The Amunugama Foundation presents Kohomba Kankariya
Friday, 20 March 2015 00:00
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The Amunugama Foundation is presenting Kohomba Kankariya on 3, 4 and 5 April at Hataraliyadda.
The Kohomba Kankariya is the best known Sinhala ritual from which Kandyan Dancing is derived.
Usually held at the end of a paddy cultivation season this three day ritual offers thanks to the deities for a bountiful harvest. It is also a plea for peace and prosperity in the future. Though in the past such rituals sought prosperity to the village in which it was enacted, today it can also be considered as bestowing good luck to the region and country.
The Kohomba Kankariya is an elaborate ritual which entails the setting up of a “Maduwa” (Hall) and Alters for the different gods that are to be propitiated. Dances seek to attract the “eye” (Distiya) of the gods at the appropriate time and draw them into the ritual so that their blessings can be obtained.
The ritual, to be enacted at Hataraliyadda, will be performed by the leading dancers and ritual specialists of Kandy district together with representatives of “paramparavas” in nearby districts like Matale and Kurunegala.
Most of the Kandyan dancing that we see in the Kandy Perehera and, of late, similar functions, are excerpts from the dances of the Kankariya. Thus observers can watch the best of Kandyan dancing as it survives today.
The main dancers come from the ‘School’ of the late Tittapajjala Suramba Gurunnanse who was the last brilliant exponent of the Kandyan dance which included others such as Nittawela Gunaya. This event will draw large crowds from the region and will be a good opportunity for media coverage of the authentic, but fast dying out, Kandyan tradition. Sponsors of the event will be able to publicise their products which will receive both “on the spot” and media coverage.
Assistance is sought for support to preserve a most valuable traditional dance and to encourage those artists who have brought fame to our country.
The Amunugama Foundation is a non-profit, Non-Government Organisation. It rears a large computer and language school at Nugawela and provides school books for over 20,000 students in Kandy District. In the near future it will organise a symposium on Kandyan painting, bring out a coffee table book on the Kohomba Kankariya and launch a campaign, with international assistance, to preserve the rural paintings in select Temples in Kandy District.
