Song H029 Coming soon
තාත්තගේ කොහු දැල
Thaththa's Coir Net
Thaththage Kohu Dala
On the first big night of the monsoon, Amma points the torch at the hill while the rain hammers the roof, and Thaththa says from his chair that the net will hold. At first light the hill is exactly where it was, and he shouts that it held.
Lyrics
Chorus
වැස්ස ආවා, කන්ද හිටියා, තාත්තගේ කොහු දැලෙන්!Wassa aawa, kanda hitiya, thaththage kohu dalen!The rain came, the hill stayed, held by Thaththa's coir net!
රතු පස් පොඩ්ඩක්වත් පාරට ආවේ නෑRathu pas poddakwath parata aawe naNot a bit of the red earth came down onto the road
අපේ ලෙලිවලින් අඹරපු දැල, කන්ද අල්ලගෙනApe leliwalin ambarapu dala, kanda allagenaThe net twisted from our own husks, holding the hill
උදේට ඉස්කෝලේ ළමයි ඒ යටින් ගියාUdeta iskole lamai e yatin giyaIn the morning the school kids walked under it
කොහු දැලෙන්, තාත්තගේ කොහු දැලෙන්Kohu dalen, thaththage kohu dalenBy the coir net, by Thaththa's coir net
වැස්ස ආවා, කන්ද හිටියා, අපේ කොහු දැලෙන්!Wassa aawa, kanda hitiya, ape kohu dalen!The rain came, the hill stayed, held by our coir net!
Verse 1
වැස්ස එන්න කලින් තාත්තා, පාර අයිනේ ලෙලි වළේWassa enna kalin thaththa, para ayine leli waleBefore the rains came, Thaththa at the husk pit by the road
අඹරපු දැල කපපු කන්ද උඩට ගහලා, ඇණ ගහලාAmbarapu dala kapapu kanda udata gahala, ana gahalaThrew the twisted net over the cut hill and pegged it down
පළවෙනි ලොකු වැස්ස රෑ, අම්මා ජනේලේ, ටෝච් එක අතේPalaweni loku wassa re, amma janele, torch eka atheThe first big rain night, Amma at the window, torch in hand
තාත්තා පුටුවෙන් කිව්වා, "බය වෙන්න එපා, දැල අල්ලයි"Thaththa putuwen kiwwa, "Baya wenna epa, dala allai"Thaththa said from his chair, "Don't be scared, the net'll hold"
Before the chorus
එළිවෙද්දී වැස්ස නැවතුණාEliweddi wassa nawathunaAs it got light, the rain stopped
තාත්තා මුලින්ම ගේට්ටුවෙන් එළියට දිව්වාThaththa mulinma gettuwen eliyata diwwaThaththa was the first to run out of the gate
කන්ද එහෙම්මයි, පාර එළියිKanda ehemmai, para eliyiThe hill's exactly as it was, the road is clear
තාත්තා අත උස්සලා කෑ ගැහුවා, "හිටියා!"Thaththa atha ussala ka gahuwa, "Hitiya!"Thaththa raised his arm and shouted, "It held!"
Chorus
වැස්ස ආවා, කන්ද හිටියා, තාත්තගේ කොහු දැලෙන්!Wassa aawa, kanda hitiya, thaththage kohu dalen!The rain came, the hill stayed, held by Thaththa's coir net!
රතු පස් පොඩ්ඩක්වත් පාරට ආවේ නෑRathu pas poddakwath parata aawe naNot a bit of the red earth came down onto the road
අපේ ලෙලිවලින් අඹරපු දැල, කන්ද අල්ලගෙනApe leliwalin ambarapu dala, kanda allagenaThe net twisted from our own husks, holding the hill
උදේට ඉස්කෝලේ ළමයි ඒ යටින් ගියාUdeta iskole lamai e yatin giyaIn the morning the school kids walked under it
කොහු දැලෙන්, තාත්තගේ කොහු දැලෙන්Kohu dalen, thaththage kohu dalenBy the coir net, by Thaththa's coir net
වැස්ස ආවා, කන්ද හිටියා, අපේ කොහු දැලෙන්!Wassa aawa, kanda hitiya, ape kohu dalen!The rain came, the hill stayed, held by our coir net!
Chant
කොහු!Kohu!Coir!
දැල!Dala!The net!
තාත්තේ!Thaththe!Thaththa!
කන්ද හිටියා!Kanda hitiya!The hill held!
Verse 2
සතියකට පස්සේ, අල්ලපු ගමෙන් මිනිස්සු ගේට්ටුව ළඟSathiyakata passe, allapu gamen minissu gettuwa langaA week later, people from the next village at our gate
"අර දැල අපේ කන්දටත් ඕනේ" කියලා"Ara dala ape kandatath one" kiyalaSaying "we want that net for our hill too"
අම්මා දොරකඩ ඉඳන් කන්ද පෙන්නුවා, "අපේ තාත්තගේ දැල!"Amma dorakada indan kanda pennuwa, "Ape thaththage dala!"Amma pointed at the hill from the doorway: "Our Thaththa's net!"
තාත්තා ලෙලි වළ ළඟ, හිනාවෙලා, ආයෙත් අඹරනවාThaththa leli wala langa, hinawela, aayeth ambaranawaThaththa at the husk pit, smiling, twisting again
Before the chorus
එළිවෙද්දී වැස්ස නැවතුණාEliweddi wassa nawathunaAs it got light, the rain stopped
තාත්තා මුලින්ම ගේට්ටුවෙන් එළියට දිව්වාThaththa mulinma gettuwen eliyata diwwaThaththa was the first to run out of the gate
කන්ද එහෙම්මයි, පාර එළියිKanda ehemmai, para eliyiThe hill's exactly as it was, the road is clear
තාත්තා අත උස්සලා කෑ ගැහුවා, "හිටියා!"Thaththa atha ussala ka gahuwa, "Hitiya!"Thaththa raised his arm and shouted, "It held!"
Chorus
වැස්ස ආවා, කන්ද හිටියා, තාත්තගේ කොහු දැලෙන්!Wassa aawa, kanda hitiya, thaththage kohu dalen!The rain came, the hill stayed, held by Thaththa's coir net!
රතු පස් පොඩ්ඩක්වත් පාරට ආවේ නෑRathu pas poddakwath parata aawe naNot a bit of the red earth came down onto the road
අපේ ලෙලිවලින් අඹරපු දැල, කන්ද අල්ලගෙනApe leliwalin ambarapu dala, kanda allagenaThe net twisted from our own husks, holding the hill
උදේට ඉස්කෝලේ ළමයි ඒ යටින් ගියාUdeta iskole lamai e yatin giyaIn the morning the school kids walked under it
කොහු දැලෙන්, තාත්තගේ කොහු දැලෙන්Kohu dalen, thaththage kohu dalenBy the coir net, by Thaththa's coir net
වැස්ස ආවා, කන්ද හිටියා, අපේ කොහු දැලෙන්!Wassa aawa, kanda hitiya, ape kohu dalen!The rain came, the hill stayed, held by our coir net!
Bridge
කලින් පොල් ලෙලි පාර අයිනේ ගොඩ ගැහුවාKalin pol leli para ayine goda gahuwaThe coconut husks used to be heaped by the road
කාටවත් ඕනේ නෑ, වැස්සට කුණු වෙනවාKatawath one na, wassata kunu wenawaNobody wanted them, rotting in the rain
අද ඒ ලෙලි ගොඩම අපේ කන්ද අල්ලගෙනAda e leli godama ape kanda allagenaToday that same heap of husks is holding our hill
තාත්තගේ අතින් අඹරලා, කොහු දැලක් වෙලාThaththage athin ambarala, kohu dalak welaTwisted by Thaththa's hands, turned into a coir net
Chorus
වැස්ස ආවා, කන්ද හිටියා, තාත්තගේ කොහු දැලෙන්! (හිටියා!)Wassa aawa, kanda hitiya, thaththage kohu dalen! (hitiya!)The rain came, the hill stayed, held by Thaththa's coir net!
රතු පස් පොඩ්ඩක්වත් පාරට ආවේ නෑRathu pas poddakwath parata aawe naNot a bit of the red earth came down onto the road
අපේ ලෙලිවලින් අඹරපු දැල, කන්ද අල්ලගෙනApe leliwalin ambarapu dala, kanda allagenaThe net twisted from our own husks, holding the hill
උදේට ඉස්කෝලේ ළමයි ඒ යටින් ගියාUdeta iskole lamai e yatin giyaIn the morning the school kids walked under it
කොහු දැලෙන්, තාත්තගේ කොහු දැලෙන් (අපේ දැලෙන්!)Kohu dalen, thaththage kohu dalen (ape dalen!)By the coir net, by Thaththa's coir net
වැස්ස ආවා, කන්ද හිටියා, අපේ කොහු දැලෙන්!Wassa aawa, kanda hitiya, ape kohu dalen!The rain came, the hill stayed, held by our coir net!
Outro
තාත්තගේ කොහු දැලෙන්Thaththage kohu dalenBy Thaththa's coir net
වැස්ස ආවා, කන්ද හිටියා.Wassa aawa, kanda hitiya.the rain came, the hill stayed
From the book
- Idea 186Coir from the husk: matting, rope, mats that hold soil on slopes, and potting material for plant nurseries
- Cluster 8The coconut, which deserves its own list
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.