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1 |Gajaga Vannama| The Elephant

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Vannam
 
This Vannama is the recital of the Elephant. Dancers enact the majestic walk of the celestial Iravana, elephant of the sacred legends. The dignified features of the elephant are portrayed in choice diction; Irvana’s bathing and frolicking about, its stride and movements are imitated with considerable technical skill by the dancers.

This vannama is among the most remarkable of the series danced with stately steps by performers commonly wearing costumes in Black/ Red/ Gold. The singers perform the Kaviya of the Gajaga Vannama harmoniously as the dancers enter stage, meanwhile the drummers play by their side.

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Gajaga Vannama – Performed by Channa Upuli 

Lyrics of the Kaviya (in Sinhala and English)

දෙව්පුර ඇතෙකී – කුඹු දහසයකී
දිග දළ අටෙකී – සත් ගැබකී
Devpura Etheki – Kumbu Dahasayaki
Diga Dala Ateki – Sath Gebaki

වැව් පොකුණු ද කී – සත් සිය ගැන කී
එක පොකුණෙකී – සිවු මලෙකී
Vew Pukunu Da Ki – Sath Siya Gena ki
Eka Pokuneki – Sivu Maleki

සිවු මල පෙති කී – ගැන තිස් දෙකකී
පෙත්තක නටු කී – සිවු සැටෙකී
Sivu Mala Pethi ki – Gena This Dekaki
Peththaka Netu ki – Sivu Sate ki

කව් කර වැනුකී – ලෙවු ඉසි බසෙකී
ගජගා නමකී – වන්නමකී
Kav Kara Venuki – Levu Isi Baseki
Gajaga Namaki – Vannamaki

 
 

Gajaga Vannama performed by Channa Upuli Dance Academy.

 

Until next time,
#everydayKandyan