Mr.W.D Amaradeva

Wannakulawattawaduge Don Albert Perera (born December 5, 1927 in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka), better known by his adopted name Amaradeva, is a Sri Lankan vocalist and musical composer. Primarily using traditional instruments like sitars, tablas and harmoniums, Amaradeva incoporates Sinhala folk music with Indian ragas in his work.

In the mid-1950s, Amaradeva in his Janagayana project consulted experts of the Kandyan dance tradition like Pani Bharata, Kiriganita, Gunamala, Ukkuva and Suramba in his path to understand what constituted Sinhala folk music. Noting that it mostly revolved around a single melody, he decided to add verses that would lead up to the central melody which would now be a chorus thus forming two parts (unseen earlier in traditional Sri Lankan music) removing restrictions that had existed earlier. In doing so, Amaradeva created a uniquely Sinhalese music style that stayed true to folk tradition while incorporating outside influences. His work was vital in the creation of the sarala gee genre practiced subsequently by artists like Victor Ratnayake, Sunil Edirisinghe and Sanath Nandasiri.

Pandit Amaradeva has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Philippine Ramon Magsaysay Award (2001), Indian Padma Sri Award and Sri Lankan “President’s Award of Kala Keerthi” (1986) and Deshamanya Award (1998). He has also represented Sri Lanka in many forums including the UNESCO 1967 Manila Symposium, and composed the melody for the Maldives national anthem, Gaumii salaam, at the request of British Queen Elizabeth II in 1972.

Career

He found steady work as an artist on Radio Ceylon, where his unique vision and talent could be exhibited to an audience wider than he had ever before known - earning him a position at the Bhathkande Institute of Music in Lucknow, India. After extensive training, Albert returned to Sri Lanka as Pandit Wannakuwattawaduge Don Amaradeva.The name Amaradeva which translates as Immortal god was given to him by Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra (Sri Lanka’s foremost playwright and a close associate).

During this time, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) had only begun emerging as an independent nation, and the question of what Sri Lankan music was, was slowly being addressed with equal vigour by intellectuals, artists and the general public. In response to the spirit of these times, Amaradeva began interweaving indigenous folk music with the Indian ragas he had studied in Lucknow, thereby giving expression to a more sophisticated cadence.

His other innovations include his experimentation with Western harmonies and counterharmonies, as well as with South Indian and Tamil musical forms. His opus, however, remains the work he did with Sri Lanka’s celebrated lyricist Mahagama Sekera, in exploring the contours of fusing classical Sinhala poetry with his unique musical intonation. In time, Amaradeva’s music came to reflect an entire philosophy, reflective of the spirit of a nation.

He has composed music for ballet(Karadiya, Nala Damayanthi, etc), film(Ran Muthu Duwa, Gam Peraliya, Ransalu, Delovak Athara, Gatavarayo, Rena Girav, Thunman Handiya, etc), theatre(Wessantara, etc), radio and television, and has sung over one thousand songs.

Amaradeva, and wife Wimala, have one son (Ranjana Amaradeva), and two daughters (Subhani Amaradeva, herself a talented vocalist, and Priyanvada Amaradeva).

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Professor Senerath Paranavithana

Senerath Paranavitana (26 December 1896 – 4 October 1972) was a pioneering archeologist and epigraphist of Sri Lanka. His works dominated the middle-part of the 20th century. He became the archeological commissioner in 1939, following H. C. P. Bell, and D. M. de Z. Wickremasinghe in that position. He was born on 26 December 1896 at Metaramba, Galle. He had his early education at the Metaramba Government School and later entered Bona Vista School in Galle. He studied oriental languages at Ranweligoda Pirivena in Heenatigala. He was a school teacher at the Udugampola Government School and joined the Department of Archaeology in 1923. He married in 1930. Senarath Paranavitana received his Ph.D. degree in 1936 from the university of Laiden, Holland. and was appointed Commissioner of Archaeology on 1 October 1940 in which capacity he served diligently till December 1956. The next year (1957) he was appointed Professor of Archeology at the Peradeniya campus of the University of Ceylon. Even though Paranavitana's period began with the on set of the Second World War, his erudition and energy resulted in a very fruitful 17 years as the Archaeological Commissioner of Ceylon, when he retired in 1956. Today, Sri Lankan history and prehistory are illuminated by his highly-regarded academic and popular writings. The most well-known "magnum opus" of course was "Sigiri graffiti", published in two monumental volumes by the Oxford University Press. Besides his numerous contributions to foreign and local journals in the fields of epigraphy, history, art, architecture, religion, languages and literature are the following publications: The Shrine of Upulvan at Devundara (1953) The God of Adam's peak (1958) Ceylon and Malaysia (1961) Inscriptions of Ceylon Vol. l (1970) The Greeks and the Mauryas (1971) Arts of Ancient Sinhalese (1971) Inscriptions of Ceylon Vol. ll (published posthumously) Story of Sigiriya (published posthumously) Sinhalayo

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Mrs.Susanthika Jayasinghe

Susanthika Jayasinghe (Sinhala: සුසන්තිකා ජයසිංහ; Tamil: சுசந்திகா ஜயசிங்ஹ) (born December 17, 1975) is a Sri Lankan sprint athlete specializing in the 100 and 200 metres.
Jayasinghe was born in Atnawala, Sri Lanka. Brought up in a poor family in a small village 60 kilometres north of Colombo, where running spikes cost more than the average month's wage, she had no access to proper sports equipment or coaches. Yet in spite of these underprivileged conditions she managed to progress to a standard where she could claim medals at both the Summer Olympics and IAAF World Championships in Athletics.
Susanthika was the first and only Asian national to win an Olympic medal in any of 100m, 200m or 400m sprint events.

Contents  [hide]  1 Career 2 Personal bests 3 Achievements 4 See also 5 Notes 6 External links

Career [edit]

After her performance in the 200 m race at the 1997 World Championships she travelled to the United States of America to train. Along with Dhamyanthi Dharsha and Sugath Tillakaratne her athletics performances have lifted Sri Lanka to the international competitive level. In 2000 she became the nation's first Olympic medalist since 1948, when she finished behind Marion Jones and Pauline Davis-Thompson in the Women's 200 meters. On October 5, 2007 Marion Jones admitted to having been taking performance enhancing drugs prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics, and Jayasinghe was later awarded the silver medal.^[1]
Jayasinghe was suspended from competition in April 1998 for failing a drug test that she claimed was rigged due to her political beliefs and a falling out with a Sports Ministry official. She was later cleared of the offense. After returning home with her Olympic medal she was attacked by a male athlete because, she believed, she had been supporting former government members in an election campaign. With no support from her national athletics association she had to go heavily into debt to even reach the 2000 Olympics but after her medal achievement there she was supported by a national fundraising drive in her homeland. In spite of that she left her home country to live in Los Angeles. She currently lives, however, in Sri Lanka. She told some of her story during a press conference for the women's 200m medalists at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, when she was asked if her country would be proud of her. In a quiet voice, she said:

"I can't explain. You wouldn't understand. They give me, trouble, trouble, trouble. I give them bronze medal. It'll make them sad... It was trouble with me. Doping and sexual harassment."

She then went on to speak of officials coming to her house, giving her a drug test and refusing to seal the urine specimen with her watching. She refused to sign the release. Later they told her she had tested positive for nandrolone. By the time she was cleared, she was no longer welcome by her country's sporting establishment.^[2]
She visited Los Angeles to train with Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam (Asian Games Gold Medalist in high jump in 1958, and two time Olympian in high jump - in 1952 and 1956). Shortly thereafter, she won gold medals in the 100 m and 200 m at the 2007 Asian Athletics Championships in Jordan and a bronze medal in the 200 m race at the 2007 IAAF World Championships. It was her first World Championship medal in 10 years. On 13 August 2007 she was ranked by the IAAF as 18th in the World for the 100 m sprint and 20th in the World for the 200 m sprint.
On February 5, 2009, Jayasinghe announced her retirement from sports ^[3] in order to focus on becoming a mother.^[4] On March 31, 2009, she gave birth to a baby boy.^[5]
In November 2010 she announced her plan to return to competition.^[6][7]

Personal bests [edit]

Date	Event	Venue	Time
September 9, 2000	100 m	Yokohama, Japan	11.04 [8]
September 28, 2000	200 m	Sydney, Australia	22.28

Achievements [edit]

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Event
1994	Asian Games	Hiroshima, Japan	2nd	200 m
1997	World Championships	Athens, Greece	2nd	200 m
1999	IAAF Grand Prix Final	Munich, Germany	8th	200 m
2000	Summer Olympics	Sydney, Australia	2nd	200 m
2001	World Indoor Championships	Lisboa, Portugal	4th	200 m
2002	IAAF World Cup	Madrid, Spain	3rd	100 m
2002	Asian Championships	Colombo, Sri Lanka	1st	100 m
2002	Commonwealth Games	Manchester, Great Britain	4th	100 m
2002	IAAF World Cup	Madrid, Spain	4th	200 m
2002	Asian Championships	Colombo, Sri Lanka	1st	200 m
2006	Asian Games	Doha, Qatar	2nd	100 m
2006	Asian Games	Doha, Qatar	3rd	200 m
2007	Asian Championships	Amman, Jordan	1st	100 m
2007	Asian Championships	Amman, Jordan	1st	200 m
2007	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	3rd	200 m

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Mr. Muththaiya Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan (Tamil: முத்தையா முரளிதரன்;Sinhala: මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන්) (also spelt as Muralidaran; born 17 April 1972), is a Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002. He retired from Test cricket in 2010, registering his 800th and final wicket on 22 July 2010 from his final ball in his last Test match.^[4]

Muralitharan took the wicket of Gautam Gambhir on 5 February 2009 in Colombo to surpass Wasim Akram's ODI record of 501 wickets.^[5] He became the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket when he overtook the previous record-holder Shane Warne on 3 December 2007.^[6][7] Muralitharan had previously held the record when he surpassed Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets in 2004, but he suffered a shoulder injury later that year and was then overtaken by Warne.^[8]

Averaging over six wickets per Test, Muralitharan is one of the most successful bowlers in the game.^[9] Muralitharan held the number one spot in the International Cricket Council’s player rankings for Test bowlers for a record period of 1,711 days spanning 214 Test matches.^[10]

Muralitharan's career has been beset with controversy; his bowling action called into question on a number of occasions by umpires and sections of the cricket community.^[11] After biomechanical analysis under simulated playing conditions, Muralitharan's action was cleared by the International Cricket Council, first in 1996 and again in 1999.^[9] Former Australian Test player, Bruce Yardley, who himself was an off spinner in his day, was assigned with the task of ensuring Muralitharan bowled all his deliveries with the same vigour as he would do so in match conditions when tested in 2004.^[12] Muralitharan had not commenced bowling the doosra at this time. The legality of his doosra was first called into question in 2004. This delivery was found to exceed the ICC elbow extension limit by nine degrees, five degrees being the limit for spinners at that time.^[13] Based on official studies into bowling actions, which revealed that 99% of bowlers whose actions were examined exceeded the elbow flexion limits, ICC revised the limits applying to all bowlers in 2005. The new limit of 15-degrees, one degree greater than Muralitharan was bowling his doosra, allowed him to continue without being called for throwing from then on.^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

In February 2009, after becoming cricket's highest wicket-taker in both forms of the game Muttiah Muralitharan hinted that he might retire at the conclusion of the 2011 World Cup. He stated "I think I am fit in my body and mind, I am enjoying my cricket and want to play more. But after the next World Cup, I will have nothing left to achieve in the game. The World Cup should mark the end of my career."^[19] Muralitharan announced his retirement from Test cricket after the first Test against India at Galle which commenced on 18 July 2010.^[20] During that match he captured 8 wickets and became the first to reach the milestone of taking 800 Test wickets by dismissing Pragyan Ojha.^[21][22]

He was the sixth international franchise player signed to the Caribbean Premier League and the first Sri Lankan player to be named to the new Twenty20 tournament

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