The traditional banku (bench) rabana With Avurudu round the corner, raban players and raban makers, lament that like most other traditions this too is a dying art
Sri Lankan avurudu celebrations are incomplete without music. The traditional banku (bench) rabana is a wide-topped drum with a membrane stretched tightly on top of a wooden cylinder, mounted on wooden trunks a few inches off the ground. The drum can be up to 48 inches in diameter and can be played by several people seated around it.
The drum is played to a particular type of beat associated with a special system of poetry or raban pada. The leader recites the pada loudly and then plays the beat to match the pada in collaboration with the other players seated around the drum. The beats are often played out by hand, though you may see the use of elbows, ekels, and various other objects used to add a bit of flair to the folk music.
The beats are simple and catchy and typically played by women, though it’s not uncommon to have the men folk joining in. The rhythmic recitation of the pada followed closely by the matching beat is a sound very closely associated with avurudu. Some of the beats are very simple to learn, and HSBC Sri Lanka has put together four simple video tutorials for four basic beats you can play to celebrate avurudu in style.
The word ‘Rabana’ comes from South East Asia and the instrument is used in other countries like Thailand, Malaysia and even in Burma. It is believed that Sri Lankans received the instrument at the time when King Vijayaba married a Malaysian princess, Thilokasundarie. However, raban pada (rhythms) originated among rural folk here to give expression to village life and people’s emotions.
One of the traditonal avurudu games includes a group of about four to six woman sitting around the large raban, and beating it rhythmically to a specific beat that imitates a raban pada.
Although traditionally the raban is played with the flat of the palms, experts use innovative methods using their elbows, forehead and sometimes bundles of ekels. “Playing the raban gains significance during avurudu because most of the raban pada are based on Avurudu practices,” says visiting lecturer for University of the Visual and Performing Arts Chandrakanthi Shilpadipathi. In villages Raban pada are also played during weddings and other social events, including the event of a young girl attaining age.
A good rabana will last for nearly 25 years, but making it is not easy, as it demands a lot of physical energy, say the craftsmen who still continue with their traditional trade.
Sooriya, margosa, jak and mara trees are used to make the bench rabana. Liyanage Pradeep Prasanna from Heiyanthuduwa who has been making raban for nearly 15 years says that he buys the timber from the State Timber Corporation, but at times it is so costly that he is unable to afford it.
The second burden is transportation, as it is costly to hire vehicles to bring the logs to their workshop.
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