Majority of the Sri Lankans are Buddhist. In Buddhism use of
any form of liquor or drugs considers has a sin. But large percentages of
Sinhalese Buddhist are not following this at all. We have several kind of local
liquor, but toddy consider as the most local natural product. Even this is a
small country we have mainly three different kind of toddy depending on the area.
Coastal area of the southern part of the country has coconut toddy.
Jaffna and
north province they have palmairha toddy. Central hills highlands and Sabaragamuwa
area they have Kithul Toddy. Toddy making is an art; everyone can’t make Toddy
just because you have a coconut tree in your garden.
Today is the sap from palm, Palmyra, or coconut trees used
as a beverage and sometimes as an alternative to yeast to foment rice flour. To
collect the sap, the flower bud is cut at the tip before it blossoms and an
earthen pot is hung to collect it. This traditional method of collecting toddy
is slowly becoming a rare scene largely due to government restrictions and non-
availability of skilled hands to actually do the job.
If you are a coconut Toddy fan I recommend you to go to
Payagala, which is few kilometers away from Katutura town. Toddy in Sinhalese
term known as “RA”
There is a place called “Raa cantima”.(the toddy Cafeteria”” where they sold fresh toddy, just brought down the coconut trees. The sweet extract tasted deliciously good but also gave an instant intoxicating feeling.
There is a place called “Raa cantima”.(the toddy Cafeteria”” where they sold fresh toddy, just brought down the coconut trees. The sweet extract tasted deliciously good but also gave an instant intoxicating feeling.
The traditional toddy tapper strapped around his waist the
tools of his trade. The most important is the ‘labu katey’ this could be a clay
pot or now a day’s plastic pot, a round container which is used to collect the
toddy. A small wooden box holds his implements. Most important among these are the
tapper (thalanaya), a wooden stick or a bone
of a cow resembling rounded hammer with which pounds the flower, and very sharp
knife which is used to cut the coconut
flower. The box holding his tools and the ‘labu
katey’ are secured to the waist by a broad band
tied around the sarong, thus leaving the s hands free to climb. Also hanging
from the waist is a coil of rope.
With this simple equipment the toddy
tapper is ready to start on his hazardous job.
All the Toddy tappers in India,Sri lanka,they are using this requirements,but In Sri lanka we have our own way of doing certain things, Well
it is not about how we making toddy, it’s about how we climb trees.
But what fascinated is the way the Sri Lankan toddy tappers
went about with their work. Coconut trees are high and far apart. If one tapper
has to cover over 10 trees, it is very hard for him to scale the trees
repeatedly. To avoid the hassle and to save time, they have evolved a quick but
a risky method of transferring themselves from one tree to another without
actually climbing down. This Know as in Sinhalese “ATHURE YANAWA”.
They tie strong three-stranded ropes made out of coconut
fiber (coir). When the tapper finishes one tree, he races to the other adjacent
tree placing his feet on the unsteady rope and a separate rope to hold him from
falling.
They rely on the speed as it minimizes losing the balance and accidentally falling down to the ground. It was a breath-taking event for me to
see the toddy tapper cross-crossing the trees on the flimsy ropes just like a
circus trapeze artist, but without a safety net below.
Apparently there have been unfortunate events in many cases
where they have slipped and fallen down to the ground either to their death or
to permanent injury. Unfortunately, even today, toddy tappers in Sri Lanka are
some of the poorest people, relying heavily on the income they get from selling
their toddy. Taking this big risk is a small price they pay to feed their
families.
Well Life is also like a tight rope to walk carefully. A slightest
mistake will caused falling us from the rope.
