Ediriweera Sarachchandra

The 23rd death anniversary of renowned playwright, novelist, poet and literary critic Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra falls on August 16. Sarachchandra started his career as a teacher at St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya. He then joined Lake House and served in an administrative position. In 1933, he gained admission to the University College, Colombo and offered Pali, Sanskrit and Sinhala for the first degree and passed out in 1936 with a first class and sat for the Ceylon Civil Service examination emerging the first in the island. Subsequently he travelled to Santiniketan to study Indian Philosophy and Music. Sarachchandra returned to Sri Lanka in 1940 and resumed his teaching career at S. Thomas’ College in Mt. Lavinia. From 1942 to 1944 he worked on his Masters Degree in Indian Philosophy as an external student of the University of London while holding the position of Sub-editor of the Sinhala Dictionary. Sarachchandra returned to the University College (Now University of Colombo) serving as a lecturer in Pali from 1947 to 1949. He gained entry to the University of London in 1949 to study towards a post graduate degree in Western Philosophy. He produced his first stylist play Maname in 1956 to widespread acclaim. Maname is generally considered the first real Sinhala drama, signaling the transition from the Nadagam or folk drama to the modern theatrical drama format. It was praised especially for drawing influence from the traditional nadagam play style. He continued as a playwright.