Features

Rocky road of Sri Lanka’s national anthem!

Published

3 years ago

2023/08/7

Thilina Walpola

Ananda Samarakoon

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

To say that our national anthem has had a rocky road, perhaps, is a gross underestimation. Afterall, the composer of this beautiful anthem sacrificed his life because of a totally avoidable controversy! As an ungrateful nation, we have forgotten the creator of the modern Sinhala music, Ananda Samarakoon. Though the city of Colombo is littered with roads, named after many who have done very little, compared to what Ananda Samarakoon did, no government seems to have considered honouring him appropriately, to be our national duty. Even his memory is tarnished by some who attempt to credit Rabindranath Tagore as the creator of our national anthem. How could Tagore, who was not conversant with Sinhala, written such beautiful lyrics? Tagore has not written the music for any of Samarakoon’s lyrics, or any Sinhala songs, for that matter, and why should this be an exception? One may argue that Tagore could have been invited to write the music had this has been lyricized as the national anthem, but it was far from it.

Though it was adopted later as the national anthem, ‘Namo Namo Matha’ was penned by Samarakoon, in 1940, as an expression of his sheer jubilation of seeing his motherland from the air, on his first trip in an aircraft journeying back from India. Further, it was a cry for freedom as he says: “Nawajeewana Damine Newatha Apa Awadi Karan Matha”. Samarakoon was far ahead of time, referring to our ‘Matha’ as Sri Lanka, 32 years before the name was adopted by the republican constitution. As the aircraft descends for the landing, seeing from the air, the dazzling green of coconut leaves reflecting the golden rays of sunshine and pearly white sandy beaches bathed by the azure blue waters of the Indian ocean, is more than enough to warm the cockles of anyone’s heart; every time. Therefore, it is not surprising that the musical brain of Samarakoon did not allow him to sleep that day, till he completed the song!

Samarakoon was an exceptionally gifted musician, largely self-made, starting to write songs, and singing them to the annoyance of his teachers, while he was still a student at Wewala government school. Inspired by watching the performances of Rabindranath Tagore and his troupe during their tour in 1934, during which Sri Pali in Horana was established, Samarakoon decided to study in Shantiniketan. His stint in Shantiniketan, though limited to only six months, had a profound effect on him; Egodahage George Wilfred Alwis Samarakoon, a Christian by birth, returned as Ananda Samarakoon, after embracing Buddhism, and reshaped Sinhala music, rightly earning the plaudits ‘the father of artistic Sinhala music and founder of the modern Sinhala Geeta Sahitya.’

Namo Namo Matha

was the last, in a song collection, titled ‘Geetha Kumudini‘, but as he had no money to print it, Samarakoon sold the manuscript to a printer, for a song! It was first sung by pupils of Mahinda College, Galle, where Samarakoon was the music teacher, but gained wide popularity only after Musaeus College choir’s rendition was aired over Radio Ceylon. No surprise it became so popular, as it is such a beautiful song; evocative lyrics enhanced by a beautiful tune. I have heard many cricket commentators applauding the beauty of it, sometimes mentioning that a shorter version may be more appropriate.

Just before independence, Lanka Gandharva Sabha organised a competition to choose a national anthem. “Namo Namo Matha” was submitted by Samarakoon’s wife and brother, as he was away in India, and the other contender was “Sri Lanka Matha Pala Yasa Mahima” written by P. B. Illangasinghe, with music composed by Lionel Edirisinghe, which won the competition. There was a furore as Illangasinghe and Edirisinghe were members of the judging panel! Though “Sri Lanka Matha Pala Yasa Mahima” was broadcast over Radio Ceylon on the morning of Independence Day, 4 February 1948, there was a total refusal from the public to accept it as the national anthem. Interestingly, it was not sung at the official Independence Day celebrations. Ceylon continued to use ‘God save the king’ as its official national anthem and at the first Independence Day celebration, held on 4 February 1949, at the Independence Memorial Hall, in Torrington Square, both “Namo Namo Matha” and “Sri Lanka Matha Pala Yasa Mahima” were sung, in Sinhala and Tamil, as “national songs”.

In 1950, the then Minister of Finance J. R. Jayewardene proposed the government recognise Samarakoon’s “Namo Namo Matha” as the official national anthem, in view of its popularity. A committee, headed by Edwin Wijeyeratne, Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development, having listened to several songs and after much deliberation, confirmed “Namo Namo Matha” as the national anthem with a minor change, approved by Samarakoon; changing the 10th line from “Nawajeewana Damine Newatha Apa Awadi Karan Matha” to “Nawa Jeewana Demine Nithina Apa Pubudu Karan Matha”, reflecting the changed scenario, that we had already achieved independence. It was already translated to Tamil by M. Nallathamby with Samarakoon’s approval. It was in 1952, at the Independence Day parade in Colombo, that “Namo Namo Matha” was first sung as the national anthem; The Tamil version being sung in Jaffna. The government paid the princely sum of Rs. 2,500 but that went to the printer who held the rights for “Geetha Kumudini“! Samarakoon got nothing and it is perplexing why the government did not consider a separate honorarium for him.

In the late ’50s, purists started blaming “Namo Namo Matha” for the misfortunes of the country, including the tragic deaths of two prime ministers, citing that it commences with a wrong ‘gana’. In February 1961, Mrs Bandaranaike’s government arbitrarily changed the first line to “Sri Lanka Matha, Apa Sri Lanka” without consulting Samarakoon. The government’s contention was that as it bought the rights, any objections from Samarakoon were invalid. What about common decency? Do people who buy expensive artwork change them to suit their whims and fancies? Has changing the national anthem stopped the country from going down the precipice?

When this happened, a distraught Samarakoon told his nephew Sunil Samarakoon “Puthe, mage oluwa galawala, when ekak hai karala.” (They have removed my head and fixed a new one) but 11-year-old Sunil did not fully comprehend the seriousness. However, a year later when he went clinging to his father’s arm, on learning that his uncle would not answer the knocks on his bedroom door, he realised the gravity of it. On breaking open the door, they found him in a deep slumber with an empty bottle of sleeping pills by his side. There was also a letter to Dudley Senanayake, the leader of the Opposition explaining his frustration. Also in the room was a beautiful painting of the Buddha in meditation under a tree, with a deer at the edge of the jungle curiously looking on. Samarakoon was a talented painter, too, using only natural paints and exhibiting in many countries, and this was his last painting. He never woke up and died on 5th April 1962, at the age of 51 years!

The latest controversy is about the singing, rather mis-singing, of the national anthem at the opening ceremony of LPL. It was done by no ordinary singer; but by one described, in the editorial ‘Singer under fire’ (The Island, 2 August), as “one of Sri Lanka’s finest vocalists, known for her fascinatingly smooth and expressive vocal delivery.” Why was there such a brouhaha about it and was it justified? Why did someone with such repute get it so wrong?

Of course, politicians tried to make capital of it, their policy being never miss an opportunity to divert attentions from their gross ineptitude. However, concerns raised by many were genuine, though some attempted to advance theories to justify the silliness, the main one being that she attempted to sing the national anthem in operatic style. I do not know what style it was but listening to it pained my ears! For all that long time I have lived in the UK, I have never heard “God save the Queen/King” being sung in operatic style. In fact, I have never heard any national anthem being sung in operatic style. So, why or why, would anyone consider singing our national anthem in that style? Is it aping the West? No, it is worse; it simply is blind aping! One needs only a simple click, on the Wikipedia page “Sri Lanka Matha”, to listen to the 2017 U.S. Navy Band instrumental version of our national anthem to realize what a wonderful piece of music it is, even without words!

To add insult to injury, she sang ‘Mahata’(mister) instead of ‘Matha’(mother). What made her change that crucial word? Obviously, because she was singing without understanding the meaning of the words. Maybe, because she is singing mechanically without any feeling. Those misguided ‘nationalists’, who attempted to prevent the singing of the national anthem in Tamil a few of years ago, were oblivious to this reality. The national anthem should be sung from the heart; with understanding and feeling. How can you feel it in your heart, if you sing without any understanding of the lyrics?

Sri Lanka is at the worst point in its history. Even changing the national anthem, to make it auspicious, has not helped other than killing its creator in the process. Should we continue to be steeped in superstition? No way! The best way to honour Samarakoon, albeit posthumously, is to reattach his head, so to speak, by reverting to “Namo Namo Matha”, one of the most beautiful national anthems in the world!

All News Advertisement

Up Next

Quota system to manage water under large-scale irrigation projects

Don't Miss

Ranil’s 13a Diversion & Moragoda’s Monkey Bridge Mantram

Click to comment

Features

Proactive peacemaking becomes a paramount need

Published

9 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

Wasting wars: Some war-displaced people in Lebanon. BBC

It may be some time before the full impact of food inflation is felt in the West. Until such time the world would continue to keep itself in suspense over whether the Trump administration is in earnest when it seeks to convey the impression that it is backing a negotiated solution in West Asia.

As is usually the case, consumer stress would be one of the final determinants of political change. To the degree to which the average US consumer somehow ‘muddles through’ and puts the food on the table, to the same extent would the Republican sections of the US public in particular be tolerant of the Trump administration’s inconsistent handling of the West Asian war and the main issues stemming from it. That is, there would be no grave popular disaffection and a demand for political change in the short term.

However, the indications are that the Trump administration’s support base is suffering some erosion in the wake of the current economic crisis. While reports indicate that Democratic sections are firming-up their opposition to the political centre, Republican support for Trump is also showing signs of waning, we are given to understand.

The above developments are probably why Trump is on record as having given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a ‘dressing down’ recently on his seeming intransigence on the question of giving negotiations a chance in West Asia. The show of displeasure could be really aimed by Trump at containing the impatience of the American public.

However, the current ground situation in the Middle East, particularly the uncontained bloodshed, is likely to impress on the thinking sections of the world that more than temporary political change is needed in West Asia and the US.

A well thought out political solution that addresses all the contentious issues at the heart of the Middle East conflict is what enlightened opinion would demand, and very rightly. Right now, the ‘peace efforts’ initiated by the Trump administration give the impression of being piecemeal solutions at best.

There have been, of course, numerous initiatives in the past aimed at bringing permanent peace to the Middle East. These failed mainly because they did not address in full the root causes of the conflict.

At bottom the Middle East conflict is mainly about race and religious hate bred by socio-economic and material inequalities. For instance, if the Palestinian people were not displaced and deprived of land occupied by them at the time of the founding of the Israeli state, ethnic enmities would not have grown to the current unmanageable proportions.

When addressing the above questions, though, it must be remembered that the Israelis too were a displaced people who were entitled to land and a state of their own in the Middle East. Basically, out of these seemingly irreconcilable and conflicting demands have grown the Middle East imbroglio.

Middle East peace is considerably about reconciling these demands and arriving at a solution that would ensure the creation of two states that would opt for peaceful co-existence thereafter.

As long as the US does not see the need for a non-partisan solution that addresses the needs of both ethnicities and religions and goes all-out, as it were, to have it implemented, the Middle East would continue to bleed.

However, staunching the blood flow through the creation of two states would be only half the job done, though a very important part of it. More pernicious, pervasive and difficult to remedy are the inter-ethnic and inter-religious hatreds that have been unleashed over the decades.

However, if substantial, long-lasting peace is to be fostered in the region the latter ‘demons’ would need to be exorcised from the hearts and minds of the communities concerned. No doubt an uphill task but one that must be undertaken by those who wish the region well.

The UN would need to put its ‘best foot forward’ in such undertakings but it is time that it dawned on the international community and other caring quarters that Middle East peace, and all other such uphill challenges, require proactive peacemaking on the part of all civilized sections for their effective management. That is, public involvement in peacemaking too is a must.

Since hatreds are harboured in the human consciousness the enmities embedded in the latter need to be managed and defused judiciously alongside other undertakings in a peace process. In the case of West Asia, such enmities could be even spread globe-wide besides being multi-dimensional. For instance, it ought to be thought-provoking that Iran is insistent on a peace initiative that would also include Lebanon.

Besides security considerations it is also ethnic and religious affiliations that account for Iran making this demand. For instance, the Shias are a numerically important religious community in Lebanon and they provide a significant number of Hizbollah fighters, who are in a vital sense carrying out a ‘proxy war’ for Iran. It also needs to be factored in that Iran is a Shia-majority country.

Thus trans-border religious affiliations could add to the complexities and enormity of ethno-religious conflicts. However, the task of managing centuries-long enmities needs to be launched and prodded on with by peacemakers since a downing of arms alone would not guarantee substantive peace.

It is not realized sufficiently that the process of ending hatreds begins with mutual apologies by antagonists to a conflict for the harm inflicted on each other. This would be anathema in some ears but there is no getting away from the requirement. It is the vital first step to permanent peace anywhere.

In fact there could be no reconciliation worth speaking of without such mutual apologies. It is a point worth re-iterating in these times when even the government of Sri Lanka is voicing the need for national reconciliation. Well, without the words, ‘I am sorry’, there could be no permanent end to enmities – they would do well to remember.

The above requirements may not go down very well with governments, but they resonate in the hearts and minds of most people, since they are inheritors of religious traditions of some kind.

This is a principal reason why peacemaking works well when publics too are involved in them. The effectiveness of such campaigns increases several fold when they have a Mahatma Gandhi or a Jawaharlal Nehru at their helm. A strong proactive involvement by the public in peace could lead to the emergence of such leaders at some point in these campaigns.

Features

Dialog Brings Sri Lanka’s Largest Digital Vesak Experience to Matara

Published

9 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

From left to right: Hon. Saroja Savithri Paulraj, Hon. Sunil Handunnetti, and Lasantha Theverapperuma experience the Dialog 5G Ultra-powered VR tours.

Official Digital Partner of the 2026 ‘Dakshina Prabha’ National Vesak Zone

Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s #1 connectivity provider, collaborated with the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs to bring one of Sri Lanka’s largest and most technologically advanced Vesak experiences to the ‘Dakshina Prabha’ National Vesak Zone. The three-day celebration, in Matara attracted more than hundred thousand visitors, who engaged with a series of innovative digital activities powered by Dialog 5G Ultra, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) experiences, digital pandols and a Data Dansala. The opening ceremony was attended by Hon. Sunil Handunnetti, Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development and Hon. Saroja Savithri Paulraj, Minister of Women and Child Affairs, along with distinguished guests and Dialog’s senior management.

One of the key attractions at the venue was the Dialog 5G Ultra-powered Virtual Reality (VR) experience, which attracted more than 35,000 participants. The activation enabled devotees to virtually visit and pay homage to sacred Buddhist sites, including the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in India and the Atamasthana in Anuradhapura, directly from the Vesak zone in Matara.

Visitors receive complimentary mobile data through Dialog’s QR-powered Data Dansala.

Dialog also conducted an AI Digital Vesak Greeting Card Competition from 21 May to 01 June 2026, attracting numerous entries from across the country. The shortlisted designs were showcased across 20 large LED screens throughout the venue and across Matara City, and were also made available for download via mobile devices. Further, through the use of AI, traditional Jathaka Katha were reimagined in a digital format, demonstrating how technology can be used to preserve and enhance cultural and religious heritage. Together, these initiatives blended traditional Vesak celebrations with emerging technologies, offering visitors a unique and immersive way to engage with Vesak traditions.

Extending the spirit of Vesak through connectivity, Dialog conducted a special Data Dansala powered by its QR Reload platform, enabling visitors to receive complimentary mobile data by scanning QR codes placed across the venue. In addition to the Matara National Vesak Zone, similar Data Dansala activations were also conducted at the Gangaramaya and Bauddhaloka Vesak zones in Colombo.Visitors also had the opportunity to create personalised Vesak-themed digital photos through an AI Photo Booth, generating AI-enhanced portraits using their own photographs and adding a contemporary digital element to the Vesak celebrations.

Visitors watch AI-generated Jathaka Katha

Commenting on the initiative, Hon. Sunil Handunnetti, Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, said, “The 2026 Dakshina Prabha Vesak Festival marked the first time AI-powered digital innovations were incorporated into a National Vesak Festival in Sri Lanka. Presenting Buddhist stories and teachings through technology created a new and engaging way for visitors to connect with these traditions. We thank Dialog for supporting this initiative and for working closely with us to bring our vision to life. Their contribution played an important role in making this first-of-its-kind event a reality.”

Lasantha Theverapperuma, Group Chief Marketing Officer of Dialog Axiata PLC said, “We thank the Government of Sri Lanka for the opportunity to support the 2026 Dakshina Prabha National Vesak Festival and for embracing technology as part of this year’s celebrations. As the Official Digital Partner, we were privileged to contribute through our Dialog 5G Ultra and AI capabilities, creating new ways for visitors to engage with Vesak traditions while preserving their cultural significance for future generations.”

Beyond supporting the National Vesak Zone in Matara, Dialog also enhanced the Gangaramaya and Bauddhaloka Vesak zones through a range of digital activations during the Vesak season. The company additionally continued its sustainability initiatives, including the Thirasara Aloka Poojawa, which illuminated rural places of worship through solar-powered lighting solutions.

Features

Beauty, elegance and talent…for women

Published

9 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

Universal Woman is an international pageant focused on “beauty, elegance, and talent” for women, positioning itself as a platform to shape global ambassadors. The 2026 edition will be held in Cambodia, and Sri Lanka will be there, as well.

According to reports coming my way, contestants, at the international event, will work with industry trailblazers, under international standards.

Sri Lankan supermodel, runway and pageant trainer Chulpadmendra Kumarapathirana, is the National Director for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026.

With over two decades in the industry, Chula was crowned Miss Sri Lanka 2006, and has since shaped the next generation of titleholders through her Colombo-based Chulpadmendra Catwalk Studio, widely regarded as one of the country’s leading modelling academies.

The team behind Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026

A former host of Derana Miss Sri Lanka for Miss World 2008 and a judge for Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2025, Chula now serves as National Director for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026, leading the franchise’s search for Sri Lanka’s delegate to the international final in Cambodia.

Applications for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026 are being taken, via WhatsApp: 077 659 4994, says Chula.

The judging panel for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026 includes Senaka De Silva, Pageant Aesthetic Advisor & Chairperson of the Judging Panel, Angela Seneviratne, Caroline Jurie, Rozelle Plunkett, and Suraj Mapa.

Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026 officially began its journey with a first round of auditions, held in Colombo, marking the start of an exciting new chapter in Sri Lanka’s pageant industry.

Launching the first round of auditions

The platform aims to empower women while selecting an intelligent, confident, and inspiring representative to compete at the Universal Woman International Pageant 2026 in Cambodia, this September.

Universal Woman Sri Lanka now moves forward with the vision of creating one of the country’s most prestigious and empowering pageants while preparing to crown a queen who will proudly represent Sri Lanka on the international stage.