Naadagam Geeya

Tomorrow in the naadagama I play the king
by the name Ajasattha
The whole village’s women fall head over heels for me
Just watch, if I’m lying

Wearing earrings, a crown, a headband
twirling a sword as I step onto the stage
the women watching, truly
fall secretly in love

I am the mighty king Ajasattha
I seize the throne by killing my father
as I say this today, truly
the women fall in love

Tomorrow in the naadagama I play the king
by the name Ajasattha
the whole village’s women lose their hearts to me
just watch, if I’m lying

This is a playful, boastful song set in the world of naadagama, the old Sinhala folk theatre where performers sing and act out kings and legends on a village stage. The singer is a naadagama actor, and tomorrow he plays the king. He grins that the moment he steps out in costume, every woman in the village falls for him, and dares you to call him a liar.

The king he plays is Ajasattha, the Sinhala form of Ajatasattu, the prince from Buddhist history who killed his own father to seize the throne. Naming him tells any Sri Lankan listener this is a fierce, powerful figure rather than a gentle romantic lead, and the actor puffs himself up with that borrowed power. He lingers on the costume, the crown, the headband, the earrings, the sword he twirls as he walks on, because in naadagama the grand entrance is everything.

The charm is that it is all swagger and theatre. He is not really a king and he knows it, and the boast about the women is part of the act, delivered with a wink. More than a love song, it is a tribute to the naadagama tradition itself and the thrill of becoming someone larger than life for one night on a village stage.