Pahatharata Dancing

Pahatharata Dancing
If the mnemonics of the drum govern the form of the Dance, it is nowhere better illustrated than in the Low Country dances of Ceylon where the Yak Bera (the "demon drum") plays so important a role. The rather free and easy movement and basic rhythm of the Devol Dancer, combining with a very elementary mime danced to the Yak Bera, typifies Low-Country dancing. The Devol Madu (the ritual structure) for the dance of appeasement of the Gods is the Low-Country parallel of the Kohomba Kankariya. It is the Yak or devil and, therefore, primitive quality of Devol that gives it its basic magic and enchantment.

The Ves (mask) is elaborate and sophisticated in the Kandyan dance and does not completely mask the dancer but rather transforms him through the head-dress, symbolically. In the Low-Country masked dance, the dancer is possessed of an entirely masked face. The masks are themselves superbly turned out works of art. Masked dancing to the Yak Bera is the unparalleled contribution of the Low-Country dance