Sri Lanka has been having many types of drums in use from ancient times, and references to these are found in some of the classical literature. There had been about 33 types of drums, today we find only about ten and the rest are confined only to names. The Sri Lankan Drum Tradition is believed to go as far back as 2500 years. Examinations on the village society in olden times would reveal that drums were used on special occasions during the life span of people, from their birth to the death. Drums, which were originally used, for pleasure and later for rituals, came to be used in the Buddhist Temples for the many ceremonies. At a later stage, Drums were also used as a means of communication. The bodies of drums were made of a variety of forest trees, while the drumheads are made out of goat and cow- hide skin.