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HATTON, SRI LANKA, May 6, 2005: It is an unusual folk theatre where actors as well as spectators perform together. The subject deals with the life and death of Lord Kama, the Hindu God of love and passion. The whole village participates in the long-running theatre – a play can go on for 11 or 30 days – that eventually becomes a kind of festival. At a time when many folk traditions are struggling for survival, kamankoothu, a centuries-old folk theatre is still being performed among Tamils of Indian origin in central Sri Lanka. The Indian Tamils, mostly tea and rubber plantation workers, believe that they will become prosperous if they celebrate the festival of Lord Kama every spring. While professionals take center stage, villagers also take part, usually as a result of vows and prayers they have made at critical moments in their lives, such as before the birth of a child, or when they are hoping for a good harvest. “Villagers sometimes make vows when they are in distress. Once their prayers are answered they will participate in the kaman theatre,” says Anthony Raja, a Kandy-based researcher on folk traditions.

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