Sri Lanka
ශ්රී ලංකා මාතා
Sri Lanka Matha
Mother Sri Lanka
1940
1951
Ananda Samarakoon
Ananda Samarakoon
❤ Love of homeland 🤝 Unity 🏛 Identity |
Key Facts
- 1. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries where the national anthem must legally be performed in two languages (Sinhala and Tamil), with both versions given equal constitutional status.
- 2. The original composition was in the key of E major, but the government transposed it to F major without the composer's permission, a change that deeply distressed Samarakoon.
- 3. The Tamil version is not a direct translation of the Sinhala lyrics but rather an independent adaptation that preserves the spirit while using different poetic imagery.
Lyrics
ශ්රී ලංකා මාතා
අප ශ්රී ලංකා නමෝ නමෝ නමෝ නමෝ මාතා
සුන්දර සුබරනි
සුරම්ය අති ශෝභමාන ලංකා
පාලනය නමෝ නමෝ මාතා
අප හත අප සිත පිරි ජීවනයේ
නමෝ නමෝ මාතා
අප ශ්රී ලංකා
නමෝ නමෝ මාතා
ඔබ කම කැමති
එක මානයකි එක හිතකි
එසේ නිතයන්
මෙත මෙත සිතී
ඇදුරු යන මක් සේවා අයිනි
නමෝ නමෝ මාතා
Translations are non-official and intended to convey meaning, not replace originals
Analysis
EditorialWritten in 1940 by Ananda Samarakoon, who studied under Rabindranath Tagore in India, the anthem was adopted at independence in 1951. There is a long-standing controversy that the government altered the original lyrics without the composer's consent.