There is usually a break between the Evening Watch Dances ending with the Mat Dance and the Midnight Watch Dances. During this break the audience are served with light refreshments - plain tea, biscuits and bananas and the Tovil Dancers prepare their costumes and make- up for these very spectacular dances which last for 2- 3 hours.
The dances are to “call” Mahansona (the Cemetery Demon) from all the 8 directions in which he resides, they are dressed as women. They have coconut head dresses with large coconut ear lobes and long coconut streamers of “hair”. They wear elaborate red jackets. Often they may whiten their faces and apply black kohl around their eyes. They wear white sarongs to represent the Deity Pattini and have red sashes to represent the Deity, Kataragama. They wear silver bangles and silver anklets with bells. All these parts of the costumes are to attract and imitate the attributes preferred by the demons.
The dance starts with slow drum beats and the dancers gather in front of the the offering areas and baskets where lamps have been lit. A lamp is lit to Isvara (Lord of Dance) at the base of Mahasona’s Palace. They first sing the hymn to Buddha and the Guardian Deities. The dancers then “greet” the drummers in traditional fashion (with two hands together), then the head of the household and the patient, then the audience and lastly each other. The drums are beaten to salute Buddha. Dummala is then smoked around the dancers which they inhale to attract the demons into themselves.
The dancers perform several dances that often run into each other:
Samayan pade (gathering time dance)
Aile pade (offering plate dance)
vata pade (whirling dance)
anguru kabala pade (brazier dance)
Kukulu dance (cock dance)
Vilakku pade (torch dance)
Igaha Pade (arrow dance)
These dances are to call Mahasona and his superior Mangara-deviyo, and the dancers will from time to time rock the Demon Palace. This shows the presence of the demons in the Palace. Each dance typically starts slowly and then becomes faster and faster. The dancers will do acrobatics such as whirling, cartwheels, somersaulting etc. The drummers beat out the special different rhythms of the main demons to attract them.
These dances and songs ask Mahasona to take the offerings and to remove his hold over the patient, thus releasing him/her from their sickness.
The dancers will juggle their lighted torches. In the cock dance, one dancer dances with the cock which at the end of this dance is hung in the Demon Palace. During the torch dance the dancers throw flaming dummala around the Perfomance Area and the patient, and then one of them rushes into the house throwing it around the house. This is to drive away demons. In the final dance, the Igaba dance. one dancer dances with the Igaba which he takes from the Demon Palace, he dances with it over his shoulder then stops in front of the patient. The audience call out “Long Life”.
The Dance of Mahasona or the 12 Presentations (the entertainment for Mahasona's superior, Mangara-deviyo) follow on next.
You Tube Links for the Playlists for Evening Watch, Midnight Watch and Morning Watch are as follows:
Tovil (Devil) Dances 1: Evening Watch
• Evening Watch Dances b...
Tovil (Devil) Dances 2: Midnight Watch
• Tovil (Devil) Dances 2...
Tovil (Devil) Dances 3: Morning Watch
• Morning Watch: Finale
For further details and photographs of these spectacular and increasingly rare ceremonies, see my website:
www.sheppard.me.uk/sri-lanka/...