Sri Lanka drums

Sri Lanka has been having many types of drums in use from ancient times, and reference to these are found in some of the classical literature e.g. "Pujawaliya", "Thupawansaya", "Dalada Siritha" etc. Although there had been about 33 types of drums, today we find only about ten and the rest are confined only to names. The Sri Lankan Drum Tradition is believed to go as far back as 2500 years.

An examination of the village society in olden times would reveal that drums were used on special occasions during the life span of people, from their birth to the death. Drums, which were originally used, for pleasure and later for rituals, came to be used in the Buddhist Temples for the many ceremonies. At a later stage, Drums were also used as a means of communication. The Davula, Thammattama and the Bench Rabana have an important place in matters of communication.

Drums in use today include: Geta Bera (Bera Drum), Yak Bera, Davula, Thammattama, Udakkiya, Bummadiya, Hand Rabana, Bench Rabana, and Dandu Beraya.

This is the main drum used to accompany dances in the Kandyan or the Hill Country tradition. This drum is turned out of wood from Ehela, Kohomba or Kos tree. The drum tapers towards the ends and on the right side, the opening is covered with the skin of a monkey while the opening on the other side is covered with a cattle skin. The strings that are used tighten the sides are from a deer skin. A student who begins his training in the use of the Geta Bera has to practice twelve elementary exercises.

This drum is referred to by many names among which are the Ruhunu Bera, Devol Bera and Ghoskaya. This drum normally accompanies the dances from the low country, especially the mask dancing connected with rituals and the folk play Kolam. The drum is turned out of wood taken from the Kohomba, Ehela, Kitul or Milla trees. This is a cylindrical drum, fairly long and is played on both sides with hands. The openings on the two sides of the drum are covered with the stomach lining of a cow. The strings used to tighten the sides are from cattle skin. A student has twelve elementary exercises to learn to play this drum.

This drum is used in most of the Buddhist ceremonies all over the island. This drum is cylindrical, but much shorter than the Yak Bera. An important feature of this drum is that one side is played with the hand while the other side is played with a stick. The sides are covered with cattle skin and the tightening is done with a string made specially for the purpose. These are also twelve elementary exercises to be followed by a person learning to use the drum.

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Wikipedia