Karunaratne Abeysekera (3 June 1930 – 20 April 1983) was one of Sri Lanka's most famous
Sinhala broadcasters. He was also a
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
and
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...
and was widely admired for his excellent command of Sinhala.
Abeysekera wrote the
lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...
to over 2,000 songs, a record for a
lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment.
Royalties
A lyricist's incom ...
in Sri Lanka. His
compositions are still covered by some of the island's top musicians to this day, introducing his lyrics to new audiences in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
, and his songs are played regularly by the
Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation
The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) ( si, ශ්රී ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සංස්ථාව, ''Shrī Lankā Guvan Viduli Sansthāva'', ta, இலங்கை ஒலிபரப்புக் க ...
.
Early years
Abeysekera was born on 3 June 1930 in Ratmale near
Matara in Southern Sri Lanka. He was educated at
Nalanda College Colombo. Some of his notable classmates at Nalanda College were Dr
Gunadasa Amarasekara,
Stanley Jayasinghe
Stanley Jayasinghe (born January 19, 1931 in Badulla) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played for Ceylon prior to the country being renamed Sri Lanka, and prior to them receiving either Test of ODI status. He was a right-handed batsman and pa ...
, Dr
Harischandra Wijayatunga
Wijayatunga Mudalige Harischandra Wijayatunga ( si, විජයතුංග මුදලිගේ හරිශ්චන්ද්ර විජයතුංග; born 25 October 1931) is a Sri Lankan author, translator, lexicographer, teacher, ...
, Dr
Hudson Silva, Hon.
Rupa Karunathilake, Hon. Dr
Dharmasena Attygalle
Dr Dharmasena Attygalle (19 February 1925–1 June 1989) was an MP in Sri Lanka's parliament from 1972 to 1982.
He served as the Deputy Minister of Health (1977–1980) and Minister of Indigenous Medicine (1980–1982) representing the Kes ...
, Dr
Henry Jayasena,
Bernie Wijesekera.
Siri Perera
Siri Perera QC (February 1910 – 1995) was a Criminal lawyer, a Buddhist leader who was one time the President of the Colombo YMBA. He was also a former Sri Lanka High Commissioner to India.
Early life and education
Perera was educated a ...
was Abeysekera's
Sinhala language
Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also s ...
teacher at Nalanda.
He was discovered by the children's
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
programme ''Ḷamā Piṭiya'' ("Children's Field") hosted by Siri Aiya (also known as U.A.S. Perera -
Siri Perera
Siri Perera QC (February 1910 – 1995) was a Criminal lawyer, a Buddhist leader who was one time the President of the Colombo YMBA. He was also a former Sri Lanka High Commissioner to India.
Early life and education
Perera was educated a ...
QC) and broadcast over
Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia. ''Ḷamā Piṭiya'' was a showcase for young talents, and Abeysekera performed with his
poem
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...
s on the Radio Ceylon programme in the 1940s. He was an instant hit with the general public and remained a
pop icon
A pop icon is a celebrity, character, or object whose exposure in popular culture is regarded as constituting a defining characteristic of a given society or era. The usage of the term is largely subjective since there are no definitively object ...
until his death.
His younger brother Daya Abeysekara was a renowned journalist and an actor. He died on 29 March 2019 at the age of 80. Funeral will be held on 31 March 2019 at
Kanatte Cemetery
Kanatte Cemetery, also known locally as Borella Cemetery, is Colombo's main burial ground and crematorium.
It is located at the intersection of Elvitigala Mawatha (Narahenpita Road), Bauddhaloka Mawatha (Bullers Road) and D. S. Senanayake Mawa ...
.
A teenage broadcaster
Abeysekera was a pioneering Sinhala broadcaster. He was a rare breed, a "teenage broadcaster" launching a broadcasting career with Radio Ceylon, which he joined in 1950 at the age of 20. In 1958 he was sent to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
for specialist broadcasting training with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. Studio 5 of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation has been named after him.
. He worked very closely with another famous broadcaster,
. It was one of the most productive radio partnerships in Sri Lanka. His songs have been sung by a range of musicians, among them Pundit Amaradeva,
and the Jetliners. Karunaratne Abeysekera won the prestigious
for his lyrics on two occasions. The Government of Sri Lanka named a road after him in the capital city of
using the Sinhala language. He commentated on matches played by Ceylon against visiting
n teams from the 1950s to the 1970s. He also commentated on local cricket matches. He had to devise cricket
to describe cricketing actions - this was uncharted territory in Sinhala; his words to describe various aspects of cricket are used to this day.