Andare ( si, අන්දරේ) from ''Udamalala'',

Hambantota Hambantota ( si, හම්බන්තොට, ta, அம்பாந்தோட்டை) is the main town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri LankaThe prominent Malays (මැලේ) most part of the population is to be partly des ...

was a

court jester A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...

employed by the King Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe (1742 - 1782) in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He used to be an accomplished poet who could instantly compose verses, to suit any ongoing situation. Despite being a mere joker, the tales suggest Andare had a superior intellect that aided him in turning situations to his favour. He was also a skilled archer who could allegedly shoot down a frog croaking in a pond at night by the sound it makes, for which feat he eventually received his title, "sadda vidda palanga pathira", from the king. After his death he was buried in the town of Udamalala, allegedly his hometown, where is tomb can be found on the banks of the ''Udamalala wewa''. Many Sinhala stories are about his life. He was cunning since the beginning. Two stories are about his childhood. The first one is when he ate some oil cakes and said he gave them to a hungry man, who was Andare himself. The second one is when his mom told him “ගොනෙක් වගේ ඉන්න” before a wedding. She meant ‘behave well’ but it literally translated to ‘behave like an ox’, so Andare did behave like an ox.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andare Jesters Sinhalese courtiers Humorous poets People of the Kingdom of Kandy 1742 births Year of death missing