• Latest
Nai Natavana Minissu

Nai Natavana Minissu

January 26, 2023
Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

March 3, 2023
Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

March 3, 2023
DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

March 3, 2023
A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

March 3, 2023
The Colombo Cultural Show: A Soiree into Sri Lanka’s Heart

The Colombo Cultural Show: A Soiree into Sri Lanka’s Heart

February 7, 2023
Kandy Central Market: The epitome of local ambiance

Kandy Central Market: The epitome of local ambiance

February 7, 2023
The Art of Local Writing

The Art of Local Writing

February 7, 2023
Carnival Magic

Carnival Magic

February 7, 2023
Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

January 11, 2023
Rumination and Emotional Process

Rumination and Emotional Process

January 13, 2023
Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

January 11, 2023
Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

January 11, 2023
Retail
Sunday, March 19, 2023
Subscription
Advertise
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 201_
      • 2010
        • January 2010
        • February 2010
        • March 2010
        • April 2010
        • May 2010
        • June 2010
        • July 2010
        • August 2010
        • September 2010
        • October 2010
        • November 2010
        • December 2010
      • 2011
        • January 2011
        • February 2011
        • March 2011
        • April 2011
        • May 2011
        • June 2011
        • July 2011
        • August 2011
        • September 2011
        • October 2011
        • November 2011
        • December 2011
      • 2012
        • January 2012
        • February 2012
        • March 2012
        • April 2012
        • May 2012
        • June 2012
        • July 2012
        • August 2012
        • September 2012
        • October 2012
        • November 2012
        • December 2012
      • 2013
        • January 2013
        • February 2013
        • March 2013
        • April 2013
        • May 2013
        • June 2013
        • July 2013
        • August 2013
        • September 2013
        • October 2013
        • November 2013
        • December 2013
      • 2014
        • January 2014
        • February 2014
        • March 2014
        • April 2014
        • May 2014
        • June 2014
        • July 2014
        • August 2014
        • September 2014
        • October 2014
        • November 2014
        • December 2014
      • 2015
        • January 2015
        • February 2015
        • March 2015
        • April 2015
        • May 2015
        • June 2015
        • July 2015
        • August 2015
        • September 2015
        • October 2015
        • November 2015
        • December 2015
      • 2016
        • January 2016
        • February 2016
        • March 2016
        • April 2016
        • May 2016
        • June 2016
        • July 2016
        • August 2016
        • September 2016
        • October 2016
        • November 2016
        • December 2016
      • 2017
        • January 2017
        • February 2017
        • March 2017
        • April 2017
        • May 2017
        • June 2017
        • July 2017
        • August 2017
        • September 2017
        • October 2017
        • November 2017
        • December 2017
      • 2018
        • January 2018
        • February 2018
        • March 2018
        • April 2018
        • May 2018
        • June 2018
        • July 2018
        • August 2018
        • November 2018
        • December 2018
      • 2019
        • January 2019
        • February 2019
        • March 2019
        • April 2019
        • May 2019
        • June 2019
        • July 2019
        • August 2019
        • September 2019
        • October 2019
        • November 2019
        • December 2019
    • 202_
      • 2020
        • January 2020
        • February 2020
        • March 2020
        • September 2020
        • October 2020
        • November 2020
        • December 2020
      • 2021
        • January 2021
        • February 2021
        • March 2021
        • April 2021
        • May 2021
        • June 2021
        • July 2021
        • August 2021
        • September 2021
        • October 2021
        • November 2021
        • December 2021
      • 2022
        • January 2022
        • February 2022
        • March 2022
        • April 2022
        • May 2022
        • June 2022
        • July 2022
        • August 2022
        • September 2022
        • October 2022
        • November 2022
        • December 2022
      • 2023
        • January 2023
        • February 2023
        • March 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

Nai Natavana Minissu

in Featured, October 2011
0 0
0
Anthony plays to a mesmerised audience

The old man holds the flute to his lips. He blows the first notes and what appears to be a glistening silver rope glides across his shoulders. He looks frail but his fingers are steady as he continues to play. With a gentle slithering movement the snake slips from his shoulders to the ground. The old man looks up and sees his audience backing away; his face breaks into a broad smile. “Come” he says laughing,“Why are you afraid?”

Words Chiranthi Rajapakse Photographs  Prabath Chathuranga

Of all the customs and livelihoods found in Sri Lanka, snake charming is one of the most unusual; it evokes a range of emotions, ranging from curiosity to fear. Snake charming is usually practiced by members of the Ahiguntaka (gypsy) community.

The two brothers begin to play and gradually several snakes emerge, swaying and moving with sinuous movements, the dark markings on their hoods glistening in the sun.

Our search for the Ahiguntaka people takes us to Andarabedda, a small village off the Galgamuwa- Anuradhapura road. Andarabedda is not an easy place to find; at first, it seems as difficult to locate as the elusive gypsies who wander from place to place. We stop numerous times on the way to ask for directions to the village, which is home to the ‘nai natavana minissu’ (snake charming people), the popular name by which the Ahiguntaka community is known.  Finally a small gravel path winding between dry shrub jungle takes us there. In the noon day heat the quiet village seems to be slumbering. Small houses appear at intervals. Vehicles are a rarity; a group of children turn to stare at our jeep. We overtake women walking home, they carry their parcels on their heads gypsy style, it’s mystifying to see how well they manage this balancing feat.

We are looking for one of the oldest inhabitants of the village, the Arachchi (headman) Rengasamigey Massanna. Everyone seems to know him, a chorus of voices points us towards his home and when we arrive we find a slender white haired elderly man, dressed in sarong, an amulet hung around his neck. He is happy to talk to us – “Come, sit” he says calling us inside and indicating the pedura (mat), the only adornment in the verandah of his small house.

There are many things that Massanna is eager to tell us, it’s hard to know where to start. As the name implies the Ahiguntaka people traditionally had no fixed abode and travelled from place to place. We are curious as to how the gypsies settled in this village and Massanna explains that they moved here only in the 1990s after being given government land. He remembers that his parents used to load their goods on donkeys and travel from place to place in Puttalam and Mannar.

Even though they have settled homes the gypsy lifestyle still persists. Says Massanna, “We travel to far off places; Gampaha, Minuwangoda, Kegalle, Rambukkana, Matara, Hambantota, Tangalle… we walk everywhere to practice our trade of snake charming – some of us do fortune telling and work with animals as well.” We can see this from looking around Massanna’s garden where a small monkey balances on a wooden pedestal and looks at us curiously. Massanna takes his animals with him and travels to fairgrounds and markets to entertain people. Some of the poison fangs of the snakes are removed in order to make them less venomous, he says.

The village is a small one and news travels fast. As word goes around that strangers are here, more people appear and join the pedura or simply sit in the garden of Massanna’s house. The women are dressed in redda and hetta and the men in sarongs but the presence of chains and amulets proclaims their gypsy heritage.

Massanna speaks to us in fluent Sinhalese, but we can hear the gypsies speaking amongst themselves in an unfamiliar language. “Telugu is our mother tongue” Massanna tells us. He points to one of the boys “We call him kurka (son). Kuthura means daughter.” As he talks, another gypsy woman chips in with more words and phrases, everyone is eager to teach us something. Massanna speaks three languages, Sinhalese, Telugu and Tamil and can write in Sinhalese. 
“I have to be able to speak with people from anywhere in the country – otherwise how can I earn a living?” he says philosophically. He sounds regretful though that among young gypsy children, the use of Telugu is waning.

As we talk Massanna’s brother Anthony disappears into the house and comes out carrying several flat baskets. He places the baskets on the ground in front of the house, removes the lids and takes out several flutes. The two brothers begin to play and gradually several snakes emerge, swaying and moving with sinuous movements, the dark markings on their hoods glistening in the sun. One snake slithers onto the ground and winds itself around Anthony as the sound of the flute echoes around the garden. It looks intimidating and in spite of Anthony’s beckoning, we refuse to get too close, much to his amusement. Unafraid he grabs hold of the snake with a practiced hand. 
The surrounding villagers watch, small children among them; this is obviously a sight they are familiar with.

The sound of the flute is hypnotic and the swaying snakes hold the eye; it’s tempting to linger. But evening is falling and we have a long way to travel from this small village. As we prepare to leave, Massanna coaxes the snakes back into the baskets and carefully places the baskets back inside his one roomed house. To our eyes it seems a strange place to keep snakes; but for Massanna and his people, snakes are not a threat but an asset. For this old man who travels the road with his flute and his basket, his snakes are his livelihood, the means by which he survives. In his eyes, it’s fitting that he chooses to keep them close.

Disappearing lives; the Wadiga people

   The Ahiguntuka people are one example of a community that persists with its traditional way of life in the face of change. Other such communities exist in Sri Lanka, some already dying out as its members change to fit in with the society around them. About an hour’s drive from Andarabedda is another small village; Ralapanawa which is home to some of the last descendants of the Wadiga community.  It’s believed that the Wadiga people have a Northern Indian origin. According to popular myth it’s said that they came to Sri Lanka with King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, the last king of Kandy and the community is reputed to have had their own language and cultural practices.  71-year-old Gunapala is one of the earliest settlers who came to Ralapanawa. However he was not always called Gunapala. “Earlier I was called Mutthasami Weerappa Ponnaiyagey Mutthaiah. We came from the ‘Wadiga paramparawa’. Later we changed our names and now I use the name Sandanayake Mudiyansalagey Gunapala,” he says. Many villagers in Ralapanawa have now taken Sinhalese names. The use of their language too has declined. Gunapala remembers that his grandparents spoke a different language. “It was different from Tamil or Sinhala,” he says, but he now cannot remember any words from it. 
   He, along with 13 other families came to Ralapanawa in the early 1970s and started the settlement that is now a small village. “Our children have all intermarried and now there is no longer a Wadiga generation,” he says. 
  He seems to feel a sense of pride at their assimilation but there is also a sense of loss at how quickly a language and a way of life can disappear. (Refer 5-copy)

[nggallery id=104]

TweetShareShare
Please login to join discussion

Search

No Result
View All Result

Recent News

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

Explore Sri Lanka

Explore Sri Lanka Online, the web edition of Sri Lanka’s leading monthly corporate publication. Founded in 1996, the magazine currently has a distribution of over 6,000 copies island-wide.

Recent News

  • Investec Cape Town Art Fair
  • Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development
  • DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

Find Us

Explore Sri Lanka
20-2/1 Lauries Place Facing
R. A. De Mel Mawatha
Colombo 04
Sri Lanka.
(+94 11) 259 7991
(+94) 715 134 134
info@btoptions.com
btoptions.com

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 201_
      • 2010
      • 2011
      • 2012
      • 2013
      • 2014
      • 2015
      • 2016
      • 2017
      • 2018
      • 2019
    • 202_
      • 2020
      • 2021
      • 2022
      • 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In