Cultural Aspects

Religion

         The original religion of Veddas is the Animism. The interior Veddas who follow Sinhala language suppose to follow a mix of animism and nominal Buddhism whereas the Tamilized veddas follow folk Hinduism. One of the most eminant  features of vedda religion is the worship of dead ancestors, these are termed as "nae yaku"(relative spirits) among the Sinhala Veddas.

Clothing

          Recently, the raiment of the Veddas was remarkably scanty. Men was consisted only of a loincloth suspended with a string at the wast. For women, it was a piece of cloth that extended from navel to the knees. Today , however, veddas dress is more covering, men wear a short sarong extending from waist to the knees, while women similar to the Sinhalese " Diya-redda" which extends from the breast line to the knees.

Art

       Cave drawings of Veddas such as those found at Hamangala, provide graphic evidence of the excellence of the human spirit and artistic vision achieved by the ancestors of today's Wannila-aetto people. Most investigators today agree that the artists most likely were the Wanniyala-atto women who spent long hours in these caves waiting for their men folks return from the hunt.

Music

       Bori Bori sellam - sellambedo wanniya

         palle thalawe navinna - pita gosin vetenne

         Malpivilli genagena - thige haliskote peni

         ka tho ipal denne

(A vedda honeycomb cutter's folk song)

  

Meaning:-  The bees from younder hills of palle thalawa and kade suck nectar from the flowers and made the honeycomb. So,why should you give them undue pain when there is no honey by cutting the honeycomb.