Ambalangoda is renowned for the manufacture of wooden masks and puppets. The traditional masks are carved from light Balsa like Kaduru wood (Nux vomica). Kaduru trees grow in the marshy lands bordering paddy fields. The wood is smoke dried for a week in preparation. The hand carved and hand painted masks in traditional dance dramas are both vibrant and colorful. Masks are created for three different types of dancing rituals: ‘Kolam’, which tell mocking stories of traditional Sri Lankan colonial life; ‘Sanni’, or devil dancing masks, used in a type of exorcism ceremony to heal people of persisting illnesses believed to be inflicted by demons; and ‘Raksha’ masks, which are used in festivals and processions. Local puppet shows, showing dramas, comedies and folk tales were also a popular form of entertainment. Influences from South India, Asia and Europe are assumed to have been the shaping factor in the art of mask dancing and puppetry. The Naga Raksha (Cobra demon) mask of the ‘Raksha Kolama’ (demon dance), consists of a ferocious face with bulging, popping & staring eyes, a carnivorous tongue lolling out of a wide mouth armed to the hilt with set of fanged teeth, all topped by a set of cobra hoods. With the practices of traditional exorcism (thovil), mask dancing (kolam) and puppetry (rookada) shows in the decline, the art of mask carving has seen a reduction of interest. Though only a few of the antique originals survive, the local mask museum retains an interesting collection of reproductions and provides displays of carving techniques for visitors.