The horanawa is the Sri Lankan double-reed wind instrument, known also as the Kandyan pipe or the temple clarinet. It is a relative of the oboe and of the double-reed instruments found in other cultures under different names, but it has developed its own character within Sinhala Buddhist ceremonial music. This is a playable instrument, made by specialist craftspeople to the traditional pattern, rather than a decorative copy. Among Sinhala Buddhists it carries an association with spirituality, and it has long been regarded as an instrument of royal and religious occasions.
In the vernacular classification of musical instruments called panchaturya, the horanawa falls under sushira, the blown category. Within the ceremonial ensembles built on that system, it stood equal with the drums — the thammattama among them — rather than beneath them, supplying the melodic line that percussion alone could not carry. It is heard at Buddhist temple festivals and at perahera processions, including in the Southern Province and in Kandy, and it accompanies the classical Sinhala theatre forms sokari, kolam and nadagam.
Its sound is penetrating and high-pitched, built to carry outdoors across open temple courtyards rather than to fill a hall. Skilled players use circular breathing to sustain an unbroken line without pausing to inhale, a technique regarded as the defining skill of an accomplished player. The number of players who hold that skill has declined in recent decades.
The instrument is made in four parts:
- Muhukkuwa — the metal bell at the end.
- Horane Kanda — the main body with the finger holes.
- Nalli Kura — the metal tube connecting the mouthpiece to the main body.
- Ipiyawa — the double reed, made of palm leaves and bound with thread.
The metal parts are usually brass, copper or silver, and the main body is turned from kaluwara or nedun wood. There is a standard traditional method of constructing a horanawa, and it is passed down orally among instrument craftsmen in Sri Lanka rather than written down.
- Height: 28cm
- Width: 8cm
