India-Sri Lanka Foundation supported participation of 10 member “Beat Drummers” troupe from Sri Lanka led by Sachintha de Silva at the World Percussion Festival organized by Krishna Prerna Charitable Trust and Times of India Group in association with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in New Delhi from 22 -26 February, 2013.

The three-day long World Percussion Festival brought together some of the best and renowned percussionists and musicians from around the world. It opened with a performance by renowned percussionist Pandit Bhawani Shankar and his group, Pakhawaj Dharohar. The concluding act on the first day was a performance by Sri Lankan group “Beat Drummers”. Beat Drummers performed a mix of traditional and fusion pieces using traditional drums such as gata bera, pahatharata bera, thammatam and daul. They also used the beadhoo and udukei drums, instruments that have been created by them. Performance of the Beat Drummers from Sri Lanka was very well received by the audience and the Group also performed in Kolkatta.

In order to promote greater understanding of the unique cultures of the two countries, India-Sri Lanka Foundation plays a catalytic role in promoting cultural exchanges between India and Sri Lanka.

Some of the recent projects which were funded by the ISLF includes visit of famous photographer Benoy Behl to capture images of Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka; visit of Flute Maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia to participate in the Colombo Music Festival; organization of “Divine Ecstasy”, a cultural event with a combination of cultural performances and workshops by Mr. T.M Krishna, Mrs. Alrmel Valli, and Mr. P. Unnikrishnan in Jaffna coinciding with the Annual Nallur Temple Festival; staging of a dance drama “Blood relation born by Thambapanni” in Ladakh, India; participation of 27 members of various theatre groups from India in the Colombo International Theatre Festival 2012; re-staging of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore´s dance-drama ´Shaap Mochan´ in various parts of Sri Lanka; and part support to staging of Samhara, a dance drama by Chitrasena Dance Company and Nirtyagram Dance Ensemble from India.

The India - Sri Lanka Foundation was established by a Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of India and Sri Lanka in 1998 in order to foster India - Sri Lanka relations through the enhancement of economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation and to promote greater understanding between the people of the two countries.

Further information about the activities supported by the India-Sri Lanka Foundation and form for submitting proposals for consideration of India-Sri Lanka Foundation can be seen at http://www.hcicolombo.org/