Tharupathi makes his mark as musician

Irangika Range

SONGS: Young and talented artist Tharupathi Munasinghe, will launch his first CD in July. This double CD comprises his compositions of light songs, cinema, stage plays and teledramas. He also expects to launch the double CD, which is a well-known songs collection of his father, the late musicologist Austin Munasinghe who has rendered a great service to the Sri Lankan music scene.

His composition for cinema, stage plays, teledramas and light songs have been rerecorded and will be released in July as well. Tharupathi will also work as a music director for the first time for a musical short film. He said that work will begin in August. "This will be my first experience in music directing and this is a good opportunity to me. I am very keen on this work," he said.

Tharupathi has shown his inherent skills from his childhood and was able to gain fame in all these areas from a very young age. Tharupathi has worked for his father's orchestra as well. "My father has provided a great service to the local music scene and I was able to gain experience to promote artistic skills," he said.

Tharupathi was selected to participate in the Berlinale talent Campus held in Germany in February. He said it was the first time a local music composer had been able to participate in that event and was a good opportunity to improve his talents. "I have learnt how to use new technology in cinema, teledrama and song industry. Sharing experience with other artists from various countries and participating in training programmes, have helped me to improve my skills," he said.

A former student of Mahanama College, Colombo, Tharupathi has won awards for best music director, best direction and production and best costume design for the play Vatuwatha at the National Inter School Drama Festival in 1993. He won the best music award for Arundathi at the State Drama Festival organised by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in 2000.

He also won the best music award at the Youth Theatre Festival organised by the National Youth Services Council for the same play in 1999. He won the best music direction for the play Dhammarathana Hari Narakai at the State Short Drama Festival organized by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in 2000.

He has also proved his excellence in teledramas. His first drama Miringu Thera, won the best up and coming young music director at the Sumathi Tele Awards in 2000. That was an award I always cherish," Tharupathi said.

Tharupathi has created some exquisite theme songs that are popular among the Sri Lankan music fans. The most popular ones are the songs for Sakisanda Eliyas, Sabanda Pubilis, Depath Nai and Isuru Yogaya. He is the creator of many musical themes of popular television programs including "Angali Salakuna" (Finger Print). He has also contributed to a number of commercial advertisements as a music director.

Tharupathi's skills are not restricted to the music field. He is a radio programme producer by profession and has been working at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation since 2001.

He also works as a visiting lecturer in theatre music at the Faculty of Performing Arts at the Colombo University and Kelaniya University. He is also a visiting lecturer of the theatre music at the Aesthetic Institute of the University of Kelaniya.

As a child vocalist, he won the Japan Prize International Educational Program Contest organized by NHK Radio in Japan in 1985. He composed music for the short film under the theme of "Football and Culture" selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus in 2005.

Tharupathi said he had composed music for films such as Vijitha Gunaratna's Wala Patala and Buddika Jayarathna's Dedunu Wessa. He also composed music for the musical short films of Seri Vaanija of Teleview and Ranthali of Aruna Lokuliyana. He has also composed for Gaya Ramya Alwis's Warna and Prasanna Vithanage's Horu Samaga Heluwen.

Geoffrey Bawa Memorial lecture

HONOUR: The Lunuganga Trust will honour and celebrate the life and work of the late architect Geoffrey Bawa through a Geoffrey Bawa Memorial lecture to be held on July 23, at 6.30 p.m. at the SLFI Auditorium, 100, Independence Square, Colombo 7.

The speaker will be Indian architect Rahul Mehrotra. He will speak on the relevance of Geoffrey Bawa when working in the context of South-Asia, where he has done most of his own work.

Rahul Mehrotra studied at the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad and at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard where he received a Master of Architecture in Urban Design degree.

The office of Rahul Mehrotra Associates was founded in August 1990 and has since designed and executed diverse projects ranging from Interior Design and Architecture to Urban Design, Conservation and Planning. Mehrotra is actively involved with Urban Conservation projects in the city of Bombay and has served from 1992 to 1999 on the Advisory Committee that advises the Municipal Commissioner on Conservation of Heritage Buildings and artifacts in the city of Bombay. He has also atuhored a number of books on Bombay and has written extensively on architecture, urban design and planning in India.

Since 1996 Rahul Mehrotra has been on the Board of Governors of the Metropolitan Regional Development Authotrity's Heritage Society, which administers grants as well as supports and facilitates conservation projects in the region. From 1994 Mehrotra has been the Executive Director of the Urban Design Research Institute in Bombay which promotes research on the city with the aim of influencing urban planning policy.

Mehrotra has taught at The National University of Singapore, (1998) and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, (2000) where he has now been appointed an Associate Professor.

Rahul Mehrotra has been actively involved in the creation, maintenance and preservation of Bombay's Public Spaces with numerous Citizens Associations, as well as official Government Working Groups and Committees.

The folk dance heritage

The Li-Keli (Stick Dance Play):

Rohan L. Jayetilleke

DANCE: The traditional folk dance of Li-Keli, striking of sticks, that parades in the Esala Peraheras of Kandy, is the simplest form of an instrumental rhythmic dance form. This dance form is widely prevalent in different parts of India and named under different names in different regions. This dance form of Sri Lanka too is a migrant from India, the mother country of music, dance, theatre and all aesthetic arts.

In Kerala, it is called Kol Kali, the Play of Sticks; in Tamilnadu is Kolattam. The Stick Dance is also more popular among school girls in North Indian regions of Mumbai and Rajasthan it is Dandiya Ras. In Sri Lanka it is Li-Keli, widely popular with girls and a pre-eminent dance form in processions.

The Li-Keli dance form has variants. The Tamilnadu dance form of Pinnal Kolatta, wherein chords or ribbons of different colours are wound round a central post. The free ends of the chrods are held by each of the dancers, who circumambulate dancing the post striking sticks, winding and unwinding the strands in the process of their dancing process.

The little sticks slick in rhythm as the swirl round to the lilt of song. This Li-Keli dance too is present in Sri Lanka from time immemorial being brought from South India to Sri Lanka, firstly for Hindu festivals and then adopted for Buddhists festivals too. The Hindu origin is seen through the Devala Peraheras of the Kandy Esala Perahera.

The Li-Keli songs invoke blessings of the gods. One such song in its English translation reads: "May meritorious Sri Vishnu, shining resplendent like the Golden Mount Meru, bless us and bestow favours; May evils all be dispelled and kings protected; May Sri Vishnu accord us leave to do the stick dance".

Invocations are addressed to god Kadavara of Kadirapura, Gods Natha and Saman of Smanala Giri (Sri Pada) and the Lord of the Sages, Dipankara Buddha.

Still another song of this anthology reads:

"Cutting six sticks of the same tree,

Choose six boys of equal height;

with acknowledgement to the teacher,

Let us form into two groups and play the stick dance"

Further in these invocative songs blessings of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha too are sought in the following manner: "Taking refuge, first in the Buddha, next in the Dhamma, third in the Sangha, may goddess Earth permit us to do our steps.

Attaining Buddhahood, after much meditation, the Earth trembled with the movement, and the Brahmaloka; from thence forth began the stick dance of Li-keli". Mounted on the horse Kantaka, Prince Siddartha left home to engage in austerities. On Enlightenment, the elephants of the Danta Clan danced in joy. Kantaka came from the city to the sea-port 'Sinhapura', let us start the dance, 'Danta Gatam' first with the Devaraja Vannama.

Then the songs the movements of the steps of the dancers; "Bowing in reverence to the Sacred Bodhi-Tree, we turn back and face each other; May Bo-Pattini give us permission; Pay homage to the Sun God, that rises in the morning, to the Moon God that rises in the evening, to our parents who nurtured us, and dance, so we may attain Nibbana.

Rural and romantic episodes are also occasionally mirrored in the songs such as: "Anchiya Tudiya" I saw after handling the Talampota, and beating the tom-tom of a bottle grourd, may you unravel, clear in thoughts.

Who is maiden is, adorned with, beauty specks, seated on a spike in the field Seated on a chair with rings on the fingers, and hair bedecked with flowers, With clothes worn in a fold, of colour blue, Thy golden body, is worth five thousand and thy waving heads are those of a goddess".

The Esala Perahera was pre- Sri Dalada Perahera of Kandy. In 1753, when the Maha Nayaka Thera, Phra Upali came from Thailand at the invitation of Velivita Sri Saranankara Thera (later Sangharaja) to re-establish Higher Ordination (Upasampada) from his residence at Malwatu Maha Vihara.

He heard the jingling of bells and having inquired came to know it was of the four devala peraheras at Kandy, Natha, Vishnu, Skanda (Kataragama) and Pattini. He suggested that a Perahera too must be added to this annual festival and it was done in 1754.

Of the earlier four Peraheras, the Perahera in the forefront was that of Natha (Bodhisatva Avaloketeswara, who was also called Senkadagala Nirindu - King of Senkadagala. In the Natha Devala premises there was no Sangharama as at present and the entire premises was set apart from the activities of the Natha Devala.

In fact even today the Perahera just behind the Sri Dalada Perahera is the Natha Perahera. The erection of the 'Kapa' (dedicatory tree trunk) and slicing it to four at auspicious time having conducted the necessary rituals and the distribution of the sliced pieces of the Kapa to the other three devalas was done at Natha devala. The locus of this ritual appears to have been now shifted to Vishnu devala calling it the main devala, which is an erroneous acceptance, the main devala is Natha devala.

(The writer is a member of the Bharatiya Kala Kendra of India.)

Teledrama industry needs clear direction, says TMG

APPEAL: The Tele Makers Guild (TMG) of Sri Lanka issuing a press release states that the teledrama industry in Sri Lanka is going from bad to worse and that their repeated representations to State authorities to retrieve the art of teledrama from this tragic fate has fallen on deaf ears.

The releas: "Tele Makers Guild is a voluntary ensemble of eminent academics directly involved in the industry and art of teledrama with Udayakantha Warnasuriya as its present President. Somaweera Senanayake, Bandula Weerakkody, Ravindra Guruge, Attorney-at-law Douglas Siriwardena, Nalan Mendis, Sathischandra Edirisinghe, Sudath Rohana, and Rohana Dandeniya are some of the key role actors in the guild, to mention a few.

"The Guild's Secretary Douglas Siriwardena in a recent media release pointed out that the present trend of quality deterioration is not an overnight outcome but a gradual development over a period as a result of the absence of a national policy relating to the field and the short sighted decisions by authorities concerned motivated by political agenda and profit enhancing.

"The Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation from its very inception produced high standard teledrama and operated on a novel strategy under the guidance of a Council of Academics created by the then Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera. The Plan was backed by the Tele Makers Guild. The collapse of that process made room for childish standard teledramas to over take quality teledramas causing much pain of mind to dynamic teledrama producers, the media release pointed out.

"Under this state of affairs many talented teledrama makers were evacuated from the field leaving the doors open for low quality teledramas thereby harming the entire art and industry of teledrama including Directors, artistes, technicians as well as teledrama viewers, it said. "It further commented that the authorities responsible for this deterioration of standard is an intentional destruction of the indigenous culture, the national identity and the indigenous pattern of thinking, worse than the terrorist menace.

"In conclusion, the media release urged the entire intelligentsia, all television viewers and all authorities concerned under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapakse to pay attention to this shuttle move motivated to destroy our indigenous pattern of thinking and take necessary steps to re-fertilize the fields of arts in our country."

MAF new President

OFFICE-BEARERS: Moratuwa Arts Forum, (MAF) held its 12th Annual General Meeting on June 18 where the mantle of the president for the year 2006/07 was bestowed on Laksiri Fernando who was the drummer of the dance band Pedlars of the 1970 era.

He had been an active member of MAF from the inception and had been in the Executive Committees of the inaugural President Asoka Peiris and to the last of Brian Coorey where he relinquished duties as the Vice President to take over as President.

He was also the Treasurer during the Presidency of Lankika Perera of Golden Chimes. He had been involved in various projects and also been the Co-Chairman of the annual project 'Down Memory Lane' on a couple of occasions. Due to the success of these projects and having identified the leadership qualities in him the membership unanimously elected him to lead MAF for 2006/07.

Laksiri was a dynamic personality in the band Pedlars, which was led by evergreen personality Lincoln de Silva, now the leader of the popular Super Pink N Purple. Pedlars were a household name in Moratuwa in the late 1960-1970 era where no function was complete without them being in attendance. They had regular engagements at the popular San Michelle and Palm Springs where these places become packed during the weekends with fun revellers who dance their hearts out to the pulsating music of the Pedlars.

During his period, well-known personalities like Esmie de Silva, Sohan Weerasinghe, Priyanthi Jalaldeen and Larry Landers who is now a professional performer in Germany also rose up with the Pedlars.

After a very long spell of being away from the musical field Laksiri was back again for a short period in 1986 performing as the drummer with, the late Udaya Galappatti to form the band Attraction and now changed name to Ebony after Udaya's brothers and sister joined to make it a family band of performers. Laksiri now performs every year with other musicians of Moratuwa Arts Forum in the 'Down Memory Lane' festival of yester year.

Suranga Fernando was elected treasurer, while songstress Anuradha Mendis, a secretary attached to Ladies' College and guitarist cum singer Hemaka Fernando was elected as assistant treasurer respectively.

The rest of the committee is Brian Cooray, Asoka Peiris, Lankika Perera, Tilak Perera, Nihal Fernando, Sarath Gunawardana, Meril Fernando, Hensley Fernando, Gunaratne Tennekoon, Somasiri Fernando, Tharanga Deepal.