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අපේ ඔරුව මුහුදට
Our Oruwa Goes to Sea
Ape Oruwa Muhudata
At dawn on the sand the whole family gathers round the oruwa before first light, Seeya lays down his adze, and the visitor who built it with us for weeks stands beside him with blisters on both hands. Seeya shouts heiyyo, everyone puts a hand on, and the oruwa draws its line down the sand and floats.
Lyrics
Chorus
අපේ ඔරුව, අද මුහුදට යනවා!Ape oruwa, ada muhudata yanawa!Our oruwa goes to sea today!
සීයගේ අතින් හදපු, අපි ඔක්කොම තල්ලු කරපුSeeyage athin hadapu, api okkoma thallu karapuBuilt by Seeya's hands, pushed by all of us
අමුත්තත් එක්ක, බිබිලි අත්වලින්, රැල්ල උඩටAmuththath ekka, bibili athwalin, ralla udataWith the visitor too, with blistered hands, up onto the wave
ඔරුව පාවෙනවා, සීයා පස්සෙන් කෑ ගහනවාOruwa pawenawa, seeya passen ka gahanawaThe oruwa floats, Seeya shouts from behind
යනවා, යනවා, අපේ ඔරුව යනවාYanawa, yanawa, ape oruwa yanawaGoing, going, our oruwa is going
සීයගේ ඔරුව, අද මුහුදට යනවා!Seeyage oruwa, ada muhudata yanawa!Seeya's oruwa goes to sea today!
Verse 1
එළිවෙන්න කලින්, වැල්ලේ අපි ඔක්කොමEliwenna kalin, walle api okkomaBefore first light, all of us on the sand
සීයා වෑය පැත්තක තියලා, ඔරුවේ අත ගැහුවාSeeya waya paththaka thiyala, oruwe atha gahuwaSeeya put the adze down and laid his hand on the oruwa
අමුත්තා ළඟින්, අත් දෙකේ බිබිලි, හිනාවෙලාAmuththa langin, ath deke bibili, hinawelaThe visitor beside him, blisters on both hands, grinning
අම්මා ෆ්ලාස්ක් එකත් එක්ක, "තල්ලු කරලා තේ බොමු!"Amma flask ekath ekka, "Thallu karala the bomu!"Mum with the flask: "push first, then we'll have tea!"
Before the chorus
සීයා කෑ ගැහුවා, "හෙයියෝ!"Seeya ka gahuwa, "Heiyyo!"Seeya shouted, "heiyyo!"
අපි ඔක්කොම අත තිබ්බා, තල්ලු කළාApi okkoma atha thibba, thallu kalaWe all put a hand on and pushed
වැල්ලේ ඉරි ඇඳලා, රැල්ලට, රැල්ලටWalle iri andala, rallata, rallataDrawing a line down the sand, to the waves, to the waves
වතුර ඇල්ලුවා, ඔරුව පාවුණා!Wathura alluwa, oruwa pawuna!It touched water, and the oruwa floated!
Chorus
අපේ ඔරුව, අද මුහුදට යනවා!Ape oruwa, ada muhudata yanawa!Our oruwa goes to sea today!
සීයගේ අතින් හදපු, අපි ඔක්කොම තල්ලු කරපුSeeyage athin hadapu, api okkoma thallu karapuBuilt by Seeya's hands, pushed by all of us
අමුත්තත් එක්ක, බිබිලි අත්වලින්, රැල්ල උඩටAmuththath ekka, bibili athwalin, ralla udataWith the visitor too, with blistered hands, up onto the wave
ඔරුව පාවෙනවා, සීයා පස්සෙන් කෑ ගහනවාOruwa pawenawa, seeya passen ka gahanawaThe oruwa floats, Seeya shouts from behind
යනවා, යනවා, අපේ ඔරුව යනවාYanawa, yanawa, ape oruwa yanawaGoing, going, our oruwa is going
සීයගේ ඔරුව, අද මුහුදට යනවා!Seeyage oruwa, ada muhudata yanawa!Seeya's oruwa goes to sea today!
Chant
ඔරුව!Oruwa!Oruwa!
මුහුදට!Muhudata!To the sea!
තල්ලු කරන්න!Thallu karanna!Push!
යනවා!Yanawa!It's going!
Verse 2
මාසෙකට පස්සේ, ෆෝන් එකට ෆොටෝ එකක්Masekata passe, phone ekata photo ekakA month later, a photo on my phone
පිටරට ඉඳන් මහත්තයාගේ අත් දෙක, කර ගැහිලාPitarata indan mahaththayage ath deka, kara gahilaFrom abroad, his two hands, the skin gone hard
යටින් ලියලා, "සීයගේ ඔරුවේ අත්"Yatin liyala, "Seeyage oruwe ath"Written underneath: "Seeya's oruwa hands"
සීයා තමන්ගේ අත් දෙක බලලා හිනා වුණා, "ඔරු හදන අත්!"Seeya thamange ath deka balala hina wuna, "Oru hadana ath!"Seeya looked at his own hands and laughed: "boat-building hands!"
Before the chorus
සීයා කෑ ගැහුවා, "හෙයියෝ!"Seeya ka gahuwa, "Heiyyo!"Seeya shouted, "heiyyo!"
අපි ඔක්කොම අත තිබ්බා, තල්ලු කළාApi okkoma atha thibba, thallu kalaWe all put a hand on and pushed
වැල්ලේ ඉරි ඇඳලා, රැල්ලට, රැල්ලටWalle iri andala, rallata, rallataDrawing a line down the sand, to the waves, to the waves
වතුර ඇල්ලුවා, ඔරුව පාවුණා!Wathura alluwa, oruwa pawuna!It touched water, and the oruwa floated!
Chorus
අපේ ඔරුව, අද මුහුදට යනවා!Ape oruwa, ada muhudata yanawa!Our oruwa goes to sea today!
සීයගේ අතින් හදපු, අපි ඔක්කොම තල්ලු කරපුSeeyage athin hadapu, api okkoma thallu karapuBuilt by Seeya's hands, pushed by all of us
අමුත්තත් එක්ක, බිබිලි අත්වලින්, රැල්ල උඩටAmuththath ekka, bibili athwalin, ralla udataWith the visitor too, with blistered hands, up onto the wave
ඔරුව පාවෙනවා, සීයා පස්සෙන් කෑ ගහනවාOruwa pawenawa, seeya passen ka gahanawaThe oruwa floats, Seeya shouts from behind
යනවා, යනවා, අපේ ඔරුව යනවාYanawa, yanawa, ape oruwa yanawaGoing, going, our oruwa is going
සීයගේ ඔරුව, අද මුහුදට යනවා!Seeyage oruwa, ada muhudata yanawa!Seeya's oruwa goes to sea today!
Bridge
කලින් සීයගේ වෑය බිත්තියේ එල්ලිලාKalin seeyage waya biththiye ellilaSeeya's adze used to hang on the wall
"අන්තිම ඔරුව හැදුවා" කියලා සීයා කිව්වා"Anthima oruwa haduwa" kiyala seeya kiwwa"I've built my last oruwa," Seeya said
අද ඒ වෑය ආයෙත් සීයගේ අතේAda e waya aayeth seeyage atheToday that adze is back in Seeya's hand
අපේ ඔරුව මුහුදේ, අලුත් ලී කෝටුවක් වැල්ලේApe oruwa muhude, aluth lee kotuwak walleOur oruwa is at sea, and a new log lies on the sand
Chorus
අපේ ඔරුව, අද මුහුදට යනවා! (මුහුදට!)Ape oruwa, ada muhudata yanawa! (muhudata!)Our oruwa goes to sea today!
සීයගේ අතින් හදපු, අපි ඔක්කොම තල්ලු කරපුSeeyage athin hadapu, api okkoma thallu karapuBuilt by Seeya's hands, pushed by all of us
අමුත්තත් එක්ක, බිබිලි අත්වලින්, රැල්ල උඩටAmuththath ekka, bibili athwalin, ralla udataWith the visitor too, with blistered hands, up onto the wave
ඔරුව පාවෙනවා, සීයා පස්සෙන් කෑ ගහනවාOruwa pawenawa, seeya passen ka gahanawaThe oruwa floats, Seeya shouts from behind
යනවා, යනවා, අපේ ඔරුව යනවා (යනවා!)Yanawa, yanawa, ape oruwa yanawa (yanawa!)Going, going, our oruwa is going
සීයගේ ඔරුව, අද මුහුදට යනවා!Seeyage oruwa, ada muhudata yanawa!Seeya's oruwa goes to sea today!
Outro
අපේ ඔරුවApe oruwaOur oruwa
අද මුහුදට යනවා.Ada muhudata yanawa.goes to sea today
From the book
- Idea 39Watch an oruwa, the outrigger fishing canoe, being built by hand, then go out in one at dawn
- 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.