Udekkiya ෴ උඩැක්කිය
Sri Lanka has been having many types of drums in use from ancient times, and reference to these are found in some of the classical literature e.g. "Pujawaliya", "Thupawansaya", "Dalada Siritha" etc. Although there had been about 33 types of drums, today we find only about ten and the rest are confined only to names. The Sri Lankan Drum Tradition is believed to go as far back as 1500 years.
Udekkiya, this instrument is about 1 foot in length and is shaped like a sand clock. Udakkiya is made by carving either the suriya or ahala timber into two apertures. These apertures are then bound tightly with the leather of the monkey or the iguana and both the sides are connected with tightly stretched twine. Udakkiya is played with two sticks called walayan. The pitch of the sound can be changed by applying pressure on the twine with a bound cloth.
