Hewa Kolama (comedy about a soldier)

Hewa Hewa Hewa

It can be noted that the soldier comedy (hewa kolama) mask has been created quite differently in comparison with the above mentioned masks. A story based on a soldier in the time of Sinhalese Kings in which his heroic character has been humourously depicted in the hewa kolama (soldier comedy). At least four soldiers appear at the same time on the kolam maduwa (stage of the comedy).

In the wars that were fought in the Kandy and Gampola periods the faces are shown as cut by sword thrusts, dripping with blood and with toothless mouths. The leeches attached to the bleeding wounds are shown in the masks. A twisted mouth and glaring eyes have been created. A description of the hewa kolama (soldier comedy) is given in verses –

In anger or in fear – two boiled eyes and nose

The nose flattened – blood and mucous covered

Alas the way he has fought – dried blood on ears and nose

Falling down again and again – Alas see how the soldier official approaches

Not by being caught in a doorway has my mouth got twisted,

When I went with Captain Bokota to Gampola, Kandy for the wars

With the foreign troops when we fought in two groups and cut one another

A sword thrust at my face caused my mouth to be twisted.

Hewa Hewa Hewa

【LK94008315: Hewa. Text by Lakpura™. Images by Google, copyright(s) reserved by original authors.】

About Galle District

Galle is a city situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, 119 km from Colombo.Galle is the best example of a fortified city built by Europeans in south and Southeast Asia, showing the interaction between European architectural styles and south Asian traditions. The Galle fort is a world heritage site and the largest remaining fortress in Asia built by European occupiers.

Galle is a sizeable town, by Sri Lankan standards, and has a population of 91,000, the majority of whom are of Sinhalese ethnicity. There is also a large Sri Lankan Moor minority, particularly in the fort area, which descend from Arab merchants that settled in the ancient port of Galle.

About Southern Province

The Southern Province of Sri Lanka is a small geographic area consisting of the districts of Galle, Matara and Hambantota. Subsistence farming and fishing is the main source of income for the vast majority of the people of this region.

Important landmarks of the Southern Province include the wildlife sanctuaries of the Yala and Udawalawe National Parks, the holy city of Kataragama, and the ancient cities of Tissamaharama, Kirinda and Galle. (Although Galle is an ancient city, almost nothing survives from before the Portuguese invasion.) During the Portuguese period there were two famous Sinhalese poets called Andare who was from Dickwella and Gajaman Nona who was from Denipitiya in Matara District, composing poems on common man.

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