Rasika Suriyaarachchi writing for Ozlanka

The month Bak in the Sinhala calendar represents the festive season in Sri Lanka.  During Bak, the Sun traverses from Pieces to Aries in the zodiac and a new year, an Aluth Avurudda, is dawned. The festivals marking the New Year have, over the centuries, become the foremost Sinhala cultural event of the year. It is indeed a time of joy, happiness and entertainment.

In Sydney, to celebrate the Aluth Avurudda in 2003 in a grand way, the Sinhalese Cultural Forum of NSW staged a cultural show, appropriately titled Bak Maha Rangana.  It was a all new production of songs, dances and theatre showcasing the best Sinhala diasporic talent that Sydney had on offer. That brought about a completely new dimension to the Sinhala culture in Sydney. A new tradition was set.

After six years in existence, the Bak Maha Rangana show is now firmly set in the Sydney-Sri Lankan calendar as the premier cultural show of the year.

This year’s Bak Maha Rangana show – sub titled Sandakada Asna – a phrase especially coined to mean the “Memorandum on Sinhala Culture” – was staged at the prestigious Hills Centre in Castle Hill on Saturday 3rd May to an eager audience packed to the capacity.  The show had been put together to a distinct theme to showcase how Sinhala dance, songs and theatre co-existed with the traditional village life in Sri Lanka enriching one another.  An ensemble of over 300 performers from all ages of life captivated the gathered connoisseurs of Sinhala culture for over four hours of sheer entertainment.

There were brilliant dance performances especially choreographed for the Sandakada Asna show, excellent songs reminiscent of yesteryear and some fun theatre as well. The veteran stage actor and radio personality Wiejratne Warakagoda of the Muwan Pelessa fame, who was the invited artiste from Sri Lanka, entertained the audience with some superb vocals and also a few scenes from the world record breaking radio show Muwan Pelessa in which he has played the same role of Aarachchila for the last 45 years continuously.

To enjoy a collection of photos from Bak Maha Rangana 2008 Sandakada Asna taken by RCBTV, click here