From Carnatic to Hindustani: Music, Nationalism, and the Reconfiguration of Sinhala Musical Identity

Sri Lankan music has long evolved through sustained interaction with the Indian subcontinent, yet existing scholarship has largely examined Indian influences as a continuous process, paying limited attention to the historical shift from South Indian (Carnatic) to North Indian (Hindustānī) musical influence within Sinhala musical culture. This study addresses the question of why a musical tradition that had been deeply rooted in Sinhala society through forms such as Vannam, Praśasti, and Sindu Nādagam gradually lost prominence, while North Indian musical aesthetics became culturally dominant during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The study aims to examine the historical development of Indian musical influences in Sri Lanka and to analyse how colonial modernity, Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, and changing cultural values reshaped Sinhala musical identity. Employing a qualitative historical methodology, the research draws on literary and historical sources, colonial records, theatre history, and secondary scholarship in ethnomusicology, interpreted through the theoretical perspectives of Antonio Gramsci, Eric Hobsbawm, Pierre Bourdieu, and Benedict Anderson. The findings demonstrate that the transition from Carnatic to Hindustānī musical influence was not primarily driven by musical or aesthetic superiority but by ideological and political processes. The emergence of Pārsi theatre, the popularity of Nurti drama, and the promotion of an Aryan-Sinhala identity collectively elevated Hindustānī music as a marker of cultural prestige while marginalising South Indian musical traditions within Sinhala society. The study concludes that musical transformation in Sri Lanka was closely intertwined with nationalism, cultural hegemony, and identity formation, illustrating those musical traditions function not merely as artistic practices but also as powerful instruments in constructing social and political identities.