Song H043 Coming soon
රත්නපුරේට ආවා, තාත්තගෙන් ඉගෙනගන්න
They Came to Ratnapura to Learn from Thaththa
Rathnapureta Aawa, Thaththagen Igenaganna
Our front room in Ratnapura has become a classroom, with jewellers from far away round the table and a microscope on Amma's good tablecloth. Thaththa tilts a hand to the light, and the jeweller shouts that now he sees it.
Lyrics
Chorus
තාත්තගෙන් ඉගෙනගන්න, රත්නපුරේට ආවා!Thaththagen igenaganna, Rathnapureta aawa!To learn from Thaththa, they came to Ratnapura!
ඈත රටවලින් ජුවලර්ලා, අපේ ඉස්සරහ කාමරේටAatha ratawalin jewellerla, ape issaraha kamaretaJewellers from far countries, into our front room
තාත්තා ගල අල්ලලා, "දැන් පේනවා නේද?" කියනවාThaththa gala allala, "Dan penawa neda?" kiyanawaThaththa holds up the stone: "now you see it, don't you?"
ඔක්කොම ඔළු වනනවා, තාත්තගේ වචනෙටOkkoma olu wananawa, thaththage wachanetaEvery head nods at Thaththa's word
රත්නපුරේට ආවා, රත්නපුරේට ආවාRathnapureta aawa, Rathnapureta aawaThey came to Ratnapura, they came to Ratnapura
තාත්තගෙන් ඉගෙනගන්න, ඈත ඉඳන් රත්නපුරේට ආවා!Thaththagen igenaganna, aatha indan Rathnapureta aawa!To learn from Thaththa, from far away they came to Ratnapura!
Verse 1
ඉස්සරහ කාමරේ අද පන්ති කාමරයක්Issaraha kamare ada panthi kamarayakThe front room is a classroom today
අම්මගේ හොඳ මේස රෙද්ද උඩ මයික්‍රොස්කෝප් එකAmmage honda mesa redda uda microscope ekaA microscope on Amma's good tablecloth
අම්මා කිව්වා, "මගේ රෙද්ද පරිස්සමෙන්, තාත්තේ!"Amma kiwwa, "Mage redda parissamen, thaththe!"Amma said, "Careful with my cloth, Thaththa!"
තාත්තා හිනාවෙලා, "අද මේසේ ගල් බලන දවසක්!"Thaththa hinawela, "Ada mese gal balana dawasak!"Thaththa laughed: "Today's a stone-looking day at this table!"
Before the chorus
මල්ලි ටෝච් එක අල්ලන් ඉන්නවා, අත හෙල්ලෙන්නේ නෑMalli torch eka allan innawa, atha hellenne naMalli holds the torch, his hand doesn't move
තාත්තා ජුවලර්ගේ අත ලයිට් එකට හරවනවාThaththa jewellerge atha light ekata harawanawaThaththa turns the jeweller's hand to the light
"හෙමින්, මෙහෙම, ලූප් එක ඇහැට ළං කරන්න""Hemin, mehema, loupe eka ahata lan karanna""Slowly, like this, bring the loupe to your eye"
"ආ! දැන් පේනවා!" කියලා මහත්තයා කෑ ගැහුවා"Aa! Dan penawa!" kiyala mahaththaya ka gahuwa"Ah! Now I see it!" he shouted
Chorus
තාත්තගෙන් ඉගෙනගන්න, රත්නපුරේට ආවා!Thaththagen igenaganna, Rathnapureta aawa!To learn from Thaththa, they came to Ratnapura!
ඈත රටවලින් ජුවලර්ලා, අපේ ඉස්සරහ කාමරේටAatha ratawalin jewellerla, ape issaraha kamaretaJewellers from far countries, into our front room
තාත්තා ගල අල්ලලා, "දැන් පේනවා නේද?" කියනවාThaththa gala allala, "Dan penawa neda?" kiyanawaThaththa holds up the stone: "now you see it, don't you?"
ඔක්කොම ඔළු වනනවා, තාත්තගේ වචනෙටOkkoma olu wananawa, thaththage wachanetaEvery head nods at Thaththa's word
රත්නපුරේට ආවා, රත්නපුරේට ආවාRathnapureta aawa, Rathnapureta aawaThey came to Ratnapura, they came to Ratnapura
තාත්තගෙන් ඉගෙනගන්න, ඈත ඉඳන් රත්නපුරේට ආවා!Thaththagen igenaganna, aatha indan Rathnapureta aawa!To learn from Thaththa, from far away they came to Ratnapura!
Chant
තාත්තගෙන්!Thaththagen!From Thaththa!
ඉගෙනගන්න!Igenaganna!To learn!
ලූප් එක!Loupe eka!The loupe!
හරියටම!Hariyatama!Exactly!
Verse 2
අන්තිම දවසේ, හැමෝම එක පේළියට, ෆොටෝ එකක් ගන්නAnthima dawase, hamoma eka peliyata, photo ekak gannaOn the last day, everyone in one row, for a photo
තාත්තා මැද, මල්ලි කොනේ, ටෝච් එකත් අතේThaththa mada, malli kone, torch ekath atheThaththa in the middle, Malli at the end, torch still in hand
අම්මා තේ ගෙනාවා, හැමෝටම කෝප්පයක්Amma the genawa, hamotama koppayakAmma brought tea, a cup for everyone
"ඉගෙනගත්තද?" අහනවා, ඔක්කොම කියනවා "හරියටම!""Igenagaththada?" ahanawa, okkoma kiyanawa "Hariyatama!""Did you learn it?" she asks, and they all say "Exactly!"
Before the chorus
මල්ලි ටෝච් එක අල්ලන් ඉන්නවා, අත හෙල්ලෙන්නේ නෑMalli torch eka allan innawa, atha hellenne naMalli holds the torch, his hand doesn't move
තාත්තා ජුවලර්ගේ අත ලයිට් එකට හරවනවාThaththa jewellerge atha light ekata harawanawaThaththa turns the jeweller's hand to the light
"හෙමින්, මෙහෙම, ලූප් එක ඇහැට ළං කරන්න""Hemin, mehema, loupe eka ahata lan karanna""Slowly, like this, bring the loupe to your eye"
"ආ! දැන් පේනවා!" කියලා මහත්තයා කෑ ගැහුවා"Aa! Dan penawa!" kiyala mahaththaya ka gahuwa"Ah! Now I see it!" he shouted
Chorus
තාත්තගෙන් ඉගෙනගන්න, රත්නපුරේට ආවා!Thaththagen igenaganna, Rathnapureta aawa!To learn from Thaththa, they came to Ratnapura!
ඈත රටවලින් ජුවලර්ලා, අපේ ඉස්සරහ කාමරේටAatha ratawalin jewellerla, ape issaraha kamaretaJewellers from far countries, into our front room
තාත්තා ගල අල්ලලා, "දැන් පේනවා නේද?" කියනවාThaththa gala allala, "Dan penawa neda?" kiyanawaThaththa holds up the stone: "now you see it, don't you?"
ඔක්කොම ඔළු වනනවා, තාත්තගේ වචනෙටOkkoma olu wananawa, thaththage wachanetaEvery head nods at Thaththa's word
රත්නපුරේට ආවා, රත්නපුරේට ආවාRathnapureta aawa, Rathnapureta aawaThey came to Ratnapura, they came to Ratnapura
තාත්තගෙන් ඉගෙනගන්න, ඈත ඉඳන් රත්නපුරේට ආවා!Thaththagen igenaganna, aatha indan Rathnapureta aawa!To learn from Thaththa, from far away they came to Ratnapura!
Bridge
අම්මගේ ඒ මේස රෙද්ද කලින් එළියට ආවේ අවුරුද්දට විතරයිAmmage e mesa redda kalin eliyata aawe awuruddata witharaiAmma's tablecloth used to come out only for Avurudu
අල්මාරියේ යටම, නැවිලා, ඊළඟ අවුරුද්ද බලාගෙනAlmariye yatama, nawila, eelanga awurudda balagenaAt the bottom of the cupboard, folded, waiting for the next New Year
අද ඒ රෙද්ද හැම සතියේම මේසේ, මැදින් මයික්‍රොස්කෝප් එකAda e redda hama sathiyema mese, madin microscope ekaToday that cloth is on the table every week, the microscope in the middle
අම්මාම දාලා කියනවා, "තාත්තේ, මැදටම තියන්න"Ammama dala kiyanawa, "Thaththe, madatama thiyanna"Amma spreads it herself and says, "Thaththa, put it right in the centre"
Chorus
තාත්තගෙන් ඉගෙනගන්න, රත්නපුරේට ආවා! (රත්නපුරේට!)Thaththagen igenaganna, Rathnapureta aawa! (Rathnapureta!)To learn from Thaththa, they came to Ratnapura!
ඈත රටවලින් ජුවලර්ලා, අපේ ඉස්සරහ කාමරේටAatha ratawalin jewellerla, ape issaraha kamaretaJewellers from far countries, into our front room
තාත්තා ගල අල්ලලා, "දැන් පේනවා නේද?" කියනවාThaththa gala allala, "Dan penawa neda?" kiyanawaThaththa holds up the stone: "now you see it, don't you?"
ඔක්කොම ඔළු වනනවා, තාත්තගේ වචනෙටOkkoma olu wananawa, thaththage wachanetaEvery head nods at Thaththa's word
රත්නපුරේට ආවා, රත්නපුරේට ආවා (තාත්තගෙන්!)Rathnapureta aawa, Rathnapureta aawa (thaththagen!)They came to Ratnapura, they came to Ratnapura
තාත්තගෙන් ඉගෙනගන්න, ඈත ඉඳන් රත්නපුරේට ආවා!Thaththagen igenaganna, aatha indan Rathnapureta aawa!To learn from Thaththa, from far away they came to Ratnapura!
Outro
රත්නපුරේට ආවාRathnapureta aawaThey came to Ratnapura
තාත්තගෙන් ඉගෙනගන්න.Thaththagen igenaganna.to learn from Thaththa
From the book
- Idea 246Short gemmology courses for foreign buyers and jewellers, taught in Ratnapura with real stones and a microscope
- Cluster 12The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
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.