Historical survey of Sri Lankan traditional dance

by Prof. Tissa KARIYAWASAM

Source material written by foreign and local scholars is full of misinterpretations and misinformation, thus making it a formidable task to elaborate upon a historical survey of Sri Lankan traditional dances. According to literary sources it is said that the first reference of dance in Sri Lanka is associated with the episode of Kuveni and Vijaya, the symbolic representation of the indigenous people of Sri Lanka and the first Aryan settler.

Maestro Chithrasena

The great chronicle or Mahawamsa mentions that when Vijaya and his men were met by the indigenous queen Kuveni they were advised by her to massacre the indigenous clan in order to establish Vijaya’s Kingdom. There it says that at night Vijaya inquired from Kuveni about the music and singing that could be heard. The original text refers to “Geeta Raava” and “Thuriya Sadda” meaning singing and the sound of musical instruments. Even during the end of the 19th century when Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala the Principal of the first ever oriental college in Sri Lanka translates the Pali terms correctly as music and song.

Mahawamsa

In 1912 when Prof. Wilhelm Geiger the editor in chief of the Sinhala dictionary translated the Mahawamsa into German, and Mrs. Bode translated same into English also followed the Pali and Sinhala text exemplarily well.

In a more recent translation in 1989, when Prof. Ananda Guruge translated the Mahawamsa, he too translates the terms as ‘music and the sound of singing’. Nonetheless in schools and higher educational institutions the starting point of Sri Lankan dancing is considered erroneously to be this particular citing in the Mahawamsa.

During the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC, there are several inscriptions that we come across Nata and Nada meaning actor or dancer, in Sinhala Prakrit. Sessuruwa, Medagama and Sithul pahuwa inscriptions bear evidence to this effect. The nature of the dancing that was performed cannot be envisioned by the present day scholar without authentic visual representations. For example, say the 9,000 year old Bhimbetka paintings of Madhya Pradesh and Eqyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures from circa 3300 BC are clearly discernible in a visual sense. The former is said to be depicting mainly dances of war or perhaps ritual dances whereas the latter shows various entertainment, warrior and other ceremonial dances.

Prince Vijaya

When Vijaya for his consecration ceremony brought down a princess of indian origin, named Bhadda kaccana and also other consorts for his men, the Mahawamsa dealing with this event says that they were accompanied by elephants, horses and chariots befitting a king and craftsmen and a 1000 families of the 18 guilds. With the assistance of the commentary for the Mahawamsa compiled during the 9th century AD we can safely surmise that by then whatever the elements of traditional music and dance in this country assimilated in Sri Lanka with the coming of the Pandhya clans.

This tradition of new dance was accepted by the royal court and it was included in the agenda of the royal entertainment. King Pandhukabhaya is said to have enjoyed dancers sitting together with the leaders of the indigenous clans. With the arrival of Buddhism we can visualize a better view of the dancing system in Sri Lanka. Drumming was nurtured by three significant events attached to Buddhism. Namely, the arrival of the Relics of the Buddha, the arrival of the sacred Bo sapling and thirdly and the bringing down of the Sacred tooth relic to Sri Lanka. All these are elaborated upon by the chroniclers as having been resplendent with dancing and music. Here one could see in these descriptions a new definition of Pancha Thuriya arise. This is uniquely different from the four musical elements in India.

During the time of King Dutugemunu during the 2nd Century BC, more descriptive elements can identified in the chronicles. The war drums and the war dances in addition to women in the processions. At the time the dancing sphere had been placed under a minister named Naccaamaccha.

The Sigiriya paintings circa 7th Century AD, is a unique piece of art where we see the affinities of the hand gestures of the ladies in the paintings with that of Bharatha Natyam. The Natya Shastra of Bharatha Muni in discussing the gestures of hands, or hastha mudras mentions various positions namely Kartharimukha, Aala padma, Kapittha which are depicted in the paintings.

In the later stages in Medawala Raja Maha viharaya in Kandy, Ardha Soochika mudra is depicted. Various temples and murals therein express the feelings of Bharatha Natyam origin. There are various bronze statues during the Polonnaruwa period circa 12-13th centuries AD, of Shiva Natraj. This god according to the hindu mythology is the creator of dance.

These statues reflect the existence of Hindu mythological deities amongst the Sri Lankan worshippers, and without any cultural hindrance Sinhala people too followed the same principles of South Indian dance systems. This is clearly shown in the Sandesha or message poems written in the 14th and 15th centuries describing women dancers in the kovils who were conversant in Indian dancing as opposed to the local dances. Even the name of Bhartha Muni and some technical terms of Indian dancing are included in these verses. Therefore, at the end of the 15th century the dancing scene is an elite dance system which was a combination of local and Indian tradition.

Traditional Sri Lankan mask dance

Apart from this I believe that a folk dancing system evolved from hill country and low country rituals and to a lesser extent the Sabaragamuwa system.

The Portuguese brought Baila music to Sri Lanka in the 16th century which is still in vogue at urban gatherings under the same name. With Baila there came Chikotti and Kaipiringna. Baila and Kaipiringna were popularized by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation up to the mid 20th century. It should be noted that this music was accompanied by a unique form of dance.

Misnomer

Baila in most Hispanic languages means to dance and possibly had been a misnomer for music here.

During the British period especially the low country dances or the demonology along the coastal belt of Sri lanka created a confusion in the minds of the British missionaries and administrators alike. Not only Anglicans but also Catholics who wanted to convert the local people into their religion were amused with the beliefs in ‘Satan’. The Yaka or the demon is against the good and is believed to have malicious effects on people.

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Reverend John calloway of the Weslian Methodist mission stationed in Matara was perturbed by those people who attended church on Sunday and yet also performed demonic rituals.

In a disturbed state he sent letters regarding this to the head quarters in London. He learnt Sinhala and translated the literature associated with true local rituals in the low country area. In 1829 apart from his Yakkun Natanawa and Kolam Natannawa, the two poems on the ritual of the demon Sanni and Kolam a ritual to propitiate Pattini the goddess of chastity were published in London.

In the same year Emerson Tennant, an administrator of the British Government also described the situation in Sri Lanka in his book, History of Buddhist Doctrine in Ceylon. Calloway and Tennant both mentioned about the activities of Sir Alexander Johnston the Chief Justice of the Colony who collected more than 40 Bali figures in his library. They were interested only in literature and the painting but not in the techniques of performing.

Christian missionaries

The Christian missionaries advised the colonial government to debar drumming at temples, in processions and at demon rituals. This caused a calamity amongst the Buddhists of the country. Even in the 1930s the Bhikkus were sued in Courts for this offence. Meanwhile, an antagonism towards the local dances surfaced in society.

At the end of the 19th century German scholars were interested in masks of Sri Lanka which are associated with the Kolam and Sanni rituals.

Grunwadel published coloured pictures in bookform. O. Pertold a Czech philologist also collected masks and took them to Prague.

In the folk museum in Munich we still can see the 47 puppets of the Ehelepola Kolam dance which were taken from here in 1910. There are nearly 3,000 ola leaf manuscripts collected by Hugh Nevill in the British Museum on various fields including demonology and dancing in Sri Lanka.

The dancing systems associated with the Kandyan and Low country were prevailing among Sinhala Buddhist villages in order to evade the mellifluous influences of the demons and to invoke blessings of the deities on the villagers. For this purpose we see the Kohomba Yak Kankariya of the Hill Country which is the birth place of Kandyan dancing. There are four main rituals associated with the demonology in the low country and they are the origins of the Low Country dance systems. Sabaragamuwa province also has dance systems entitled Sabaragamuwa. Apart from the demon rituals connected with the three systems of dancing, the main ritual to propitiate the Goddess of Chastity is spread throughout the island. After the procession of the Tooth Relic of Kandy during August, one can witness an array of community hall or Gam Madu rituals in the cities and villages, in the name of this goddess.

In addition, Sri Lankans strongly believe in the time of birth and in astrology for the most part. Accordingly the nine planets which govern the life of person throughout the life span and influence his day to day life, are propitiated in Bali ceremonies. Life-sized effigies of these planetary gods are erected at the ceremonial grounds and non-aggressive dance styles are adopted.

Kohomba Kankariya

Doors were opened for the Kohomba Kankariya and the masked dances of Sri Lanka, in 1880s in the European countries under the patronage of wealthy entrepreneurs. After a performance in Haymarket, London these dancers were left stranded by the organisers. Now I come to the second part of my deliberations which start from 1900.

It is quite clear that the Colombo city dwellers and others during the new year invite dancers from Matara to invoke blessings from the deities in 1905. This system was followed throughout Colombo when calamities of epidemics hit the city. All the famous temples and Devalas performed the Esela peraharas and at the conclusion they performed Pattini madu dances.

Gara dances

At the beginning of the inter monsoon season the fisher folk perform Gara dances at the shore in order to secure a bountiful harvest.

This system is still carried out in Ambalangoda and Weligama. In 1919 P.B. Nugawela, the diyawadana nilame at the Temple of the Tooth added the Ves dances into the procession and the land tenure system which prevailed in the Kandyan area facilitated the dancers to continue dance activities.

When the Sinhala drama was confronted with the expansion of silent films in Colombo, dramatists introduced dancing, Kandyan and Low country both into the performances. John de Silva in his Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe included Kandyan Dances in 1922 in addition to Parakramabahu. Vidura Jatakaya had Arabic and Egyptian dances which had no parallel during the time. Vijaya Raja Charitaya had Devol dances.

In the third decade the University College Sinhala Society was interested in the Kandyan dancing due to the teachings of Rambukwelle Siddharta thera. In 1932, even five students were not present to complete the quorum and the meetings were cancelled. Rambukwelle Siddharta the first ever monk to get a BA degree in English, with the assistance of Urapola Kiri banda used to sing Wannamas playing the udekki. Siddharta thera was a clever singer and dancer too. HE was the composer of the new gajaga wannama.

Prof. Malalasekera after watching the activities of the said society wanted to initiate practical classes in Kandyan dancing but this never materialized. Batugedera Basnayake Gunasekara Rate mahattaya of the Mahasaman Devala and E.A. Delgoda inspired Sabaragamuwa dancers to establish a Sabaragamuwa dance school in the area.

1929 Enakshi Ram Rao (Bhavnani) a Brahmin lady performing Indian dancing was well received in Sri Lanka. After that Maneka, Tara Choudhary and Sri Gopinath visited Sri Lanka for performances. In 1933 when Romeo and Juliet was produced by Seebert Dias, he invited Ram Pyari and Indian actress to take on the role of Juliet.

Women dancers

Meanwhile, to react to the influx of the Indian women dancers in local stage, Percy Perera and Sarala Bai innovated a new system of dancing called Bombay dance. They were imitating the dancers of the Indian cinema and later their dances were included in the Kolam performances too in the Olabooduwa, Horana area. The most significant role played by the Indian women dancers was to bring about the modernization of the local dance arena.

Dancing their cares away

Kohomba Kankariya and the demon rituals, in addition to the pattini rituals, were performed in the open air for ordinary villagers. The dancers were focusing on dancing, drumming and the ritualistic observances only. The costumes were never varied. The lights were dim with only the torches and tapers being lit in the open arena. For the first time Indian dancers performed on a stage with all the techniques of lighting and a variety of costumes to display. They were expressing ‘bhavas’ using the body. Especially the Sattvika Bhava or facial expressions. When masks are worn, this aspect was eclipsed in our local dances. Indian dancers were experts in the usage of the stage and directly involved with the audience. This was not necessary in the local ritualistic dance scene because the performances were aimed at religious purification or personal gains. For the local dances the audience is a mediocre one. The educated and the clergy had no interest in it but for Maneka, Choudhary and others the audience was an elite one.

In May 1934 Dr. Ravindranath Tagore and his troupe visited with his dance drama entitled ‘The Redemption’ in aid of Vishva Bharathi at Shantiniketan. There were a few Sri Lankan students even then at that institute.

In 1928 Udakendawala Saranankara, a Buddhist monk and Maheshwara devi a Tamil lady were studying at Shantiniketan. Tagore, with his friend Wilmot A. Perera established a national institution called Sri Pali in Horana. He was able to watch dances by Kandyan exponents and questioned as to why the students from Sri Lanka should come to Shantiniketan without studying their local dances.

S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike wrote a commendable review on the dance drama. It is interesting to note here that Bandaranaike was angry at the misconduct of the audience when presenting a great classic of this nature. This shows the inability to appreciate the disciplined art of dance by the audience at the time.

Bandaranaike said he was nearly hurt when somebody stamped on his foot while the show was on. Members of the audience were running here and there disturbing others. In 1935 despite these reactions Uday Shankar, brother of Ravi Shankar, visited Sri Lanka with his troupe and performed at the Regal Colombo and in Kandy in April 1935. They were received by Malalasekera at the University of Ceylon.

He met Nittawela Gunaya and Suramba Rajapaksha too. Beryl de Zoeter, a friend of Uday Shankar, also came to Sri Lanka. She attended a show which was presented by Gopi Nath and Ragini Devi. The latter once in London’s Albert Hall danced with Sri lankan dancer Sederaman.

In the field of education the Gandharva Sabha was established, conducted its classes and held examinations, first in music and later in dancing. After passing the examinations the potentials were able to join the Department of Education as teachers. They followed the traditional pattern of the dance forms seen in the villages.

A group of young blood realizing this situation in the country after going through rigorous practical education in India came to Sri lanka and started their educational institutes. A Morris Dias (Chitrasena), S. Panibharatha, S. T. Molligoda, Premakumara Epitawela and Vasantha Kumar Depp belong to this group.

Chitrasena before leaving for India trained in dance and drama both. Panibharatha was a traditional dancer and drummer. Vasantha Kumar was a student of Candralekha Perera the first woman to be initiated as a Ves dancer. The dances of this new group were known as oriental dancing as against traditional dancing.

Nationalists

In 1948, Devar Suriyasena with a group of nationalists formed a society called National Dancing Society and to celebrate the first Independence Day in February that year performed Pageant of lanka with 14 episodes. Seebert Dias and Chitrasena performed two of the episodes. Some producers were not dancers. This pageant dealt with the history of the nation.

Ram Gopal and tara Chaudhary performed in Sri lanka in the same year. There was a proposal to establish a college of dancing in Colombo in 1948. Unfortunately, it took five years to open the college. This college was meant for pure Kandyan dancing only. By 1962 low country dancing was also a subject in the curriculum. It took another 15 years to introduce Sabaragamuwa and Indian dancing to the college curriculum. This shows the animosity and the struggle between the traditional dances and the cultured oriental dances.

In 1952 when the Arts Council was founded it comprised two panels, one for Kandyan dancing and the other for Oriental Dancing. Thus, it created two parallel streams of dancing. In a way the traditional one is attached so much to the Guru Kula tradition of the country passing from the teacher to student. No innovations could be done there. It seems that the system became static.

The oriental dances were creative, taking elements from ballet, eastern dancing and western techniques to rouse the emotions of the dancer.

(The text of a speech entitled ‘Tradition and Development delivered at a forum organised by the Goethe Institute, Colombo.)