Saturday, January 22, 2011

Galle Heliwela: Thoil Thovil: Exorcism and Yak Natum

One of the few complete thovil videos I have seen online. This is old old music, pre Buddhist and I'd almost say before out of Africa. Ive shown these videos to Afro Cuban/Puerto Ricans and maybe then I can convince them I am out of Africa too. Its just the rhythms, so complex and for the uninitiated so out of tune. That said whats with the court jester head gear.

As crainsy1337 says
The yakun natima, or devil dance ritual of Sri Lanka, is nothing if not full of drama. Not just a charade or interval designed to entertain, the yakun natima is a carefully crafted ritual with a history reaching far back into Sri Lanka's pre-Buddhist past. It combines ancient Ayurvedic concepts of disease causation with deft psychological manipulation. Lasting up to twelve hours, it mixes raucous humour with deep-rooted fears to create a healing catharsis for both patient and community.


I just like the words in the first part. Is it about Seenigama Devol Kumaru.

Nondi Kumaru .......
Demala mau .....









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