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:
“The ties between gentle folk are as pure as water; the links between scoundrels are as thick as honey.”
—Chinese proverb.
“The harp that once through Tara’s halls The soul of music shed, Now hangs as mute on Tara’s walls As if that soul were fled.”
—Thomas Moore (1779–1852)