Department of Ethnomusicology

About the Department

In 2005 the Department of Ethnomusicology was set up and the first Head of the Department was associated Professor P. D. R. Fernando. Senior Lecturer Udayasiri  Widanapathirana, Senior Lecturer Mangalika Rajapaksha, Senior Lecturer Dr. Saman Panapitiya and Lecturer Ariyaratne Lansakkara have held that post consecutively. Since 2019, the Head has been Senior Lecturer Nishoka Sandaruwan.

At the beginning there were only two permanent staff members and now the number has reached ten.

From the outset, syllabus has been revised and developed several times to suit with the contemporary trends in Ethnomusicology. Suggestions were sought in this regard from well-known Ethnomusicologist such as Amy Catrin Jairazbhoy (2012) and Svanibor Pettan (2020) who contributed the process, having personally come to the department.

To be recognized as genuine students and teachers in the discipline at Ethnomusicology they are supposed to be engaged in field researches continuously. So field trips and other related activities in this regard have been planned and in operation with great care and attention since the commencement of studies in the department.

Brief Introduction to the Department

After the Institute of Aesthetic studies upgraded to a full pledged independent university, the Department of Music which was in operation under the IAS became The Faculty of Music consisting of six departments. One of those departments was the Department of Ethnomusicology which was intended to involve with the discipline called Ethnomusicology. This discipline seems to gain recognition rapidly among scholars and universities throughout the world.

Since the inception of this department, Sri Lankan folk music has been considered as a prominent core practical subject. Other important subjects included in the study program are field researches, music researches (by means of archives and electronically recorded materials), creative and revival   activities with regard to folk and contemporary music, studying other music cultures etc.  Keeping close contact with new trends emerging in the field of Ethnomusicology is an important feature of the department.

Valuable resources collected while taking part in field researches are kept in the research and archive centre, established by the department itself, with the intention of providing information and materials to students and scholars from outside institutions.

Field Researches

• Duwa, Pitipana – Traditional catholic drama (pasku natya – passion play) and songs (passion  hymns) 2008

• Akkaraipathu – Cultural background of Muslim Community (covered five villages) 2010
• Dodangoda (Kaluthara) – Raban Shanthiya (blessings with the frame drum called Raban) 2011
• Panama – Ankeli ceremony (hold to invoke blessings from Goddess Pattini) 2017
• Akuragoda (Gampaha) – Traditional vap magul ceremony (hold to initiate paddy cultivation) 2017
• Borallesgamuwa – Sath Pattini yagaya (a ritual in which Goddess Pattini’s seven births are remembered with reverence for invoking blessings of Pattini 2018
• Batticalo – Studing various Tamil Cultural events (covered eight villages) 2018