Abstract:
In ancient Sri Lanka, 16th Century marked limelight in the fields of Literature and
Fine Arts. The pursuit of art of dance has become a regular and important feature in the
Kings court with influence of the South Indian culture. This paper is based on the study of
Kotte period fashions of the dance head dresses with consideration of identifying and
categorizing of assimilated salient features of the South Indian culture. Further this study
expounded by analyzing the influential patterns of penetrating South Indian culture to the
ancient Sri Lankan Kotte era. The main argument put forward in this study is that the
adaptation of South Indian elements to dance head dresses are a static entity , as most
seen in structuring and designing, however a dynamic process that keeps evolving with the
Sinhala tradition emerging in the context. In addition to deliberate designing, the structures
could be changed and organized by the internal agents associated with the tradition. In view
of that this paper reformulated the already known story of the assimilation of South Indian
inspiration to Kotte kingdom as a historic process, intending to explain emerging design
elements in dance coiffures as an influential phenomenon.
