Sri Lankan music – Son of the Morning Light

Hewisi Pooja, Temple of the Tooth, Kandy #4

September 23, 2022September 23, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/3h3a9638e2.jpg — A thammettama drummer plays during a musical ceremony on the lower floor of the temple’s main shrine. The twin thammettama are traditional Sri Lankan drums, played with curved sticks called kadippuwa, in Sinhalese. Hewisi is a form of religious music once reserved for use by Kandyan royal decree. Today, hewisi is still used almost exclusively in Buddhist ceremonies, and is seen as an offering in itself. Shot on assignment for The New York Times in December 2018.

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Hewisi Pooja, Temple of the Tooth, Kandy #2

October 30, 2019June 10, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Hewisi Puja, Temple of the Tooth, Kandy #2 by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — Drummers use a hand and a single kadippuwa drumstick to play a fast, thunderous rhythm on their daula drums during a “hewisi pooja” in the Palle Mahala, the lower floor of the main shrine room of the Temple of the Tooth, in Kandy. Shot on assignment for The New York Times; specifically for award-winning travel journalist Lucas Peterson’s “An Island Nation that is Best Savored Slowly“, which ran in the Frugal Traveler column on 30th January 2019.

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Rhythmic Work #2

September 30, 2019June 11, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Sri Lankan Drum Makers, Battaramulla by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — In his workshop in Battaramulla, close to Colombo, Nimal Wickramasiri, a master drum maker, works on a traditional Sri Lankan Yak bera, its body a section of hollowed out coconut tree. Shot on assignment for Serendib, the inflight magazine of Sri Lankan Airlines. My photo story, “A Beat of the Ages“, ran in the December 2016 issue.

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Hewisi Pooja, Temple of the Tooth, Kandy #3

April 1, 2019June 17, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Hewisi Puja, Temple of the Tooth, Kandy #3 by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — A thammettama drummer plays during a musical ceremony on the lower floor of the temple’s main shrine. The twin thammettama are traditional Sri Lankan drums, played with curved sticks called kadippuwa in Sinhalese. Hewisi is a form of religious music once reserved for use by Kandyan royal decree. Today, hewisi is still used almost exclusively in Buddhist ceremonies, and is seen as an offering in itself. Shot on assignment for The New York Times; specifically for Lucas Peterson’s travel piece, “An Island Nation that is Best Savored Slowly“, which ran in the Frugal Traveler column on 30th January 2019.

The Sacred & the Scarred

March 5, 2019June 18, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Hewisi Puja, Temple of the Tooth, Kandy #5 by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — A flutist plays during a morning Hewisi Pooja at the Temple of the Tooth, Kandy. Hewisi is a form of music only used in Buddhist religious ceremonies, and is considered a musical offering. Shot on assignment for The New York Times, specifically for award-winning travel journalist Lucas Peterson’s piece, “An Island Nation that is Best Savored Slowly”, which ran in the Frugal Traveler column on 30th January 2019.

Drummer in the Gangaramaya Temple, Colombo, Sri Lanka #4

January 3, 2018July 1, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Drummers in the Gangaramaya Temple, Colombo #4 by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — An interesting feature of the dawla drum is that one side is played with a stick, while the other with the drummer’s hand. The dawla is widely used in Buddhist ceremonies throughout Sri Lanka. Shot on Christmas Eve, 2017.

Flutist, Sri Maha Bodhiya

August 16, 2017July 12, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Flutist, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — Shot on assignment in Anuradhapura, for Serendib the inflight magazine of SriLankan Airlines. My story, ‘The First Kingdom of Lanka‘, ran in the February 2017 issue.

Thammettama

December 27, 2016August 11, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Thammattema by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — Detail of a ‘thammatama’ or ‘pokuru beraya’, a pair of conjoined drums traditionally played with sticks. The drumheads are stretched animal skin, lashed tight with rawhide. Shot on assignment for Serendib, the inflight magazine of Sri Lankan Airlines, as part of my piece ‘A Beat of the Ages’, the story of traditional Sri Lankan drum-making, which ran in the December 2016 issue.

Drum Maker, Battaramulla, Sri Lanka

December 15, 2016October 3, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Sri Lankan Drum Makers, Battaramulla #6 by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — Nimal Wickramasiri, a master drum maker strings rawhide laces through the drumheads of a Yak, or Ruhunu bere, one of the traditional drums of Sri Lanka. Shot on assignment for Serendib, the inflight magazine of Sri Lankan Airlines, as part of my story, ‘A Beat of the Ages’, which appears in the December 2016 issue.