Experience upcountry dancing in Kandy with a local guru, Kandyan drum rhythms, fire dance, and traditional sweets in a fun, cultural setting.
Kandy being the center stage of upcountry dancing which is unique to the central hill country of the island, daily in the evenings you can see hundreds of tourists packing into theatres to see the cultural shows which can be quite a touristy experience. Instead, let’s look at how to get a personal experience which is more fun and informative at the same time.
On this experience you will visit a local house in Kandy where you will meet your guru for the day who will be waiting eagerly to teach you some of the basic moves of upcountry dancing known among the locals as “Udarata Netum”.
After some demonstrations from the guru and his students, it’s time to bring on your moves! You will start off by trying to master some of the preliminary moves such as the “Mandiya” which is the basic position for all steps and then we gradually improvise into dancing to the tunes of Kandyan drums which has their own rhythms much different to those in western music. The drum beats will get you moving even without any effort. The master will also showcase some fire dancing which is awe-inspiring but please don’t try it at home!
Afterwards it’s time to taste some of the traditional sweets of Kandy like Peni Walalu (treacle bangles) or Kokis (rice flour crackers) with a cup of plain tea as the locals call it.
We bid adieu to the guru and host with an experience full of exercise and sweets to make up for the lost calories.
For more information on how to incorporate this experience in our itineraries, please get in touch with us on sales.srilanka@khiri.com.