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Kala Korner - by Dee Cee

A rare happening
It's possibly a 'first' in the world and indeed a rare happening. Our foremost musician Pandit Amaradeva and his two key lyric writers, Sri Chandraratne Manavasinghe and Mahagama Sekara (who are both no more) have been honoured, with the release of stamps. In fact, Amaradeva is the second living Sri Lankan artiste to be so honoured the first being Dr. Lester James Peries.

Both Manavasinghe and Sekara created a new 'music culture'. Their compositions were beautifully rendered by Amaradeva and to this day they are being remembered and appreciated by music lovers who wish to enjoy songs with some meaning and purpose. Many are the pioneering efforts they undertook making use of the radio. With television not around, radio was the only audio medium available at the time.

Amaradeva teamed up with Sekara to present 'Madhuvanti', one of the most creative musical programmes broadcast over the SLBC, which won the hearts of the serious listener. 'Sannaliyane', based on a poem by Sarojini Naidu, was one of the classics which gained instant recognition and to this day remains one of my favourites. It was such an absorbing simple presentation of the impermanence of life. 'Pile Pedura' was a Sekara creation based on a folk song. Sekara's 'Siripa Piyume' in 'Ran Salu' was turned into a devotional 'gatha' by Amaradeva. 'Aaetha Kandukara Himavu Arane’- in Chitrasena's ballet, 'Nala Damayanti' remains a classic.

Sekara's talents as a writer, poet and painter were well appreciated. The only film he directed, 'Tung Man Handiya' based on the novel he wrote as an autobiography was highly acclaimed.

Manavasinghe's creations from 'Saraswathi Abhinandana' to 'Maha Bo Vannama' are varied and meaningful. These belonged to a special category of Sinhala music where both the melody and the lyrics embellish each other. Manavasinghe's creations for Mike Wilson's 'Ranmuthu Duwa' are popular to this day. Amaradeva himself described the song 'Paramitha Bala Pujitha' as a landmark both in film songs and devotional songs. His composition 'Galana Gangaki Jeevithe' won awards for the Best Lyrics and Best Singers - Nanda Malini and Narada Disasekera, at the first Sarasaviya Film Festival.

Poet, lyricist, writer, journalist, columnist and orator, Manavasinghe contributed immensely to the advancement of society and enrichment of art and culture. His daily column in the Lankadipa - 'Vagatuga' - started during the D. B. Dhanapala era was something eagerly looked forward to by the readers every morning. Well versed in Sinhala, Pali, Sanskrit, Bengali and Hindi, he was fine company for Amaradeva to try out new musical programmes.

Both Sekara and Manavasinghe died comparatively young leaving a void in the field of arts. Let us hope that the Philatelic Bureau will continue to recognise talent in our country in this fashion. They should think of honouring more living legends as Australia does regularly picking those who bring honour to the country in numerous fields.

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