Song H017 Coming soon
තාත්තගේ කිතුල් පැණි
Dad's Kithul Treacle
Thaththage Kithul Pani
Dawn in a kithul village: Thaththa comes down the tree with the pot full, and the daughter sticks his own name on the very first bottle of treacle. A month later a photo arrives of a pancake on a table abroad, drowned in it.
Lyrics
Chorus
තාත්තා කිතුල් ගහේ, පැණි ලෝකෙ මේසේ!Thaththa kithul gahe, pani loke mese!Dad's up the kithul tree, the treacle's on the world's table!
අපේ ගහේ පැණි, තාත්තගේ නමින්ම යනවාApe gahe pani, thaththage naminma yanawaOur tree's treacle goes out under Dad's own name
අලුයම ගහ උඩ, රෑ වෙද්දී බෝතලේAluyama gaha uda, ra weddi bothaleUp the tree at dawn, in the bottle by night
ලේබල් එකේ ලොකුවට, තාත්තගේ නමLabel eke lokuwata, thaththage namaBig on the label, Dad's name
කිතුල් පැණි, තාත්තගේ කිතුල් පැණිKithul pani, thaththage kithul paniKithul treacle, Dad's kithul treacle
අපේ ගමෙන් ලෝකෙට, තාත්තගේ කිතුල් පැණි!Ape gamen loketa, thaththage kithul pani!From our village to the world, Dad's kithul treacle!
Verse 1
අලුයම පහට, තාත්තා කිතුල් ගහ උඩAluyama pahata, thaththa kithul gaha udaFive at dawn, Dad's up the kithul tree
මුට්ටිය පිරිලා බහිනවා, "අල්ලගනින් දුවේ!"Muttiya pirila bahinawa, "Allaganin duwe!"He comes down with the pot full: "Hold this, daughter!"
අම්මා ලිප ළඟ හැඳි ගානවා, ගෙයම සුවඳයිAmma lipa langa handi gaanawa, geyama suwandaiAmma stirs at the hearth, the whole house smells sweet
මුල්ම බෝතලේට ලේබල් එක, තාත්තගේ නමMulma bothaleta label eka, thaththage namaThe label on the very first bottle: Dad's name
Before the chorus
තාත්තා බෝතලේ අතට අරන් බලාගෙනThaththa bothale athata aran balagenaDad takes the bottle in his hand and looks at it
තමන්ගේ නම ඇඟිල්ලෙන් අතගානවාThamange nama angillen athagaanawaHe strokes his own name with a finger
"මේ මගේ නමද?" "ඔව් තාත්තේ, ඔයාගේ!""Me mage namada?" "Ow thaththe, oyage!""Is this my name?" "Yes Dad, yours!"
අම්මා හැඳි දාලා ඇවිත්, හිනාවෙලා ඇඬුවාAmma handi dala awith, hinawela anduwaAmma dropped the spoon, came over, and laughed and cried
Chorus
තාත්තා කිතුල් ගහේ, පැණි ලෝකෙ මේසේ!Thaththa kithul gahe, pani loke mese!Dad's up the kithul tree, the treacle's on the world's table!
අපේ ගහේ පැණි, තාත්තගේ නමින්ම යනවාApe gahe pani, thaththage naminma yanawaOur tree's treacle goes out under Dad's own name
අලුයම ගහ උඩ, රෑ වෙද්දී බෝතලේAluyama gaha uda, ra weddi bothaleUp the tree at dawn, in the bottle by night
ලේබල් එකේ ලොකුවට, තාත්තගේ නමLabel eke lokuwata, thaththage namaBig on the label, Dad's name
කිතුල් පැණි, තාත්තගේ කිතුල් පැණිKithul pani, thaththage kithul paniKithul treacle, Dad's kithul treacle
අපේ ගමෙන් ලෝකෙට, තාත්තගේ කිතුල් පැණි!Ape gamen loketa, thaththage kithul pani!From our village to the world, Dad's kithul treacle!
Chant
කිතුල්!Kithul!Kithul!
පැණි!Pani!Treacle!
තාත්තා!Thaththa!Dad!
රසයි!Rasai!Tasty!
Verse 2
මාසෙකට පස්සේ, ෆෝන් එකට ෆොටෝ එකක්Masekata passe, phone ekata photo ekakA month later, a photo on the phone
පිටරට මේසෙක පෑන්කේක් එකක්, අපේ පැණි උඩින්මPitarata meseka pancake ekak, ape pani udinmaA pancake on a table abroad, our treacle all over it
"මේ මගේ!" කියලා තාත්තා හිනාවෙලා කෑ ගැහුවා"Me mage!" kiyala thaththa hinawela ka gahuwa"That's mine!" Dad shouted, laughing
හන්දියේ කඩේටම ෆෝන් එක පෙන්නුවාHandiye kadetama phone eka pennuwaHe showed the phone to the whole junction shop
Before the chorus
තාත්තා බෝතලේ අතට අරන් බලාගෙනThaththa bothale athata aran balagenaDad takes the bottle in his hand and looks at it
තමන්ගේ නම ඇඟිල්ලෙන් අතගානවාThamange nama angillen athagaanawaHe strokes his own name with a finger
"මේ මගේ නමද?" "ඔව් තාත්තේ, ඔයාගේ!""Me mage namada?" "Ow thaththe, oyage!""Is this my name?" "Yes Dad, yours!"
අම්මා හැඳි දාලා ඇවිත්, හිනාවෙලා ඇඬුවාAmma handi dala awith, hinawela anduwaAmma dropped the spoon, came over, and laughed and cried
Chorus
තාත්තා කිතුල් ගහේ, පැණි ලෝකෙ මේසේ!Thaththa kithul gahe, pani loke mese!Dad's up the kithul tree, the treacle's on the world's table!
අපේ ගහේ පැණි, තාත්තගේ නමින්ම යනවාApe gahe pani, thaththage naminma yanawaOur tree's treacle goes out under Dad's own name
අලුයම ගහ උඩ, රෑ වෙද්දී බෝතලේAluyama gaha uda, ra weddi bothaleUp the tree at dawn, in the bottle by night
ලේබල් එකේ ලොකුවට, තාත්තගේ නමLabel eke lokuwata, thaththage namaBig on the label, Dad's name
කිතුල් පැණි, තාත්තගේ කිතුල් පැණිKithul pani, thaththage kithul paniKithul treacle, Dad's kithul treacle
අපේ ගමෙන් ලෝකෙට, තාත්තගේ කිතුල් පැණි!Ape gamen loketa, thaththage kithul pani!From our village to the world, Dad's kithul treacle!
Bridge
කලින් පැණි ගියේ පරණ බෝතලේක, හන්දියේ කඩේටKalin pani giye parana bothaleka, handiye kadetaThe treacle used to go in an old bottle to the junction shop
නමක් නෑ, ගමක් නෑ, "කිතුල් පැණි" විතරයිNamak na, gamak na, "kithul pani" witharaiNo name, no village, just "kithul treacle"
අද ඒ බෝතලේ උඩ තාත්තගේ නම, අපේ ගමේ නමAda e bothale uda thaththage nama, ape game namaToday that bottle carries Dad's name and our village's name
අපේ ලිපෙන් ලෝකෙ මේසෙට, බෝතලෙන් බෝතලේApe lipen loke meseta, bothalen bothaleFrom our hearth to the world's table, bottle by bottle
Chorus
තාත්තා කිතුල් ගහේ, පැණි ලෝකෙ මේසේ! (ලෝකෙ මේසේ!)Thaththa kithul gahe, pani loke mese! (loke mese!)Dad's up the kithul tree, the treacle's on the world's table!
අපේ ගහේ පැණි, තාත්තගේ නමින්ම යනවාApe gahe pani, thaththage naminma yanawaOur tree's treacle goes out under Dad's own name
අලුයම ගහ උඩ, රෑ වෙද්දී බෝතලේAluyama gaha uda, ra weddi bothaleUp the tree at dawn, in the bottle by night
ලේබල් එකේ ලොකුවට, තාත්තගේ නම (තාත්තගේ!)Label eke lokuwata, thaththage nama (thaththage!)Big on the label, Dad's name
කිතුල් පැණි, තාත්තගේ කිතුල් පැණි (රසයි!)Kithul pani, thaththage kithul pani (rasai!)Kithul treacle, Dad's kithul treacle
අපේ ගමෙන් ලෝකෙට, තාත්තගේ කිතුල් පැණි!Ape gamen loketa, thaththage kithul pani!From our village to the world, Dad's kithul treacle!
Outro
කිතුල් පැණි, තාත්තගේ නමKithul pani, thaththage namaKithul treacle, Dad's name
පැණි ලෝකෙ මේසේ.Pani loke mese.the treacle's on the world's table
From the book
- Idea 135Kithul treacle and jaggery as a named origin sweetener, the way maple syrup is Canadian, with a range of recipes and ready products that use it in place of white sugar, each tested for its glycaemic index so the label can say what it does
- Cluster 6Food and drink as export, not just hospitality
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.