ACHIEVEMENTS

Member of the college Squad.

This Project is about analysing and understanding the character of Andare and arriving at a concept and representing it through design

In the days of the Sinhala kings having a royal jester at the Court was a tradition. The job of this royal jester was to keep everyone at the court including king and queen, members of the royal family, courtiers and others entertained and make them laugh. Apart from this they also played tricks on those at the court. Among the royal jesters Sri Lankan kings had, the most famous and well-known jester was Andare, who is a living legend among Sri Lankans even today And some suggests that Andare was an imaginary character created by intellects who geared at pointing out the lack of intelligence and vanity of society through the stories

As history suggests, Andare (28) was a clever court jester who lived during the 18th century during the reigns of Kings Kirthi Sri Rajasinhe and Rajadhi Rajasinhe of the Kandyan Kingdom. He is believed to have been born in Udamalala, in Southern Sri Lanka It is said that he was first employed as the court jester by the King Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe (1742-1782) of Kandyan kingdom in Sri Lanka And he has served in king Rajadhi Rajasinhe's court as well. There are many Sinhala tales and folk lore which reflects his character and life story.

It is said that Andare's humorous acts and sarcastic comments entertained both royals and commoners alike. Most of the stories, have a comical ending with Andare getting the better of villagers and even the King, who at times tried to get the better of Andare but failed People took no offence for his light-hearted humour, for ultimately the situation became very amusing

Despite being a mere comedian, the tales on Andare suggest the superior intellect he had which aided him in turning situations to his favour. He was a person with many talents. One of them was poetry. Stories suggest that he could instantly compose verses, to suit any situation Another story suggests that he was also a skilled archer And he had received the tittle "sadda vidda palanga pathira", from the king for shooting down a frog croaking in a pond at night following the sound it makes. Sri Lankans love him and for many generations enjoyed stories about him. It is said that even in death Andare amused people as a corpse with his arms stretched open as a cross.

After studying the character and qualities of Andare, a 2D representative Wall Plaque and a 3D representative object were created.