Browsing by Author "Weerakkody, I.S."

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    A Study of the Cultural Identity of the Wahakotte Catholic Community
    (University of Kelaniya, 2015) Weerakkody, I.S.
    Wahakotte is situated in the Matale district in the Central province. Approximately 95 % of itspopulation are Catholic, with about 650 families belonging to the parish of St. Anthony's church. The three main feasts held by the church are marked by cultural assimilation, with the use of hewisidrums in the processions bearing religious relics of importance such as the ivory Crucifix and the statue of Our Lady. The style of Pasan singing in the Wahakotte region is of significance, because itis strongly influenced by traditional harvesting songs. During Lent, prose Pasan that consist of singing and chantingare performed in an ad libitum, or free tempo style that can be heard when the group of singers visit houses and later at St. Anthony’s church.Pasan verses are also sung to express grief in situations such as death. They are transmitted from generation to generation in an oral tradition, but are now known only by a few families in the Wahakotte area at present. A compilation of Prose Pasan verses can be seen in the book called "Passion of the Christ" based on the Portuguese tradition in Konkani. Traditional Pasan singing in Wahakotte is very unique because the text goes back to the time of the Kandyan Kings with the melodies becoming indigenized over the last two centuries. Differences exist between the Pasan singing style of Wahakotte and those of other regions. These include variation in the melodies and the significant influence of Buddhist Pirith chanting as well as harvesting songs. This research study focuses on ten Pasan verses in order to highlight the uniqueness of the songs of Wahakotte.
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    A Study of the Traditional Lenten Pasan Singing
    (University of Kelaniya, 2015) Weerakkody, I.S.
    The paper is a research on the Pasan chants of the Catholic communities in Doowa, Pitipana and Wahakotte in Sri Lanka. The Catholic Church has organized its worship into five different phases spread throughout the year, namely Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Time. Pasan is sung during Lent. In commemorating the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Catholics observe numerous rituals. From Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday there is a 40 day period during which the Catholics (besides other religious rituals and practices) use prose and verse chants and prayers to deepen the Lenten spirit in homes and in churches. One of these special chants is the singing of Pasan songs by small groups of persons. It is believed that Sri Lankan Catholics inherited this tradition after the arrival of the Portuguese. At present the Catholics in Sri Lanka follow the Pasan tradition established by Jacome Gonsalves, transmitted from one generation to another orally over four centuries. In the present ethnographic research, many Pasan singing styles practiced by the Sri Lankan Catholics have been identified. There are many versions varying according to regional differences. During the Lenten season there are many prose Pasan styles and verse Pasan styles. The present research is a comparative study of the singing styles and other related variations in the Pasan singing of the Doowa (Negombo), Pitipana (Negombo) and Wahakotte (Matale) regions. Both primary and secondary sources were used in accumulating the data. The methods used were intensive field studies, indepth interviews and participant observation.
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