Sport in Sri Lanka

Sport in Sri Lanka

 Sport in Sri Lanka is a significant part of Sri Lankan culture. Volleyball is the national sport in Sri Lanka.^[1] Cricket is the most popular sport in Sri Lanka.^[1] Rugby union is also popular. Other popular sports are water sports, athletics, football, basketball and tennis. Sri Lanka's schools and colleges regularly organize sports and athletics teams, competing on provincial and national levels.
The Sri Lanka national cricket team achieved considerable success beginning in the 1990s, rising from the underdog status to winning the 1996 Cricket World Cup.^[2] The Sri Lankan national cricket team reached the finals of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, where they lost to Australia at the Kensington Oval, in Bridgetown, Barbados.^[3] After qualifying to play in the finals of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Sri Lanka was beaten by India.^[4] The legendary Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan also ended his incredible career at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai which hosted the 2011 World Cup finals. The national cricket team of Sri Lanka has won the Asia Cup in 1986, 1997, 2004 and 2008.
Sri Lanka has a large number of sports stadiums, including the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, the Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, the R. Premadasa Stadium, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy and the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla as well as the Galle International Stadium. The country co-hosted the 1996 Cricket World Cup with India and Pakistan, the 2011 Cricket World Cup with India and Bangladesh and has hosted the Asia Cup tournament on numerous occasions. Water sports such as boating, surfing, swimming and scuba diving on the coast, the beaches and backwaters attract a large number of Sri Lankans and foreign tourists.

Sri Lankan drums

Sri Lankan drums

There are three types of drums: one faced two faced flat faced
There are six basics drums, and they can be recognized when in use.

Gatabera

The typical Sinhala Dance is identified as the Kandyan dance and this drum is indispensable to this dance.

Yak-bera-bera

This is the demon drum or the, drum used in low country dance in which the dancers wear masks and perform devil dancing, which has become a highly developed form of art. •

Dawula

It is a barrel shaped drum, and it was used as a companion drum in the past, to keep strict time with the beat.

Thammattama

A flat, two faced drum. The drummer strikes the drum on the two surfaces on top with sticks, unlike the others where you drum on the sides. This is a companion drum to the adore mentioned Dawula.

Udekki

A small double headed hand drum, used to accompany songs. It is mostly heard in the poetry dances (vannam

Rabana

Flat faced circular drum and comes in several sizes. The large Rabana has to be placed on the floor like a circular short-legged table and several people (especially the womenfolk) can sit around it and beat on it with both hands. This is used in festivals such as the Sinhalese New Year and ceremonies such as weddings. The resounding beat of the Rabana symbolizes the joyous moods of the occasion. The small Rabana is a form of mobile drum beat since the player carries it wherever he goes and he produces patterns of back ground drum beat for his songs.
Then, the metal percussions is almost always made up of cymbals and "Thalampata" - 2 small cymbals joined together by a string.
The wind section, is dominant by a wind instrument, something akin to the clarinet. This is not normally used for the dances. This is important because the Sinhalese dance is not set to music as the western world knows it. Here, the primary sense of rhythm, and patterns of man in motion, is the music that is beaten out by the drummer.
The flutes of metal such as silver & brass produce shrill music to accompany Kandyan Dances, while the plaintive strains of music of the reed flute may pierce the air in devil-dancing. The conch-shell (Hakgediya) is another form of a natural instrument, and the player blows it to announce the opening of ceremonies of grandeur.

Music of Sri Lanka

The music of Sri Lanka has its roots in four primary influences: ancient folk rituals, Buddhist religious traditions, the legacy of European colonization, and the commercial and historical influence of nearby Indian culture—specifically, Bollywood cinema. The Theravada sect of Buddhism has exercised a particular influence on Sri Lankan music since Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka around the opening of the first millennium.
Portuguese colonists were among the first Europeans to arrive in Sri Lanka, landing in the mid-15th century. They brought with them traditional cantiga ballads, ukuleles and guitars, as well as conscripted Africans (referred to, historically, as kaffrinhas), who spread their own style of music known as baila. The confluence of both European and African traditions served to further diversify the musical roots of contemporary Sri Lankan music.

Folk music

Caste-based folk poems (kavi) originated as communal song shared within individual groups as they engaged in daily work. Today, they remain a popular form of cultural expression. Kavi was also sung to accompany annual rituals. These ancient rites are rarely performed in contemporary Sri Lanka, but the preserved songs are still performed by folk musicians.
Another traditional Sri Lankan folk style is called the virindu. It involves an improvised poem sung to the beaten melody of a rabana. Traditional song contests were held in which two virindu singers would compete through spontaneous verse.

Traditional folk music of Sri Lanka

The art, music and dances of Sri Lanka were derived from ritualistic responses to natural phenomenon. Sri Lanka's earlist folk music was later influenced by the influx of Buddhist traditions. These songs were performed by commoners, and not merely recited by the priestly castes.^[1]

Pagentary

Sri Lanka has a highly evolved pagentry tradition, which has a unique array of music.

Local drama music (Kolam/Nadagam/Noorthy)

Kolam music is a low country folk tradition of the south-west coast and it's use was both in exorcism rituals as a form of healing and in masked comedy and drama.

Nadagam music

This particular style is a more developed form of drama influenced by South Indian street drama which was introduced by some South Indian Artists. Phillippu Singho from Negombo in 1824 performed “Harishchandra Nadagama” in Hnguranketha, which was originally written in the Telingu language. Later “Maname”, “Sanda kinduru” and a few others were introduced. Don Bastian of Dehiwala introduced Noorthy firstly by looking at Indian dramas and then John De Silva developed it and performed Ramayanaya in 1886.

Sinhala light music

Some artist visited India to learn music and later started introducing light music. Ananda Samarakone was the pioneer of this attempt and He composed National Anthem too. Then Sunil Santha who also did not stick to Hindustani music introduced light music of his own, influenced by The Geethika (Hymns) tradition of Sri Lanka. Please visit http://www.infolanka.com/miyuru_gee to listen few of them online. Pandit Amaradeva is credited as the major contributor to the development of this genre into a truly Sri Lankan style. Nowadays this is the most popular type of music in Sri Lanka and enriched with the influence of folk music, kolam music, Nadagam music, Noorthy music, Film music, Classical music, Western music, the Geethika (Hymns) tradition and others too. Most of the musician in Sri Lanka have come out with their own creations The temple paintings and carvings used birds, elephants, wild animals, flowers and trees. The colors were made of nature. The Traditional 18 Dances display the dancing of Birds and Animals. Mayura Wannama - The dance of the Peacock Hanuma Wannama - The dance of the Monkey Gajaga Wannama - The dance of the elephant
The Music is several kinds. The folk music is created with few instruments only. The folk songs and poems were used in social gatherings to work together. The Indian influenced Classical Music has grown to be unique.,^[2][3][4][5] The traditional drama, music and songs are typically Sri Lankan.

Sri Lanka's traditional musical instruments

The classical Sinhalese Orchestra consists of five categories of instruments. But, the drum, is the king of local percussions instruments and without it, there will be no dance.^[6] The vibrant beat of the rhythm of the drums form the basic of the dance. The dances feet bounce off the floor and they leap and swirl in patterns that reflex the complex rhythms of the drum beat.
This drum beat may seem simple on the first hearing but it takes a long time to master the intricate rhythms and variations, which the drummer sometimes can bring to a crescendo of intensity.

sri lankan birds

dalada maaligawa

Sri Dalada Maligawa (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී දළදා මාළිගාව) or the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex which houses the relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings and is a UNESCO world heritage site partly due to the temple.
Monks of the two chapters of Malwatte and Asgiriya conduct daily worship in the inner chamber of the temple. Rituals are performed three times daily: at dawn, at noon and in the evenings. On Wednesdays there is a symbolic bathing of the Sacred Relic with an herbal preparation made from scented water and fragrant flowers, called Nanumura Mangallaya. This holy water is believed to contain healing powers and is distributed among those present.
The temple sustained damage from bombings at various times but was fully restored each time.

History

After the parinirvana of Gautama Buddha, the tooth relic was preserved in Kalinga and smuggled to the island by Princess Hemamali and her husband, Prince Dantha on the instructions of her father King Guhasiva.^[1] They landed in the island in Lankapattana during the reign of King Kirthi Sri Meghavarna (301-328) and handed over the tooth relic. The king enshrined it Meghagiri Vihara (present day Isurumuniya) in Anuradhapura. Safeguard of the relic was a responsibility of the monarch, therefore over the years the custodianship of relic became to symbolize the right to rule. Therefore reigning monarchs built the tooth relic temples quite close to their royal residences, as was the case during the times of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya, Yapahuwa and Kurunegala kingdoms. During the era of Kingdom of Gampola the relic was housed in Niyamgampaya Vihara. It is reported in the messenger poems such as Hamsa, Gira, and Selalihini that the temple of tooth relic was situated within the city of Kotte when the kingdom was established there.^[1]
During the reign of King Dharmapala, the relic was kept hidden in Delgamuwa Vihara, Ratnapura in a grinding stone.^[1] It was brought to Kandy by Hiripitiye Diyawadana Rala and Devanagala Rathnalankara Thera. King Vimaladharmasuriya I built a two storey building to deposit the tooth relic and the building is now gone.^[2] In 1603 when the Portuguese invaded Kandy, it was carried to Meda Mahanuwara in Dumbara. It was recovered in the time of Râjasimha II and it has been reported that he reinstate the original building or has built a new temple.^[1] The present day temple of the tooth was built by Vira Narendra Sinha.^[3] The octagonal Patthirippuwa and moat was added during the reign of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha. Famous Kandyan architect Devandra Mulacharin is credited with building the Patthirippuwa. Originally it was used by the kings for recreational activities and later it was offered to the tooth relic. Now it is an oriental library. It was attacked on two occasion, first in 1989 by the JVP and in 1998 by the LTTE.