Ancient Sri Lankan Ravanahatha

The Ravanahatha is a crude violin consist of coconut shall bamboo and goat skin, with a natural fiber serving as the cord. Sheep and goat instinctive and coconut wood which are also used. Been the initial corded tool to be played with a bow, this is known as the world’s earliest violin. Ravanahatha or Ravana’s hand is listed in the olden Indian epic Ramayana. The soulful music originating from the Ravanahatha is assumed to have shifted the god Hindu  Shiva of whom Ravana was an passionate fan. The tool as picked by Hanuman and flow to the north India, where it is still renowned in Rajasthan and in the Agra region of Uttar Pradesh and it is known as Ravanahatha.

source of picture: www.sundaytimes.lk

From the India, the Ravanahatha shifted toward the west in the  Europe, and also in the Middle East during the period of the  9^th century, which is known as the ravanastron, based on  website library thinkquest.org. During in the 11^th century forwards, the bowed tool underwent several evolves before it took the shape of the new violin in Italy during in the16^th century.

Subasinghe Dinesh is a celebrity in the Sri Lankan music horizon, has a modern and daring passion-to promote Ravanahathan, an instrument of violin-like which Lanka king Ravana had invented and played about 5,000 year ago. The Ravanatha beats is like the north Indian Instruments Sarangi and Esraj. Its plaintive and melancholic beat touches an emotional string.

The melancholic beat of Ravanahatha might be replication of the quality of Ravana, a sad hero who the writer of the Ramayana demonized, suitably ignoring his capabilities as a research, artist and technologist. The ravanahatha’s birth itself is assumed to have taken place under shocking circumstances. According to folklore, known as Ravana’s mother Kaikasi, a passionate supporter of Shiva, was eager to go live in the god’s home on Mount Kailash in the Himlayas. Ravana suggested the plan fervent, but to satisfy his mother he pledge to get Kailash Mountain  to Sri Lanka.  Ravana was thrilling the mountain, an angry Shiva surroundered his 10 heads and 20 arms. Writing in grief, Ravana requested for mercy. When Shiva left him off, Ravana determined to chant his praise and immediately create an additional instrument which he uses  one of his heads, an arm also some of his hair. The soulful music emanating from Ravans’s instrument is said to have lifted Shiva who gave immortality on him. However, crude and utterly simple, the Ravanahatha has shown to be a very soothing instrument.

Dinesh Subasinghe introduced some evolves to this olden instrument, he introduced a distinctive pattern and method to play it like a Sarangi, in the year 2007, the initial time he took along with this tool to electronic media in srilanka and brought the recording music firm and  Subasinghe Dinesh which he inaugured as the initial audio album from the olden instrument Ravanahatha.