India honours Lankan dancer Vajira Chitrasena and linguist the Late Indra Dassanayake with ‘Padma Shri’ award

Two personalities from Sri Lanka Dr. Vajira Chitrasena and the Late Indra Dassanayake were awarded the Padma Shri for their contributions in the field of dance, and literature and Education respectively by the Indian President, NewsIn Asia reported yesterday (9).

The full report follows:

Vajira Chitrasena with Chitrasena

Indra Dassanayake

Colombo, November 9 (newsin.asia): At a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhawan, the Indian President’s residence in New Delhi on Monday, the President of India Ramnath Kovind, presented the Padma awards for the year 2020.

Among the awardees were two personalities from Sri Lanka. Dr. Vajira Chitrasena and the Late Indra Dassanayake were awarded the Padma Shri for their contributions in the field of dance, and literature and Education respectively.

The Padma Awards are the fourth highest civilian honors of the Government of India that are announced annually on the Republic Day of India on 26th January. The others are the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna.  The award seeks to recognise distinguished services or achievements in diverse fields and disciplines.

While Ms. Vathsala Dassanayake Ishtaweera, daughter of Late Prof. Indra Dassanayake, travelled to India from Australia to receive the award from the President of India, in the presence of the Vice President and the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Vajira Chitrasena will be presented the award at Colombo by the High Commission of India at a future date.

The Government of India is committed to recognising individuals from diverse backgrounds who have rendered a ‘distinguished service’ to the society through their talents and achievements. In this connection, the contributions of veteran Kandyan dance exponent and guru Vajira Chitrasena, and linguist Prof. Indra Dassanayake, a well-known professor of Hindi at the Kelaniya University, to their individual fields, are noteworthy. They have both played important roles in further strengthening the cultural relations and the bonds of friendship between the people of India and Sri Lanka.

It may be recalled that before 2020, the Government of India honored musician and Magsaysay award winner W.D. Amaradeva by recognising him with the ‘Padma Shri’ in the year 2002.