Trinethra Cultural Pageant in Tamil Nadu:

Commencement of a cultural dissertation

Impetus to a cultural revival in Tamil Nadu

by Ranga Chandrarathne

Geo-political importance of India to Sri Lanka has been a long established fact. It is India that some Sri Lankans visit for medical purposes while others visit places of historical importance in India considering it as the land of Buddhas.

It is also the country which has nourished Sri Lankan art and culture for centuries and its overarching influence on every sphere of Sri Lankan life is omnipresent though some Sri Lankans refuse to accept it owing to unfounded pride. In Sri Lankan politics, whenever a country faces a perceived threat, Sri Lankan politicians seek India's support to overcome the problem.

Geographically the closest points to Sri Lanka are the provinces of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Over ten million Tamil population in Tamil Nadu and Kerala are sensitive to development in Sri Lanka and they are particularly concerned about the situation of conflict in the Northern and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka.

The public perception of Sri Lanka in general and the Sinhalese in particular is molded by and largely through the interaction they have with Sri Lankan refugees and visiting Tamil politicians.

It is against this backdrop that Trikone commenced its cultural programmes in the Northern and Eastern provinces and held several successful programmes in Jaffna and other towns. The aim of the cultural programmes was to bring about cultural harmony between Tamils and Sinhalese in educating the two ethnic groups of their art forms and diverse dance forms, comparing similarities in them.

As the mutual respect for one another's art forms and heritage is an important factor that promotes peace and ethnic harmony, through the cultural programmes Sri Lankan artists tried to re-establish this understanding which has been destroyed by the war.

However, with the closure of the A9 road, the cultural programmes were compelled to be completely abandoned as the ground situation is no longer conducive to conducting such programmes. Trinethra programme was the initial step towards commencing a continuous discourse in Tamil Nadu on Sinhalese art and culture.

One of the momentous aspects of the programme was that it was designed to highlight the cultural heritage of Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamils through a series of documentaries. The documentaries were designed to represent a wider scope of Sri Lankan art forms ranging from the traditional Tamil dance of Kooththu to drums of Sri Lanka and award-wining Sri Lankan productions such as Trojan Women and Doothikawo, an anti-war drama.

Precursor to this programme was the wide exposure given to the productions of Dharmasiri Bandaranayake in Tamil Nadu by Professor S.V.Rajadurei.

As a critic and academic who watched cultural programmes conducted by Trikone in the North and East, I subsequently wrote an article on not only the drama and documentaries produced by Dharmasiri Bandaranayake but also on the cultural programme aimed at creating ethnic harmony in the North and East to the puthu visei magazine. This article serves as an introduction to Dharmasiri Bandaranayake leading to establishing cultural contacts with Tamil Nadu based artists and academics.

Among the artists the cultural troupe I met Mangei, Pravalayan, and Inqulab, prominent dramatists in Tamil Nadu. Some other academics that the cultural troupe interacted with in Tamil Nadu were Prof. V. Arusu of the Head of the Department of Tamil Literature, University of Madras. Prof. S.V Rajadurei, the Head of the Centre for Periyar Studies, Bharathidasan University Palkalaiperur Tiruchirappalli.

These academics made arrangements to conduct the programme and also appointed representatives to ensure the security aspects of the troupe throughout the cultural journey given the prevalent anti-Sinhala political sentiments in Tamil Nadu and the general perception that each and every Sri Lankan is a warmonger.

The cultural troupe is of the opinion that the programme not only changed the negative perception, at least, among the limited crowd, on Sri Lanka and Sinhalese but also helped to create an intellectual discussion on diverse art forms both in Sri Lanka and in diverse parts of Tamil Nadu.

The Trinethra programme concluded with a note of success and emphasised on similarities and the uniqueness of diverse art forms with Indian influence. Among other things, it also dispelled some of the deeply rooted myths such as all Sinhalese are war mongers.

Trikone Art Centre hopes to further cement the cultural ties with Tamil Nadu by inviting Tamil Nadu dramatists Mangei and Pravalayan to Sri Lanka to conduct a series of workshops with the active participation of Sri Lankan artists, leading to a production of a drama.

The cultural troupe is grateful to Swiss Development Cooperation and Helvitas for making this programme a reality with their generous financial support. It also stirs a healthy discussion leading to a revival of traditional art forms in Tamil Nadu. The programme gave much needed impetus to Tamil Nadu audience to flash back on roots and traditions.

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On-focused Sri Lankan Artists in India

An outstandingly moving portrait of Sri Lankan cinema, Nimmi Harasgama offers rather a cosmopolitan outlook of a Sri Lankan actress. Having studied in Oxford University, Nimmi sports a rich multi-faceted character encompassing manifold aspects of being a creative writer, actress of international repute.

Although she is relatively little known in local cinema, she is well known among international cinema circles. Despite her impressive educational background, Nimmi is firmly rooted in Sri Lankan soil and is capable of portraying any complex character, a fact which has been amply proved by her portrayal in Prasanna Vithanage's seminal production 'Ira Mediyama'.

She is one of the few Sri Lankan actresses the Indian audience recognises with Sri Lanka.Although she may be little known in Sri Lanka, her name has been edged in the international arena as one of the talented actresses.

Her multi-faceted character is marked by extra-ordinary talent in diverse fields such as writing. Among her performance in the media are the memorable roles she played in Mira Chopra's Doctors', 'Leap in the Dark' and 'Mother Teresa TV series' and Ira Madiyama.

She also actively participated in producing films and tele-dramas such as in 'Frontline/World' as Associate producer and in 'Gunrunners/Living With terror/the Last Place' (2002). She is also a creative writer. She is also a true cultural ambassador of Sri Lanka who is equally at ease with local and international cinema.