Lullaby Songs in the Rural Divine Worship of the People of Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province - Tradition and Change

இலங்கையின் கிழக்கு பிரதேசத்து மக்களின் கிராமியத் தெய்வவழிபாட்டில் தாலாட்டுப் பாடல்கள் - மரபும் மாற்றமும்

Abstract

Eastern Sri Lanka, known as a vast cultural territory stretching along the eastern coast of the island of Sri Lanka, has a long political and social history unique to this region. While the aboriginal inhabitants of this region were the Veddas, Veddah Vellalars, and Austroloid ancient tribes, over time people who came and settled from Tamil Nadu, Kalinga, and Kerala, or those who established their rule here, along with the indigenous peoples, through the intermingling that occurred between them over time, have resulted in the arts, divine worship practices, and ways of life they brought with them continuing to be observed as the lifestyle of the people of this region to this day. However, it is noteworthy that remnants of the aboriginal peoples are also found here and there.
Two types of worship practices are observed here: those based on Agama (scriptural traditions) and those not based on Agama. Comparatively, non-Agamic village deities wield more influence in this region than the Agamic major deities. The method of worshipping or performing puja to these village deities is called performing rituals. When performing these rituals, they sing appropriate songs, invoke the deities, and perform with dance and song. These songs are the ritual songs.
Here, numerous musical forms such as Kaviyam (epic poetry), Ammanai, Oonchal (swing songs), Thalatu (lullabies), Kulurti, Ula (procession songs), Prarthana (prayers), Sindhu, Akaval, and Pallu are found. Among these, Thalatu songs are composed as songs that soothe or pacify God or the Goddess.