Song H006 Recorded
අපේ පහන ලෝකේ දැල්වෙනවා
Our Lamp Burns Across the World
Ape Pahana Loke Dalwenawa
In a Kandyan yard, Thaththa pours molten brass into the mould and the visitors step back from the heat. A month later the lamp that came out of that mould is lit on a dinner table across the world.
Lyrics
Chorus
අපේ පිත්තල පහන, ලෝකෙ ගෙදරක දැල්වුණා!Ape piththala pahana, loke gedaraka dalwuna!Our brass lamp lit up in a home across the world!
තාත්තා වත් කළා, මල්ලි ඔප දැම්මාThaththa wath kala, Malli opa dammaThaththa poured it, Malli polished it
අපේ මිදුලේ ගින්දරෙන්, එයාලගේ මේසෙටApe midule gindaren, eyalage mesetaFrom the fire in our yard, to their table
උඩරට පහන, ලෝකෙ පත්තු වෙලාUdarata pahana, loke paththu welaA Kandyan lamp, lit out in the world
අපේ පහන, අපේ පහනApe pahana, ape pahanaOur lamp, our lamp
ලෝකෙ ගෙදරක, අද රෑ, අපේ පහන දැල්වෙනවා!Loke gedaraka, ada ra, ape pahana dalwenawa!In a home across the world, tonight, our lamp is burning!
Verse 1
මිදුලේ ගිනි උඩ, තාත්තා අච්චුව ළඟට ගියාMidule gini uda, Thaththa achchuwa langata giyaOver the fire in the yard, Thaththa went to the mould
උණු පිත්තල වත් කළා, රස්නෙට හැමෝම පස්සටUnu piththala wath kala, rasneta hamoma passataPoured the molten brass, and everyone stepped back from the heat
ඊට පස්සේ අත්පොළසන්, මිදුලම ගුගුරුවාEeta passe athpolasan, midulama guguruwaThen the clapping, the whole yard roared
මල්ලි දණහිස උඩ, අන්තිම පහන ඔප දානවාMalli danahisa uda, anthima pahana opa danawaMalli, on his knee, polishing the last lamp
Before the chorus
අච්චුව ඇරියා, පහන එළියට ආවාAchchuwa ariya, pahana eliyata aawaThe mould opened, the lamp came out
තාමත් රත් වෙලා, තාත්තා හිනාවෙලාThamath rath wela, Thaththa hinawelaStill hot, and Thaththa smiling
"මේක ඔයාලගේ" කියලා එයාලට දුන්නා"Meka oyalage" kiyala eyalata dunna"This one's yours," he said, and gave it to them
අම්මා දොරකඩ ඉඳන් බලන් හිටියාAmma dorakada indan balan hitiyaAmma stood watching from the doorway
Chorus
අපේ පිත්තල පහන, ලෝකෙ ගෙදරක දැල්වුණා!Ape piththala pahana, loke gedaraka dalwuna!Our brass lamp lit up in a home across the world!
තාත්තා වත් කළා, මල්ලි ඔප දැම්මාThaththa wath kala, Malli opa dammaThaththa poured it, Malli polished it
අපේ මිදුලේ ගින්දරෙන්, එයාලගේ මේසෙටApe midule gindaren, eyalage mesetaFrom the fire in our yard, to their table
උඩරට පහන, ලෝකෙ පත්තු වෙලාUdarata pahana, loke paththu welaA Kandyan lamp, lit out in the world
අපේ පහන, අපේ පහනApe pahana, ape pahanaOur lamp, our lamp
ලෝකෙ ගෙදරක, අද රෑ, අපේ පහන දැල්වෙනවා!Loke gedaraka, ada ra, ape pahana dalwenawa!In a home across the world, tonight, our lamp is burning!
Chant
පිත්තලේ!Piththale!Brass!
වත් කළා!Wath kala!Poured it!
ඔප දැම්මා!Opa damma!Polished it!
දැල්වුණා!Dalwuna!It's lit!
Verse 2
මාසෙකට පස්සේ, රෑ කෑම වෙලාවේ ෆොටෝ එකක්Masekata passe, ra kama welawe photo ekakA month later, at dinner time, a photo
එයාලගේ මේසේ මැද, අපේ පහන දැල්වෙනවාEyalage mese madda, ape pahana dalwenawaIn the middle of their table, our lamp burning
තාත්තට පෙන්නුවා, කිසිම දෙයක් කිව්වේ නෑThaththata pennuwa, kisima deyak kiwwe naI showed Thaththa, he said nothing at all
අම්මා ෆෝන් එක අතට අරන්, "අපේ" කිව්වාAmma phone eka athata aran, "Ape" kiwwaAmma took the phone in her hand and said, "ours"
Before the chorus
අච්චුව ඇරියා, පහන එළියට ආවාAchchuwa ariya, pahana eliyata aawaThe mould opened, the lamp came out
තාමත් රත් වෙලා, තාත්තා හිනාවෙලාThamath rath wela, Thaththa hinawelaStill hot, and Thaththa smiling
"මේක ඔයාලගේ" කියලා එයාලට දුන්නා"Meka oyalage" kiyala eyalata dunna"This one's yours," he said, and gave it to them
අම්මා දොරකඩ ඉඳන් බලන් හිටියාAmma dorakada indan balan hitiyaAmma stood watching from the doorway
Chorus
අපේ පිත්තල පහන, ලෝකෙ ගෙදරක දැල්වුණා!Ape piththala pahana, loke gedaraka dalwuna!Our brass lamp lit up in a home across the world!
තාත්තා වත් කළා, මල්ලි ඔප දැම්මාThaththa wath kala, Malli opa dammaThaththa poured it, Malli polished it
අපේ මිදුලේ ගින්දරෙන්, එයාලගේ මේසෙටApe midule gindaren, eyalage mesetaFrom the fire in our yard, to their table
උඩරට පහන, ලෝකෙ පත්තු වෙලාUdarata pahana, loke paththu welaA Kandyan lamp, lit out in the world
අපේ පහන, අපේ පහනApe pahana, ape pahanaOur lamp, our lamp
ලෝකෙ ගෙදරක, අද රෑ, අපේ පහන දැල්වෙනවා!Loke gedaraka, ada ra, ape pahana dalwenawa!In a home across the world, tonight, our lamp is burning!
Bridge
දවල් අච්චුවෙන් ආපු රස්නෙට, එයාලා පස්සට ගියාDawal achchuwen aapu rasneta, eyala passata giyaAt noon they stepped back from the heat off the mould
ඇස් වහගෙන, අතින් මූණ වහගෙනAs wahagena, athin muna wahagenaEyes shut, faces covered with their hands
අද ඒ පිත්තලේ පොඩි ගින්දරක්, එයාලගේ මේසේAda e piththale podi gindarak, eyalage meseTonight a small flame of that same brass, on their table
මල්ලි ඔප දාපු පහන, ලෝකෙ ගෙදරක එළියMalli opa dapu pahana, loke gedaraka eliyaThe lamp Malli polished, the light in a home across the world
Chorus
අපේ පිත්තල පහන, ලෝකෙ ගෙදරක දැල්වුණා! (දැල්වුණා!)Ape piththala pahana, loke gedaraka dalwuna! (dalwuna!)Our brass lamp lit up in a home across the world!
තාත්තා වත් කළා, මල්ලි ඔප දැම්මාThaththa wath kala, Malli opa dammaThaththa poured it, Malli polished it
අපේ මිදුලේ ගින්දරෙන්, එයාලගේ මේසෙටApe midule gindaren, eyalage mesetaFrom the fire in our yard, to their table
උඩරට පහන, ලෝකෙ පත්තු වෙලාUdarata pahana, loke paththu welaA Kandyan lamp, lit out in the world
අපේ පහන, අපේ පහන (අපේ පහන!)Ape pahana, ape pahana (ape pahana!)Our lamp, our lamp
ලෝකෙ ගෙදරක, අද රෑ, අපේ පහන දැල්වෙනවා!Loke gedaraka, ada ra, ape pahana dalwenawa!In a home across the world, tonight, our lamp is burning!
Outro
අපේ පිත්තල පහනApe piththala pahanaOur brass lamp
ලෝකෙ ගෙදරක දැල්වුණා.Loke gedaraka dalwuna.lit up in a home across the world
From the book
- Idea 41Brass and bronze casting in the Kandyan tradition, watched from pour to polish
- Cluster 2Sell the making, not the object
The book behind the songs
Every song here is sung from inside one moment: the day someone in Sri Lanka has already done one of the book's 500 ideas, and the family is celebrating.
This song is a story about one idea from the book Why Not Sri Lanka. It promises nothing. No real person or business is shown in it. The book's ideas belong to whoever builds them. Music and vocals created with Suno from original lyrics written for this channel. The pictures in the songs are made with AI too.
© 2026 Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. Lyrics, music recordings, films and pictures. All rights reserved. Please do not re-upload or reuse these songs; to use one, get in touch through whynotsrilanka.com.