Gabbasov Sergey - Hidden Hunter-Gatherers of Indian Ocean. With appendix стр 8.

J.Bennett provided an excellent description of an early 19

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The Ahikuntikayas were never accustomed to have permanent shelters. They built their huts usually on elevated grounds but necessarily near a river bank or a tank bund. The roof was always constructed either in the shape if a triangle or in a curvature with palm leaves or grass. Since each family needed a hut, the number of huts in a “colony” was always determined by the number of families moving in a given caravan. Such a collection of Ahikuntikaya shelters was called a “Kuppayama” which in its traditional Sinhala meaning is “a colony of social outcasts”.

These shelters always betrayed their semi-permanent character and had limited utensils. These included a knife (“maskan”), grinder (“rolu”), basin (“traale”), coconut scraper (“iraman”), pots (“kadawa”), saucepans (“kunda”) which were essential in every shelter. Dogs and donkeys also accompanied them in every journey. Nowadays this is rare due to the constraints of moving such animals through modern settlements even in rural settings (Widyalankara 2015).

The Ahikuntikas observe a custom of holding an annual conclave which is called “Varigasabha” (“meeting of clans”). Future plans of the community, nuptial bonds between clans, common problems encountered in maintaining their customs and livelihoods were the main items of concern.

There are also different sub-communities (“kula”