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The Indian Subcontinent located in the southern region of Asia, which is surrounded by the Indian Ocean. The countries that make up the Indian Subcontinent include the Republic of India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan and a few others.

Throughout the Indian Subcontinent one will discover a vast variety of languages, religions, and people.

Spotlighted below are Nepal and Sri Lanka!

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Nepal is the only country in the world whose flag is not square. The blue border symbolizes peace and harmony. The crimson red is Nepal’s national color, and reflects the brave spirit of the Nepalese people. The two triangles symbolize the Himalayan Mountains, home to Mount Everest.

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Artist:  Raju Pariyar/Laxmi Neupane
Song:  Phool Chha Dalima
Provided by: youtube

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Sri Lanka is an island nation south of India in the Indian Ocean, but still very much included in the Indian Subcontinent. It wasn’t until 1948 that Sri Lanka gained its own independence. First colonized by the Portuguese in 1505, followed by the Dutch 1658, and the British in 1796. Since the Portuguese were the first to colonize Sri Lanka was originally called Ceylon and was not changed to this name until 1972. An interesting fact about Sri Lanka is because of its shape it is known as the “Teardrop of India”.

Sri Lanka is rich with religion including Buddhist, Hindu, Muslin, and Roman Catholic. They also have a heritage that include dance and music.

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Nepal Flag Thailand Flag Bhutan Flag Bangladesh Flag India Flag Malaysia Flag Sri Lanka Food Sri Lanka Map Sri Lanka Beaches Colombo Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Religion Sri Lanka Population Pakistan Flag Syria Flag Yemen Flag Egypt Flag Taiwan Flag Vietnam Flag Cambodia Flag China Flag Japan Flag Lithuania Flag

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Sri Lanka’s uses unique instruments to enhance their musical repertoire.  Their music uses many instruments to make up their heritage and culture. Many of the instruments used in Sri Lanka include gata bera (drum), yak bera (drum), hak gediva (conch shell), dawula (drums), thalampata (cymbals), raban (drum), horanawa (clarinet) and ravanahatha (violin) , to name a few. The use of these unique and distinct instruments highlight Sri Lanka's culture. Spotlighted below are some of these extraordinary instruments.

Gata Bera and Yak Bera

Hand played instruments, the Gata and Yah are commonly known as the wedding drum.

Timeout:

“The trunk of the drum is made from asala, kohomba or kos timber, while different skins are used for the two membranes at either end, which are then bound with deer skin strings. Cow skin is tied to one end of the drum, which makes a different sound when hit with the hand from the monkey skin tied to the other.

The yak bera, also a two-ended drum, is made from the timber from the kithul tree and is about three feet in length. The part that’s hit is made from the stomach lining of a cow. It’s regularly used for low country dances involving masks and rituals.”

Photo courtesy of Timeout

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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The thalampata are used in Sri Lankan dance and music. "These small cymbals, joined together with a string, beat out complex rhythms in traditional Kandyan dance. The thalampata typically makes two sounds – ‘thith’ and ‘thei’, which chime to the shake of a dancer’s body. "

Photo courtesy of Timeout

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The raban is made up of goat hide, jackfruit, and/or vitex wood. There are two variations of the raban, the hand and bench. Each one of these will produce a different sound and/or rhythm depending on which one is used. The hand raban is ususally played by the performer’s fingers, which is a contrast to the bench raban. The bench raban uses the entire hand.

Photo courtesy of Timeout

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The Gypsies are a Sri Lanka band former in 1969 by Anton Perera which originally included his five sons. They have been performing in English and Sinhala (Sinhalese) since the 70's. They have 5 albums and perform many countries including US, New Zealand. Australia, Singapore, and Canada. They are still today, performing their genre known as Baila, which is a form of folk, pop, and dance music.

Artist: The Gypsies
Song:  Kiyanne Gothala
Provided by: youtube

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“The History Behind the flag of Nepal.” Website, Colour Culture, 2 Jan. 2018, www.bergerpaints.com/imaginecolours/colour-culture/history-behind-flag-nepal.

“TheGypsies.” Edited by Wikepedia, The Gypsies (Sri Lankan Band), 28 Nov. 2013, ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/The_Gypsies_(Sri_Lankan_band).html

“Traditional Sri Lankan Musical Instruments.” Edited by Time Out Editors, Time Out Chicago, 17 June 2015, www.timeout.com/sri-lanka/art-culture/traditional-muscial-instruments.

“The World Factbook: SRI LANKA.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 20 June 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ce.html.