{"id":2284,"date":"2026-04-09T04:34:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T04:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/nldsb\/?page_id=2284"},"modified":"2026-05-05T14:48:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:48:30","slug":"rukada-natya","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/rukada-natya\/","title":{"rendered":"Rukada Natya"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"2284\" class=\"elementor elementor-2284\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-71672b2 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"71672b2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ceaf7b0 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"ceaf7b0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-86dd5dd e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"86dd5dd\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4508bcf elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"4508bcf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeInUp&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Rukada Natya<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8fa2c72 elementor-icon-list--layout-inline elementor-list-item-link-full_width elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon-list\" data-id=\"8fa2c72\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeInUp&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"icon-list.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-icon-list-items elementor-inline-items\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-inline-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">Home<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-inline-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/index.php\/unesco-ich\/\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"icon icon-right-arrow\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">UNESCO ICH<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-inline-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/index.php\/national-inventory-of-the-intangible-cultural-heritage-of-sri-lanka\/\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"icon icon-right-arrow\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">ICH National Inventory<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-inline-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"icon icon-right-arrow\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">Rukada Natya<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-225c1e9 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"225c1e9\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b6374f1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"b6374f1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c2eb4c6 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"c2eb4c6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeInUp&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"644\" height=\"414\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rukada.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-2288\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70986d5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"70986d5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Traditional String Puppet Drama, known as Rukada Natya in Sinhala, is a popular form of entertainment practiced by artists of the Gamwari lineage or familial groups connected to them living mainly in the southern and western coastal areas of Sri Lanka. Although its origin is uncertain, researchers believe that migrants from the southern or south-western coastal areas of India might have introduced the art to Sri Lanka several centuries ago. Master puppeteers carve the parts of the puppets from wood, polish, paint, and enjoin the body parts together, while the female members of the family sew the costumes, dress the puppets, and do the make-up and other decorations. Rukada Natya performances are held at temple premises or other public spaces that are easily accessible for rural communities. Buddhist jataka stories, historical narratives or contemporary events provide sources for the puppeteers to prepare their own scripts. The performances with didactic messages, enveloped in full of innocuous humour, allows the community members laugh together, enjoy together, and relax together, thus helping them socialize and connect with each other, strengthen social bonds, and build new relationships. For these and many other reasons, Sri Lankans consider the traditional string puppet drama or Rukada Natya as an important part of the country&#8217;s intangible cultural heritage.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5f222c6 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"5f222c6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fa97e6c e-con-full e-flex elementor-invisible e-con e-child\" data-id=\"fa97e6c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;gradient&quot;,&quot;animation&quot;:&quot;fadeInUp&quot;,&quot;animation_delay&quot;:&quot;250&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-888ec01 elementor-icon-list--layout-traditional elementor-list-item-link-full_width elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon-list\" data-id=\"888ec01\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"icon-list.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-icon-list-items\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rukada.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"icon icon-link\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">NIICH-SL\/ Index no 2017-02 R\u016bkada N\u0101tya<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rukada Natya Home UNESCO ICH ICH National Inventory Rukada Natya Traditional String Puppet Drama, known as Rukada Natya in Sinhala, is a popular form of entertainment practiced by artists of the Gamwari lineage or familial groups connected to them living mainly in the southern and western coastal areas of Sri Lanka. Although its origin is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2284","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rukada Natya -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/rukada-natya\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rukada Natya -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rukada Natya Home UNESCO ICH ICH National Inventory Rukada Natya Traditional String Puppet Drama, known as Rukada Natya in Sinhala, is a popular form of entertainment practiced by artists of the Gamwari lineage or familial groups connected to them living mainly in the southern and western coastal areas of Sri Lanka. 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Although its origin is&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2284"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4595,"href":"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2284\/revisions\/4595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.natlib.lk\/NLDSB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}