DD/24/004 Thinusha

My favourite percussion crew is  Naadro crew. Naadro is one of the most popular percussion crew in the world and according to me it is the best percussion crew in Sri Lanka. Master Rakitha Wickramarathne was the founder of Naadro and he started it in 2007. Rakitha Wickramarathne, Gayan Manokumara, Nupathi Nilambara, Ranga Nuwantha, Rusiru Rathnayake, Devinu Muthugala, Hashan Weerasinghe and Shashi Periyapperuma are the key players of Naadro.                       Naadro crew is always creating some beautiful compositions by using Sri Lankan traditional drums and Latin percussion instruments. That compositions are very clear and powerful creations. I would like to show you a beautiful act of Naadro from the link below. Naadro   As a crew they launched the biggest percussion event in Sri Lanka called 'The Bera Fest' in 2017. It was a brilliant concert and a big experiance for us as Sri Lankans.    I  was ...

  My all time favourite tablist is Ustad Zakir Hussain. He was one of the best tablist in India. He was born in 1951 and his father was Ustad Allah Rakka. He is also a good tablist in India. Zakir Hussain started his music journey at 12 years old amd his gharana was Punjab Gharana. Gharana means like a school that giving characteristics, techniqes and some compositions from generation to generation. In 1973, Zakir started a music band called 'Shakthi' and Zakir Hussain was the co - founder of that band.   Even though he wa stay at Punjab gharana, he showed some beautiful bols (compositions) and techniqes from other styles such as Farukabhad style, Lucknow style etc. He was talented for make some beautiful rhythemic patterns by using the tabla bols and the experiences of day today life. As an example, he generated the sound of steam train emgine by using a popular tabla bol is called 'Rela'. He able to play tabla with his father for a long time.   He able to give...

My celebrity singer is Pt. W.D. Amaradeva. According to me he was one of the best musician in the world and he is the maestro of Sri Lankan Music. Pt. Amaradewa was born in 1927 December 5th and his first name was Wannakuwattawaduge Don Albert Perera and Amaradewa was the adopted name. He was the youngest child in his family. He showed his talents since the child hood as a singer and a vocalist.  He learned the prograssion of Sinhala Folk music from so many dancing masters such as Panibharatha, Kiri ganithaya and Ukkuwa etc. As a result he created some beautiful creations from the Sri Lankan folk music and Indian folk music by using sitar, tabla and harmonium. Master Mohammad Gaws was the music director of 'ASHOKAMALA'  film and Amaradewa was the main violinist of that ochestra. Amaradewa was able to contribute to the music direction of so many films such as 'Ranmuthu doowa, Gamperaliya, Gatawarayo' etc and he achived so many awards for his talent such as Ramon Magsaisa...

As a musician I listen so many types of music. Among these types there are 2 types that i like to listen. They are, 1.Bajan songs 2.Gazal songs All these types are include in the culture of Indian music. Let's see what are that waht are these types. 1.Bajan Songs Bhajan songs are mainly sings to praise and worship the gods in Hindu culture. These songs are similar to the Buddhist verses. Mainly God Vishnu and Ram are worship from bhajans and tabla, harmonium, violin and flute are the main instruments that they use when they singing bhajan songs. There are so many popular and beautiful bhajans such as Raghupathi Ragav, Waishnav Janatho, Thujhe Narayan Mil Jahenge etc.    Now you can listen a beautiful bhajan song from the link below. It sang about God Ram and Seetha. Raghupathi Rahav Raja Ram    2.Gazal Songs Gazal songs also one of the most popular, beautiful and interesting type in Hindusthani music. Gazals are mainly based on Hinudustani raagas. It's mean thes...

First of all i would like to explain you that what is Thandawa. Thandawa was written by praising the heroism and greatness of a person. King Ravana was wrote a thandawa for God Shiva before 5000 years. But today we are talking about a beautiful thandawa was written for the God Katharagama. It is called 'MAHASEN THANDAWAYA'. God Katharagama was the son of God Shiva. Mahasen is another name for God Katharagama. Mahasen Thandawa was a great production of 'Ravana Brothers' crew. Dhammika Hettiarachchi was the writer of this song and Saman Lenin was the singer of this song. Mix and mastering was directed by Pabalu Wijegunawardane and he used some Sri Lankan traditional drums for colour up this such as Thammattama, Dawula and Yak beraya.  Mahasen Thandawa is a strong and beautiful song and It praises about the heroism and greatness of God Katharagama. It's lyrics are Sinhala. But those Sinhala lyrics are not normal words when we are talking in our day today life. It's...

My favourite stage drama is Sinhabahu. It is one of the Best and popular stage drama in Sri Lanka. Prof. Ediriweera Sarathchandra was the author of this drama and it was first staged in 1961. Sinhabahu stage drama is based on a historical story in the book of Maha Wanshaya and father - son conflict, love and duty are the main concepts of this stage drama.  The style of this drama is called 'NADAGAM'  and the actors and actresses are say their lines as singing a song. It is a main specification of the 'NADAGAM'. Maddalaya, Harmonium and thaalampata are the main instruments they play for this stage drama and  the choreography of this drama was directed by master Ravibandu Widyapathi. The songs of this stage drama was very beautiful and interesting and my favourite song is 'DASA DESA INDRA' song. It is the song when the lion comes to the stage. You can listen to that song from the link below.  Dasa Desa Indra song   Sinhabahu, The Lion, Siha Seevali and Suppa devi ...

I had read so many stories about kings in Sri Lanka. When i see those stories, according to me King Dutugamunu is the greatest king in Sri Lanka. King Dutugamunu was the elder son of King Kawanthissa and Queen Wihara Maha Devi. Prince Saddathissa was the brother of King Dutugamunu. Let's see about King Dutugamunu. King Dutugamunu did so many duties to protect and develop our nation. Among these duties the main one is, he unified our country from finishing the invasions of King Elara. King Elara tried to destroy the culture, cultivation and all the things of our country. But as a results King Dutugamunu finished that invasion very successfully. He was a great king who supported to develop the Buddhism in Sri Lanka. He built lots of buddhist temples such as Ruwanmali Seya, Mirisawatiya, Lowamahapaaya etc. Not only that he did so many arms givings in his palace. He was a king who greatly respected to the buddhist monks and he built the Mirisawatiya temple as a result of his great resp...

Music is a world languadge. We can do so many things from learning music. But today i am talk about the meditaion side of music. Let's see it. We know the use of meditaion is we can relax our mind and develop our mental fitness. Why i am telling like that? When we are meditaiting, always we keeping the attetion to the process of breath. It helps to relax the stress of our mind. Beacause the thing is our focus is the process of breath and there for our mental pressure going down. Not only that healthy breath is very useful to all the systems of body. So there for meditation is directly impact to the physical fitness to our body. I told before that music is like a meditation. Now i am trying to explain it for you. There are so many types of music such as classical, semi classical, reggey etc. All these types we can devide in to parts. They are,                  1.Soft Music                   2. Hard...

  My favourite song is 'SANSARAYE MA' song. It is a sinhala song and nowadays it is a popular song among the young generation of Sri Lanka. This song was created by Mr. Charitha Attalage and he is one of the best musician in Sri Lanka. This is a duet song and Ridma weerawardane and Anu Madhubashini are the singers of this song. It is a romantic song and specially it feels at the night.  The singers of this song sang it very immotionally and it has helped to generate the romanitic feel of this song. As a percussionist i would like to talk about the percussion mixing of this song. The percussion mixing of this was was great and beautiful. Because they used very soft tones for this song such as tabla and raban tones. The solos parts of mandolin and violin used like interlood parts and those parts was very immotinal.  I told before that this song specially feels at the night time. Now the time is 4.56 P.M. Do you know something? I am writing this blog while listening to that ...

  My celebrity percussionist is Mr. Rakitha Wickramarathne and he is also my Latin percussion master. He is one of the best percussionist in the world. According to me in present days he is the best percussionist in Sri Lanka. Let's see who is this magical artist. Rakitha Wickramarathne started his percussion journey with Sri Lankan drums. His master is Mr. Piyasara shilpadhipathi. After that in 2003 as a royalist and as a percussionist he had great apportunity to represnt SAGA concert. Forunatly he could find another side of his percussion skills. It is Latin Percussion. Then he started to learn about Latin percussion. In 2004 he found out the world best percussion instrument company. It is LP and finally he was able to become a sponserd artist of LP company in 2007. Not only that he started the NAADRO percussion band for making another magical experiance in percussion side of Sri Lanka. In present days Naadro band is very popular percussion band in the world. In 2023 he could mak...

  My favourite tusker is Wasana Tusker. In present days Wasana is one of the biggest and the oldest tusker in the domisticated elephant generation in Sri Lanka. Wasana was born in 1970 and after that it was caught from a forrest in Anuradapura in 1971. Then finally Wasana was sacrificed by Mrs. Wimala Kannangara to the Ruhunu Maha Katharagama Dewalaya and since that day Wasana is the main tusker of Ruhunu Maha Katharagama Dewalaya. Wasana's height is '10 feets' and it has beautiful and long tusks. After the death of Nadungamuwe Raja, Wasana became the main tusker in Sri Lanka. Now it has a chance to bring the 'PERAHERA KARANDUWA'  in so many processions of Sri Lanka specially the procession of the Tooth Relic. Wasana's best friend is Sinharaja Tusker and Sinharaja belongs to the temple of the Tooth Relic. Ajith Ashoka is the care taker of Wasana and his nick name is 'AJITH MAMA'. Ajith mama takes good care of Wasana.  According to me Wasana tusker is lik...

  My Low - country cultural vision day is the unforgetable day in my life. It was a magical and brilliant experiance for me. That day 16 students participated for this event with me. That day, first we bathed and cleaned ourselves and then worshiped the Lord Buddha. After that Some dancers and drummers did some rituals for us. Overroll it is called 'HANGALA PE KIRIMA.'   Then we were dressed according to the good time by the 17 main teachers who invited that day. After that we came to the place where we dance and first of all we worshiped to our teachers and parents then we started our first dance called ' YAHAN DAKMA'.  Yahan Dakma is the first act of our cultural vision. Mainly we dance Yahan Dakma to worship gods such as Dewol, Paththini etc. I had the opportunity there to mainly start this dancing item and i think it is a good experiance for me. Not only that we had a chance to show our special skills from that act.     Our second dancing act is ' SAWDA...

  If you think that what i am telling today, obviously you will suprise. My topic is 'Born as a prince and die as a king'. It means today my topic is 'My school'. My school is Price Of Wales College. It is located in Moratuwa. My school is one of the old and beautiful school in Sri Lanka. Let's see about the history of our school. The founder of our school is Mr. Charles Hendri De Soysa and he started this school in memory of King Edward VII in Wales. The foundation stone of the school was laid by Sir William Gregeory in 1876. The plan of school was created by Mr. Muhandiram Mendis Jayawardane. Now i'll show the founder's photo and the old photo of our school.  In 1967, Mr. Thissa Gunawardana was created the school Budhdha's temple. It so beautiful and old Buddha's temple in Sri Lanka.  There are two German and Latin Mottos in our school crest. The first one is 'ICE DIEN' and It means 'I serve'. The second one is 'NIHIL PER SALTUM...

We know if we ask a question that what is your favourite country, so many people said ' I like America, I like Australia, I like New Zealand' etc. But if you ask a question from me that what is your favourite country, obviasly i am telling 'My favourite country is Sri Lanka'. Beacuse Sri Lanka is a beautiful country and it is one of the best country in Asia. We say Sri Lanka is the pearl of Idian Ocen. In ancient time (the time of King Parakramabahu the great) Sri Lanka was called the Eastern Garanary.  As a country we had to faced so many enemy invasions such as Porthuguese, Dutch and British. But we finished all those problems very successfully beacause of our great heroes such as Kappetipola Maha Disawa, Weera Puran Appu, Gongale Godabanda etc. In present days we had to face a big war is called LTTE invasion. But we were able to finish that invasion very successfully. As a Sri Lankans we have to appriciate all the soldiers who faced that invasion. As a country we hav...

As a student i most like to study the history of Sri Lanka. One day i read a book about the history of Sri Lanka. When i read that book, i found a magical chapter about Seetha and King Ravana. Let's see what is that story. King Ravana is one of the best king in the ancient time of our country. He had a little sisiter.  After the born of  this Princess, the Sage Wishrawas said that this birth will destroy the country and the generation of  'Yakka'.  There for sage Wishrawas had to deport this princess from a little boat. She went to India.  One day another sage in India saw that princess and he handed over this princess to the King Janaka and King Janaka well taken care of this princess. She is Seetha. Finally Seetha married Prince Ram and Ram was the son of King Dasharatha.    Mean while King Ravana's elder sister Suparnika was intersted about Prince Ram. She wemt to India and tell it to Ram. But Ram didn't like it and Ram said to Supanrnika that ' You...

I told before percussion is one of the biggest passion in my life. If i come to a place from the percussion side, there are lot of people who supported me to achive it. I say there are heroes of my life. Let's see. Mr. Gayan Manokumara sir is my kandyan drumming and kandyan dancing master. i joined with gayan sir before 3 years and since that day i took lots of experiances, correct drumming and dancing skills, new collaberations etc. He is a good teacher and well talanted man in the dancing field and he is a member of Naadro percussion crew. After that he joined me to learn the Latin percussions under the master Rakitha Wickramarathne. Mr. Rakitha Wickramarathne sir is my Latin percussion master. He is one of the best percussionist in the world and according to me he is the best percussionist in Sri Lanka. He is also the founder of Naadro. I would like to he is a brand ambassodor of the popular percussion brands in the world such as LP, DW, Paiste Symbols etc. He is a good teacher ...

Domisticated elephants are very important and helpfull animal kingdom in Sri Lanka. The elephant that lives in Sri Lanka is called ' Asian Elephant' and it's scientific name is 'Eliphas Maximus Maximus'. Both types of elephants who born in Sri Lanka and brought to the country from abroad are in the present generation of domisticated elephants in Sri Lanka. Before the several years there are 225 elephants in this generation. But in the present there are 90 or 96 elephants in this generation. It is a big problem for the future of our country. Beacause we use these animals for so many things such as perehara functions, pull the weight and so many things since the ancient time in Sri Lanka. Among these elephants and tuskers i would like to talk about 3 majestic tuskers in Sri Lanka. Let's see it.  This is Nadungamuwe Raja tusker and it is the largest tusker in South Asia. Nadungamuwe Raja's first name was 'Wijaya Raja'. Raja was born in Mysore state, Ind...