The stage drama Kuweni by Henry Jayasena is based on the legend of Vijaya-Kuweni.

When Prince Vijaya and his seven hundred men arrived in Ceylon, at first they found
no one. Then one of them saw a dog, followed it and was led to a pond. Near it a
woman was sitting. The man was hot and tired, so he got the womans permission to
wash in the pond. After his bath however, he was mysteriously thrown in to a cave,
and was not allowed to return to his friends. When his friends came looking for him,
they too were thrown into the cave. This happened because the woman had magic
powers. She was a Yakkihini and her name was Kuveni.
When his men did not return, Vijaya set out to find them. While wandering about, he
saw Kuveni and asked her, Lady, have you seen my men? She replied, Why do you
want your men, Prince? I will give you a kingdom instead.
Then everything became clear to him. Because the woman was a Yakkhini, she knows
his rank. He caught her by the hair and said Give me my men or I will kill you. Then
the Kuweni said in fear, Dont kill me. I will release your men and give you a kingdom
as well.
The men were released. The Kuweni brought them food too because they were hungry.
After the meal, she turned herself into a lovely maiden. She then asked Vijaya to fight
her people, the Yakkhas, and become king. He did as he was asked. After the victory
the city of Thambapanni was built. Vijaya and Kuveni lived there and two children were
born.
A few years later Vijayas ministers said to him, A king must marry a princess. You
must send Kuveni away. So a princess was brought from Madhura and Kuveni was
asked to go. She was told to leave her two children behind.
But she did not do so. She took them with her and went back to Lankapura, the Yakkha
city. The angry Yakkhas remembered how she had helped Vijaya to fight her own
people. So they killed her. But the children were not killed. They managed to escape
because Kuwenis uncle saw them and he said, Run away. Dont stay here. They will
kill you as well. So they ran away and lived near Sri Pada. It is said that their
descendants became the Veddhas of Ceylon.
Kuveni is a timeless theme or a living legend. Based on the first woman to figure in
recorded Lankan history, Henry Jayasena effectively dramatized it with a
contemporary theme and presented it in stylized form. Kuveni, as the original, is
written mostly in verse and delicately but intensely pierces into the heart and mind of
Kuveni. Was Kuveni, a demon, a she-devil, a witch as she was identified in history or
was she a tormented wife and mother, vanquished in love? It is this question that the
writer tries to answer.
"In this combat of love, I am the vanquished
I, will go forth with my children and leave you"
Kuveni, recaptures the same poignancy of this outstanding drama playing up the

pathos, the subtlety and its varying sensibilities by its powerful use of words and the
rhythms which differ according to situations. So much so, that the reader could almost
feel the drama enacted before him.
Kuvenis curse on Vijaya is not a mere verse but poetry. Its use of words and rhythm
ring out a reverberating effect:
"From roaring skies, from groaning soil, divide the waters and arise
From the farthest space, from the deepest sea, from earth and air arise, arise
With hideous powers, with torturing spells, with molten fire arise, arise
I who am wronged, I pray to you, O you great Gods, on you I call With all your power to
blast and bind upon this King let vengeance fall."