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A younger generation of traditional dancers dons the mantle of the Kohomba Kankariya, preserving it for the future
Bringing back the sacred rites
The Sri Vishnu devale near the hallowed Temple of the Tooth in Kandy will take on a festive air, with the beat of drums and voices in debate, on April 5.
The sounds echoing across the devale will be the harbinger that a Kohomba Kankariya (the rite of God Kohomba) is on, just before the New Year. The highpoint of the activities will be the placement of ves (the headdress of the fully-fledged Kandyan dancer) on five youngsters, 16 years old, indicating their ‘graduation’ as dancers.

The Kohomba Kankariya usually performed by paramparika dancing families will take on a different hue on April 5. For the first time an all-young troupe, ranging in age from 16 to 30 will carry out the rites and rituals that have been handed down from generation to generation of the traditional dancing, hewisi and drumming families. Most of them have been the custodians of the thewawe in this sacred city’s temples.

“This is a first. Although we are from the traditional dancing families, we will be performing the Kohomba Kankariya without the older generation,” says Kondadeniya Saman, 28, from the hewisi parapura. “Palaweni wathawata tharuna parapurata dayada karagenai inne.”

And the ten Mahanuwera parapuras (traditional families) taking part, read like names from ola leaves – Malagammana (dance); Aththaragama (dance and bali shanthakarma); Thalgahagoda (dance); Thiththapajjala (dance and bera); Ihalawela (hewisi and dance); and Hanguranketha Jothiratne (bera) among others. The other performers will be award winners in Kandyan dance from the schools in the area.

The precursor to the Kohomba Kankariya will be the transport of the ayuda – dunna, keteriya, hol wela, ketta, etc. – of God Kohomba from the Purana Kohomba Devalaya in Okandagala, Walapone on the back of an elephant on April 3 to the Vishnu Devale in Kandy.

“Ayuda walin penawa vedi sambandayak thiyena bawata,” says Saman, explaining that the weapons of God Kohomba indicate a link with the Veddahs.
The roots of the Kohomba Kankariya are buried in the dim mists of time, legend and myth. In times past, it had been performed to rid people of disease and invoke blessings for them to lead a life of prosperity. Its origins are believed to date back to the time of the first Sinhala kings.

“The name means the rite of God Kohomba, an animistic deity, which is suggestive of the antiquity of the ritual. However, the original cult appears to have coalesced with several other, perhaps more recent, folk ceremonials... The Kohomba Kankariya is a somewhat disjointed performance, separating into a number of named segments or episodes. In the Kohomba Kankariya the dance element takes precedence over all other aspects. In consequence it is the finest and most complete presentation of Sinhala dance. In this instance, the Kandyan form which is considered the most beautiful of Sinhala dances,” writes Dr. A. J. Gunawardana to the Virtual Library.

The Kohomba Kankariya is believed to have come about during King Panduvasudeva’s reign, when he was suffering from an incurable disease, because his predecessor, King Vijaya had betrayed Kuveni.

Says L. B. Senaratne in the Virtual Library: God Sakra, the king of gods had decreed that King Panduvasudeva pay for Vijaya’s sins. His cure would be in the hands of a person, dubbed Male Rajuruwo (Flower Prince) who was born out of a flower. Only Rahu, the chief of the Asura tribe, could lure Male Rajuruwo from India to this island by taking the form of a boar. When Male Rajuruwo was informed of King Panduvasudeva’s predicament, he agreed to cure him by taking the form of a Brahmin.

“Several other schools of thought also prevail – that Male Rajuruwo also brought with him four brothers who assumed comic guises, seeing which, King Panduvasudeva laughed off his affliction. Another tale is that Male Rajuruwo, after returning to India, put the people of Sri Lanka under the care of 12 deities including Kohomba Yakka,” adds Mr. Senaratne.

A Kohomba Kankariya is a costly affair. Usually it is funded by the walauwa folk in a village, with the humble peasantry bringing what they can, in the form of fruit. Luckily for the young Kohomba Kankariya troupe, the devale’s Basnayake Nilame Mohan Panabokke and Chandana Pathirana, the Director of the Dance Lanka Kala Shilpi Subha Samithiya (from where a majority of the dancers are drawn) have chipped in to make their dream a reality.

The hope of the young troupe, as they practise for this major performance on April 5, is that men, women and children will flock to the Vishnu Devale and be part of this Kohomba Kankariya.

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