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අයියා හදපු පාලම
The Bridge Our Ayya Built
Ayya Hadapu Palama
On a morning by the village stream, Ayya cuts the red ribbon across the new bridge, everyone claps, and Amma holds his hand and laughs and cries as she walks across first. Seeya steps onto the bridge slowly, stamps his foot to test it, and grins that it doesn't shake.
Lyrics
Chorus
අපේ අයියා හදපු පාලම, අද ඇරුණා!Ape ayya hadapu palama, ada aruna!The bridge our Ayya built opened today!
බෝඩ් එකේ අයියගේ නම, අපේ ගමේ නම යටBoard eke ayyage nama, ape game nama yataAyya's name on the board, under our village's name
අම්මා මුලින්ම ගියා, අයියගේ අත අල්ලගෙනAmma mulinma giya, ayyage atha allagenaAmma went across first, holding Ayya's hand
සීයා පය ගැහුවා, "හොඳට හදලා!" කියලාSeeya paya gahuwa, "Hondata hadala!" kiyalaSeeya stamped his foot: "well built!"
පාලම, පාලම, අපේ ගමේ පාලමPalama, palama, ape game palamaThe bridge, the bridge, our village's bridge
අපේ අයියා හදපු පාලම, අද ඇරුණා!Ape ayya hadapu palama, ada aruna!The bridge our Ayya built opened today!
Verse 1
උදේ ඇළ අයිනේ, මුළු ගමම එකතු වෙලාUde ala ayine, mulu gamama ekathu welaMorning by the stream, the whole village gathered
රතු රිබන් එක පාලම හරහා, කතුර අයියගේ අතේRathu ribbon eka palama haraha, kathura ayyage atheA red ribbon across the bridge, the scissors in Ayya's hand
රිබන් එක කැපුවා, හැමෝම අත්පුඩි ගැහුවාRibbon eka kapuwa, hamoma athpudi gahuwaHe cut the ribbon and everyone clapped
අම්මා අයියගේ අත අල්ලන්, හිනාවෙලා ඇඬුවාAmma ayyage atha allan, hinawela anduwaAmma held Ayya's hand and laughed and cried
Before the chorus
මම ෆෝන් එක අල්ලන්, සීයා පාලමට නැග්ගාMama phone eka allan, seeya palamata naggaI held up my phone as Seeya stepped onto the bridge
හෙමින් හෙමින් පය තිබ්බා, ඊට පස්සේ පය ගැහුවා!Hemin hemin paya thibba, eeta passe paya gahuwa!Slowly, slowly he set his foot down, and then he stamped it!
"ගැස්සෙන්නේ නෑ!" කියලා, දත් පෙන්නලා හිනා"Gassenne na!" kiyala, dath pennala hina"It doesn't shake!" he said, grinning
මුළු ගමම කෑ ගැහුවා, "අයියේ!"Mulu gamama ka gahuwa, "Ayye!"The whole village shouted, "Ayya!"
Chorus
අපේ අයියා හදපු පාලම, අද ඇරුණා!Ape ayya hadapu palama, ada aruna!The bridge our Ayya built opened today!
බෝඩ් එකේ අයියගේ නම, අපේ ගමේ නම යටBoard eke ayyage nama, ape game nama yataAyya's name on the board, under our village's name
අම්මා මුලින්ම ගියා, අයියගේ අත අල්ලගෙනAmma mulinma giya, ayyage atha allagenaAmma went across first, holding Ayya's hand
සීයා පය ගැහුවා, "හොඳට හදලා!" කියලාSeeya paya gahuwa, "Hondata hadala!" kiyalaSeeya stamped his foot: "well built!"
පාලම, පාලම, අපේ ගමේ පාලමPalama, palama, ape game palamaThe bridge, the bridge, our village's bridge
අපේ අයියා හදපු පාලම, අද ඇරුණා!Ape ayya hadapu palama, ada aruna!The bridge our Ayya built opened today!
Chant
පාලම!Palama!The bridge!
අයියේ!Ayye!Ayya!
අපේ ගමේ!Ape game!In our village!
ඇරුණා!Aruna!Opened!
Verse 2
මාසෙකට පස්සේ, ඉස්කෝලේ වෑන් එක පාලමෙන්Masekata passe, iskole van eka palamenA month later, the school van crosses the bridge
ළමයි ජනේලෙන් අත වනනවා, "අයියගේ පාලම!" කියලාLamai janelen atha wananawa, "Ayyage palama!" kiyalaThe kids wave from the windows: "Ayya's bridge!"
හවසට සීයා පාලම මැද්දේ, පුටුවක් දාගෙනHawasata seeya palama madde, putuwak dagenaIn the evening Seeya sits in the middle of the bridge on a chair
"අපේ කොල්ලා හදපු එක!" කියනවා, යන එන හැමෝටම"Ape kolla hadapu eka!" kiyanawa, yana ena hamotama"Our boy built this one!" he tells everyone who passes
Before the chorus
මම ෆෝන් එක අල්ලන්, සීයා පාලමට නැග්ගාMama phone eka allan, seeya palamata naggaI held up my phone as Seeya stepped onto the bridge
හෙමින් හෙමින් පය තිබ්බා, ඊට පස්සේ පය ගැහුවා!Hemin hemin paya thibba, eeta passe paya gahuwa!Slowly, slowly he set his foot down, and then he stamped it!
"ගැස්සෙන්නේ නෑ!" කියලා, දත් පෙන්නලා හිනා"Gassenne na!" kiyala, dath pennala hina"It doesn't shake!" he said, grinning
මුළු ගමම කෑ ගැහුවා, "අයියේ!"Mulu gamama ka gahuwa, "Ayye!"The whole village shouted, "Ayya!"
Chorus
අපේ අයියා හදපු පාලම, අද ඇරුණා!Ape ayya hadapu palama, ada aruna!The bridge our Ayya built opened today!
බෝඩ් එකේ අයියගේ නම, අපේ ගමේ නම යටBoard eke ayyage nama, ape game nama yataAyya's name on the board, under our village's name
අම්මා මුලින්ම ගියා, අයියගේ අත අල්ලගෙනAmma mulinma giya, ayyage atha allagenaAmma went across first, holding Ayya's hand
සීයා පය ගැහුවා, "හොඳට හදලා!" කියලාSeeya paya gahuwa, "Hondata hadala!" kiyalaSeeya stamped his foot: "well built!"
පාලම, පාලම, අපේ ගමේ පාලමPalama, palama, ape game palamaThe bridge, the bridge, our village's bridge
අපේ අයියා හදපු පාලම, අද ඇරුණා!Ape ayya hadapu palama, ada aruna!The bridge our Ayya built opened today!
Bridge
කලින් වැස්සට ඇළ පිරෙද්දී, ඉස්කෝලේ යන උදේටKalin wassata ala pireddi, iskole yana udetaBefore, when the rain filled the stream on school mornings
සීයා අයියව කරේ තියාගෙන, වතුරෙන් එගොඩ කළාSeeya ayyawa kare thiyagena, wathuren egoda kalaSeeya carried Ayya across the water on his shoulders
අද අයියා සීයගේ අත අල්ලන්, පාලමෙන් එගොඩටAda ayya seeyage atha allan, palamen egodataToday Ayya holds Seeya's hand and takes him across the bridge
වියළි පයින්, ඔළුව උස්සලා, අපේ ගමේ පාලමෙන්Wiyali payin, oluwa ussala, ape game palamenDry feet, head up, over our village's bridge
Chorus
අපේ අයියා හදපු පාලම, අද ඇරුණා! (අද ඇරුණා!)Ape ayya hadapu palama, ada aruna! (ada aruna!)The bridge our Ayya built opened today!
බෝඩ් එකේ අයියගේ නම, අපේ ගමේ නම යටBoard eke ayyage nama, ape game nama yataAyya's name on the board, under our village's name
අම්මා මුලින්ම ගියා, අයියගේ අත අල්ලගෙනAmma mulinma giya, ayyage atha allagenaAmma went across first, holding Ayya's hand
සීයා පය ගැහුවා, "හොඳට හදලා!" කියලාSeeya paya gahuwa, "Hondata hadala!" kiyalaSeeya stamped his foot: "well built!"
පාලම, පාලම, අපේ ගමේ පාලම (අපේ පාලම!)Palama, palama, ape game palama (ape palama!)The bridge, the bridge, our village's bridge
අපේ අයියා හදපු පාලම, අද ඇරුණා!Ape ayya hadapu palama, ada aruna!The bridge our Ayya built opened today!
Outro
අපේ අයියා හදපු පාලමApe ayya hadapu palamaThe bridge our Ayya built
අද ඇරුණා.Ada aruna.opened today
From the book
- Idea 500A licence-to-practise service for returning professionals: the doctor's, nurse's, engineer's or accountant's foreign qualification recognised at home, paperwork, exams and all, for a fixed fee
- Cluster 28Coming home
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.