Folk Music
There are sets of folk poems (kavi) unique to members of different castes (farmers, cart drivers, miners, etc.). These originated as a way to pass time for the individual groups as they engaged in their work. Today, they are sung as a form of cultural expression.
Kavi also exists that accompany folk rituals. The rituals are rarely performed today but the songs survive among folk musicians.
Another traditional Sri Lankan folk style is called the virindu. It involves an improvised poem sung to the beaten melody of a rabana. In the past there were contests in which two virindu singers would compete with verse.
Read more about this topic: Music Of Sri Lanka
Famous quotes containing the words folk and/or music:
“Do you know what a soldier is, young man? He’s the chap who makes it possible for civilised folk to despise war.”
—Allan Massie (b. 1938)
“Nearly all the bands are mustered out of service; ours therefore is a novelty. We marched a few miles yesterday on a road where troops have not before marched. It was funny to see the children. I saw our boys running after the music in many a group of clean, bright-looking, excited little fellows.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)