THE ARRIVAL OF ANANDA SAMARAKOON TO THE CLASSICAL MUSIC WAS A TURNING POINT OF SRI LANKAN MUSIC. HE WAS BORN ON 13TH JANUARY 1911 IN WATARACKALIYANWALA WHICH IS SITUATED IN PADUKKA . HIS FATHER WAS A SECRETARY IN AN ESTATE LIMITED AND HIS NAME WAS SAMUEL SAMARAKOON. ANANDA SAMRAKOON'S MOTHER'S NAME WAS DAMINGA PERIES. THEY WERE CHRISTIANS. SAMARAKOON WAS BAPTIZED AS GEORGE WILFRED ALVIS. HE WAS A BRIGHT STUDENT IN WAWALA SCHOOL AND KOTTE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL. HE SAT FOR THE ESLC EXAM AND HE OBTAINED A FIRST CLASS FOR WITING,MATHS,GEOGRAPHY AND ART. HE WAS LURED TO LEARN MUSIC BY A PUNISHMENT FROM HIS MATHS TEACHER. SAMARAKOON HAD WON IN MANY MUSIC COMPETITIONS IN HIS CHILDHOOD. IN 1939 SAMARAKOON ENTERED THE SHANTHINIKETHEN IN INDIA. IN THE SHANTHINIKETHEN HE LEARNT MUSIC FROM MR DHAVE GOSH AND ART FROMMR NANDALAL BOSS HE RETURNED TO SRI LANKA AND CHANGED HIS NAME AS ANADA SAMARKOON AND HE BECAME A BUDDIST. SAMARAKOON TAUGHT MUSIC AND ART IN MANY SCHOOLS. THEY ARE DHARMASHOKA, HIKKADUWA SRI SUMANGALA,SUJATHA AND ANANDA.SOME OF HIS STUDENTS ARE W.D AMARADEWA,R.A CHANDRASENA,C.S KULATHILAKA AND SARATH FRENANDO. ANANDA SAMARAKOON SANG MANY SONGS. SOME OF THEM ARE "PODIMAL ETHANO","PUNCHCHI SUDHA","SUNIL GUVANA","WILLA MALAK PIPILA","POSON PHODA","ASAY MADURA", "SUMANO","PUDAMU KUSUM","SIRI SARU SARAKATHA" AND "AKKA AKKA". NOT ONLY THAT HE COMPOSED SONGS FOR SINHALA FILMS "SUJATHA" IN 1953 , "SADA SULAN" IN 1955 ,"DUPPATHAGE DUKA" IN 1956 AND "WEDIBIMA" IN 1961. HIS SONGS ARE VERY BEAUTIFUL AND EMOTIONAL. HE COMPOSED SRI LANKAN NATIONAL ANTHEM IN 1940 AND IT WAS ANNOUNCED AS THE NATIONAL ANTHEM IN SRI LANKA IN 1952. IN 1945 SAMARAKOON'S SON DIED IN HIS AGE OF 5. AFTER THAT HE LEFT THE COUNTRY . HE ROAMED IN INDIA BETWEEN 1947-1951. A PERIOD DURING WHICH HE PROBABLY DID NOT COMPOSED ANY SONGS. HE ENGAGED IN PAINTING AND HELD ART EXHIBITIONS IN INDIA,MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE. ONE DAY SUNIL SANTHA SAID "I WOULD NOT VENTURE IN TO THE TASKS OF DISCERNING WHETHER SAMARAKOON WAS BORN AS A MUSICIAN OR A PAINTER". SAMARAKOON WENT ON CREATING A STRING OF SUCCESSFUL SONGS IN THE EARLY MID 1940 THE PERIOD REGARDED AS HIS GOLDEN ERA. MR CHANDRA RATHNAMANAWASINGHA SAID "SAMARAKOON WAS TIMELESS MELODY". HOWEVER ON 5TH OF APRIL 1962 SAMARAKOON COMMITTED SUICIDE BY TAKING AN OVER DOSE OF SLEEPING TABLETS. ANYWAY HE WILL LIVE IN THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS FOREVER.
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