According to this belief Saliyas were of Brahmin origin and were brought across the sea from Malabar (i.e. Kerala) by ship. However, since they would 'lose caste' if they touched the water, they had to be carried ashore by moors on their heads,which is depicted in their flag.
Another story;
The second wave of Namboodiris arrived in Srilanka, when the Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka refused to perform the rituals associated with the coronation ceremony of Prince Wathhimi(Galey Bandara Deyyo) (the son of King Bhuvenaka Bahu I (1272–1284)), his mother, whose name was "Fathima", and hailed from the village of "Aswedduma" in the Kurunegala district, was a Muslim and was the only non-buddhist member of the King's harem, the prince was sent to live amongst his maternal relatives at Beruwala, for his safety, by the King, and was greatly influenced by Islam, his maternal grandfather even named him "Ismail", but the King preferred the name "Wathhimi Bandara", when the King died, Prince Wathhimi was the only son the King had, and as a consequence was eligible to be the King, the buddhist monks were worried, about the princes inclination towards islam, and refused to perform the rituals for the coronation ceremony, and as a consequence, the prince sent a Muslim nobleman from beruwala, to bring Brahmins from Kerala, as the
Muslim nobleman was unable to persuade any Brahmin to come over to Srilanka,he had to hatch a plan to kidnap them, and finally succeeded in getting a group of 8 Namboodiri Brahmins, from the village of Shaligramam in Kerala, to come on board the ship for a gambling game, and as the legend goes, while the Brahmins were fully concentrating, with the game of gambling, the ship started to sail towards Beruwala, without the Brahmins noticing the ship's movements,when it reached the shores of Beruwala,the Brahmins realised they were tricked,and refused to disembark, the King's soldiers who were waiting to receive them shot one of the Brahmins with an arrow, so as to force them to disembark, and as a result one of the Brahmins died and his body fell overboard, the remaining 7 still refused to disembark, as Brahmins their culture imposed a rule that,after crossing the sea to go to another country,their feet should not touch water or they risked losing their caste status, subsequently the remaining 7 were persuaded to disembark, and were brought ashore, upon the shoulders of Moor men,they were received by the Prince with great honours, the
Brahmins subsequently wanted to return to Kerala after performing the ceremony, but the King, who was pleased with them, wanted them to stay on in Sri Lanka, and offered them royal maidens in marriage at the royal courts.
The Nambudiri flag of the Salagamas vividly illustrates the arrival of the Brahmins at Beruwala.
They assimilated well into the Sinhalese community and their descendants formed the Salagama caste, along with "Agampadi"Mercenary Soldiers who came from Kerala & Tamil Nadu.
Salagama caste
