Dam Patin La Sanda Basa Yanawa is a song by Gunadasa Kapuge. He was a Sri Lankan musician who was born in August 1945 and died in April 2003. He left behind a musical legacy of philosophical music. His song Dam Patin La Sanda Basa Yanawa which roughly translates to “Western Sky” is a partner song. Gunadasa Kapuge sings with Malani Bulathsinhala| who is also a famous Sri Lankan singer. Though throughout history Sri Lanka has taken on many foreign influences from different cultures including Hinduism, Buddhism, European colonization (Portagees, and British), and many nearby Indian cultures, this song would be more classified as folk music. The song gives us a description of the moon as purple and the sky as gold, which can only be described as a national phenomenon which is what Sri Lankan folk music is known for. Not being able to find the actual instruments played in this song I heard three different instruments. The first one being their voices, the second one sticking, and the third one being some sort of string instrument. After doing research, I would like to assume that the string instrument I am hearing is the Ravanahatha, which is considered by many to be the “first violin”, and the sticks are dandiyas. 

I chose this song because I wanted to challenge myself and find a Sri Lankan song void of outside influence. As far as I can tell this is the only recording with English translations.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAD2CDR2Rz0