Difficulty in defining

Trying to define ‘truly Sri Lankan’ music is perhaps an impossible task, given that Sri Lankan music has been shaped by so many regional and international influences. As a compilation of Sinhala and Tamil folk music in the 1960s and 1970s?explains, “If Sri Lankan music is undeniably part of South Asian musical culture, its heritage is also a product of almost five centuries of European imperialism.” This emerges from the African diasporic and Portugese influences in baila to the Indian influences in Sri Lanka’s form of?sarala gee?(which W D Amaradeva’s music has been credited for inspiring, as he fused Indian classical music with Sinhala folk).?

Some of the?oldest?types of music recorded in Sri Lanka were known as Prashasthi (meaning praise), which became popular in the Kandyan era, dating back to the end of the 15th century. The praise referred to here?could be?praise for the kings themselves, deities or noblemen.?

Sri Lankan folk music also has its origins in jana kavi - caste-based folk poems which illustrated the daily lives of workers. These poems were sung to ward off loneliness or tiredness.?

Tellingly, finding resources on Tamil folk music originating from Sri Lanka was more difficult. But as I found out, making distinctions in musical styles based solely on ethnicity is as simplistic as attempting to pinpoint the authenticity of Sri Lankan music. As Sykes wrote in 2011, Sinhalese and Tamil artists were influenced by each other. This can be seen when examining Sarachchandra Ediriweera’s 1956 plays, Maname and Sinhabahu. In composing the music for the play, Sarachchandra was intent on using nadagam, a form of folk music drawn from the Christian community. In reviving nadagam for his plays, Sarachchandra studied the Tamil form of koothu music and dance - which is to say that one of the most well-known Sinhalese works has its roots in Tamil music.?

To call koothu Tamil folk music is?also?a generalisation - koothu song and dance is predominant in Batticaloa, and has a distinct sound to the form koothu found in Tamil Nadu.?

There are at least two contemporary attempts to revive the koothu tradition in Sri Lanka, both of them originating from the Eastern University in Batticaloa.?

Music in the Muslim community

Contrary to popular belief that music is haraam or forbidden in the Muslim community, there is in fact a??tradition?of devotional music (the most widely known being the melodic adhan or call to prayer). In the South of Sri Lanka, the Sufi Muslim community marks each month of the Islamic lunar calendar by chanting verses in the form of song, many of them recounting the Prophet’s life story or praising Sufi saints. Here again, Indian influence and regional linkages with Sri Lanka can be seen. Devotional music even among the Muslim community varies regionally or is based on the Sufi order, as Nadine Vanniasinkam?writes. Song and chanting plays a role in Muslim women’s worship - like the Thalai Fatiha, recited on the 12th day of Ramadan and the 10th day of Muharram, and specially composed for the Muslim women of Sri Lanka by the nineteenth century South Indian missionary scholar Mappillai Lebbe Alim Muslims also?recount?memories of music marking social events, such as the qasidas, mostly religious poetry sung in Arabic and Tamil at school prizegivings and almsgivings held in honour of the Prophet’s birthday.?

Apart from devotional music, the Muslim community also has its own folk music and dance - like the kalikambu dance or polladi, which involves tapping sticks to maintain a rhythm, and is popular among Muslims in the East.?

Music and nationalism

In ‘The Politics and Poetics of Authenticity’ Harshana Rambukwella?explores?how playwright John de Silva drew on multiple traditions including nurthi and nadagama to tap into cultural and nationalist sentiments - highlighting how music was used to articulate Sinhala Buddhist identity. In the 1930s, Munidasa Cumaratunge and others advocated for extreme cultural and linguistic purity, denying any links between India and Sinhala culture. Yet, what was known as the ‘art song’ and later came to represent Sinhalese music, did have Indian influences, even as they rejected Western influence and the South Indian Karnataka tradition. A well known example of the art song is Pandit W D Amaradeva’s rendition of Danno Budunge, which came to represent Sinhala identity and authenticity. Yet the song was first produced in 1903, by Vishwanath Lawjee, an Indian musician who collaborated on most of de Silva’s productions.

Despite the interconnectedness of folk music, it is nevertheless true that certain styles of music?are sometimes given precedence. There is rivalry, for instance, between the upcountry and lowcountry drumming communities (the berava community is the primary focus of Sykes’ study) with distinct drums, music and dance. Some of the rivalry is based on caste discrimination - Sykes?cites?Reed, who says that up country consultants feel more affinity with the (higher caste) upcountry drummers. The berava community themselves are considered a service caste, and the stigma of being identified as berava has led to many within the community moving into the agricultural profession or holding other jobs. Similar discrimination exists within the Tamil community towards parai drummers, although they cannot be considered equivalent to the berava community as they face added discrimination for being Tamil.?

Arivu’s Enjoy Enjaami opens to the beat of parai drums - but again, the style of parai drumming found in Sri Lanka is distinct to that found in India. I vividly recall watching parai drummers performing during the Galle Music Festival in 2016, where I was introduced to Sri Lanka’s many forms of folk music and dance (for more from that trip, check out?this piece?from Amalini).

Enter baila

Baila’s origins can be traced to the?kaffir community?brought in by the Portuguese when they colonised the country, and influence from the?Portuguese, who incorporated their own instruments and traditions (a form of musical or cultural colonisation).?

The Kaffir community in Sri Lanka?speak?a form of Portugese creole, and their style of dance, kaffrinja, shares direct roots with baila (although both the language and their music is fast disappearing with the passage of time). The kaffirs are?also?linked with the Burgher community in Batticaloa through music, and specifically through baila.?

How did this baila become the ubiquitous theme tune at multiple Sri Lankan weddings? Members of the kaffir community would sit on their verandahs, playing music and dancing, occasionally using coconut shells or the rabbana (drum) to tap out a beat. It?soon?became popular across the country, forming an alternative to the austerity of the Sinhala classical music in style at the time. Feisal Samath?traces?modern baila’s evolution to Wally Bastian, a police constable who introduced lyrics to popular kaffrinja music in the 1960s.?

One of the first groups that come to mind when thinking of?baila are of course, the Gypsies and their lead singer Sunil Perera, who recently passed away due to COVID-19. Sunil was unafraid to explore political and social issues in his music - even if his ad-libbing?cost him.?

Baila was not restricted to Sinhala musicians - in the?1960s,?Nithi Kanagaratnam gained popularity in Tamil Nadu for his song Chinna Maamiye, which he first?tested out?during a cricket match in Jaffna. In between studying agriculture at Allahabad University, Nithi composed music, soon discovering that baila could be a vehicle used to send out social messages to people (for example Nithi's song ‘Kallukada Pakkam Pogatha' is a song about the pitfalls of alcoholism).?

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