretation
Complete tale and all its printed variants/comparative notes read; relevant introduction passages on collection and translation directly read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I
No. 22, The Kulē-bakā Flowers, pp. 176–178
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I
Volume I. No. 22, The Kulē-bakā Flowers, pp. 176–178
Complete tale and all printed notes read. Restored eyes, intermittent human/cobra form, divided-body ending, named daughter and rat tunnel are kept in their respective narratives. No invented original script or personal name for unnamed siblings.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical collected oral narrative translationParker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon I — No. 22, The Kulē-bakā Flowers, pp. 176–178Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.