''Virakesari'' is one of the leading

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

daily newspapers in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It is the oldest and the largest circulated Tamil Newspaper in

. Virakesari is owned by Express Newspapers (Ceylon) (Private) Limited, a leading print and web media organization in

History

''Virakesari'' was founded by PPR. Subramanian in the first half of 20th century. Subramanian was an entrepreneur and journalist from the village Avanipatti in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, India. Upon immigrating from India to

British Ceylon British Ceylon ( si, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ලංකාව, Britānya Laṃkāva; ta, பிரித்தானிய இலங்கை, Biritthāṉiya Ilaṅkai) was the British Crown colony of present-day Sri Lanka between ...

, he saw the conditions of the Indian Labourers and decided that he would establish a

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

to promote justice and equality for those people by publishing a newspaper with a distinct voice of its own. First page of Virakesari (06

The first edition was published on 6 August 1930 under the masthead ''Virakesari'' meaning "Victorious Lion" . Subramanian guided the publication for over 20 years, during which the publication focused on the rights and grievances of the Plantation workers, capturing the attention of the Tamil speaking population. Today, this newspaper is the most widely circulated and read newspaper by the entire Tamil speaking population in Sri Lanka. In 1948, soon after

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

obtained independence from British dominance, the

Ceylon Parliament The Parliament of Ceylon was the legislative body of British Ceylon & Dominion of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Constitution, prior to independence on 4 February 1948. Parliament replaced the State Council of Ceylon. ...

enacted the

Ceylon Citizenship Act The Ceylon Citizenship Act No. 18 of 1948 was a controversial law passed by the Ceylon Parliament which did not grant citizenship to Indian Tamils, who were 11% of the population. Background During the 19th and early 20th centuries the Britis ...

. Faced with the choice of obtaining Ceylonese citizenship or continuing with his Indian citizenship, Subramanian chose to return to his homeland, unable to come to terms with losing his nationality. Before his departure, he sold his interests to a small group of Ceylonese Citizens of Indian origin. In 1965, during the period of political upheaval in Sri Lanka, the Virakesari newspaper was taken over by a Sinhalese political party with the intention of introducing a Sinhalese national newspaper. However, as fate would have it, the company was sued for defamation compelling the new owners to relinquish control, reverting ownership to the earlier owners. In 1970, Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Limited was registered as a private company and as publisher of the Virakesari newspaper. It was the intention of the Directors that as a company, expansion programs could provide for a wide range of Tamil language publications for the Tamil speaking population. Today, ''Virakesari'' has evolved into a

national newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports an ...

with the motto "Tharamana Valiyil Thelivaana Thagaval" Quality news with clarity" Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Limited also publishes a wide range of magazines and newspapers catering to the different sectors and markets of the Tamil speaking population.

Online presence

The Online Division of Express Newspapers launched virakesari.lk, a 24x7 breaking news website, in 2002, and in 2005 they launched ''Virakesari's''

E-paper Electronic paper, also sometimes electronic ink, e-ink or electrophoretic display, are display devices that mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper. Unlike conventional flat panel displays that emit light, an electronic paper display re ...

, which was the world's first

. The websites boasts of over 2.5 million hits from across the world. ''Virakesari'' also plays a significant role in the field of

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

having large numbers of young audience engaged on their websites. The Alexa rank of this website is under 250.

Editors

* R.Prabhakan – Editor for Sunday Edition * S.Srikajan – Editor for Daily Edition * Robert Anthony – News Editor for Daily Edition * Sethuraman Ramasamy – Editor for Metronews * Ponmalar – Editor for Mithran * Mohamed Fairooz – Editor for Vidivelli

Achievements

Virakesari was voted the "Best Designed Newspaper" at the "Journalism Awards for Excellence 2005" by the Editors Guild and the Sri Lanka Press Institute. In 2010 virakesari.lk won the title of "Sri Lankas' Favorite Tamil Website" in polling conducted by bestweb.lk.

Foreign editions

Due to the significant numbers of

SriLankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

population (

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

) spread across the world, ''Virakesari'' has become a world-renowned name in

. ''Virakesari'' has a Weekly edition printed in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

and distributed around the states of

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. The ''Sunday Virakesari'' is distributed in over 15 countries including United States, Canada, UK, France, Germany, India,

, New Zealand and Australia.

References

External links

*
E-paper
{{Media of Sri Lanka Daily newspapers published in Sri Lanka Newspapers established in 1930 Tamil-language newspapers published in Sri Lanka 1930 establishments in Ceylon Indian Tamil journalists of Sri Lanka