Ves Dance. (Kandyan Dancing)

A unique , typically Kandyan or up-country form of dancing that symbolizes the traditional Sinhalese dance. Since the people of Sri Lanka have always been inclined towards ritual and ceremony from the olden days, this from of kandyan dance is performed at religious processions and ceremonies and at all other kinds of occasions and ceremonies. The dancer wear elaborate head dresses while his face remains visible. They also wear sparking adornments for ears neck and arms and breast plates glistening with shiny bead and frilled cloth.

He is the typical Kandyan dancer of Sri Lanka.

The aesthetics of Kandyan dance and it's rhythmic vigorous movements and foot work can be really appreciated in it's original setting, the "Kohomba Kankariya", a Kandyan ritual dance, performed in honor of the God Kohomba of the Kohomba tree -( Margosa, a tree of medicinal value) and to invoke his blessings. There are over  30 ceremonies and over 50 dancers dance and whirl on a magnificently decorated pavilion. Attired in the traditional Kandyan dance costume. The ritual itself lasts for a week and reaches a climax in the final night and the morning after.

No women danced in the original ritual, but today, with the emergence of the theatrical women too participate in the dance, a development which  has softened the masculine moves of this dynamic dance form.

K A H Kanchana

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