Kurulu Hadawatha bags Swarna Pusthaka Award

by Sureshni Pilapitiya

The 2014 Swarna Pusthaka awards ceremony was held at the BMICH recently with a gala opening ceremony which was creative, and full of entertainment. Many popular personalities in the art and literary fields were present.

The dance items performed by the Arakavila Foundation and the Chandana Wickramasinghe Dance Institute also added a lot of colour and enthusiasm to the occasion.

The spectators were spell bound by the beauty of the performances, especially the Patachara dance items performed by the Arakavila Foundation.

The creative manner which the compères, Amila Jayasekara and Wasanthi Nanayakkara kept the audience interested was also commendable. It was certainly an evening to remember. The luxurious and spacious BMICH helped people to view the gala event in perfect comfort, without any difficulty.

The ceremony was opened by the veteran film-maker D.B. Nihalsinghe, amidst the beautiful sounds of "magul bera" and the blessings of the Kandyan dancers.

He and Ms. Nihalsinghe were welcomed by Vijitha Yapa, chairman of the Book Publishers' Association. The main sponsor of the event was Sampath Bank.

The welcome speech was delivered by Vijitha Yapa.

The Swarna Pusthaka Awards scheme was launched in 2007.

He said 107 were books sent for the competition. Ariyawansha Ranaweera, Head of the Jury, Swarna Pusthaka Awards, described the tremendous responsibility they had to shoulder in selecting the winner.

The books nominated for the final round were, "Kurulu Hadawatha by Liyanage Amarakeerthi, Mage Adaraneeya Yakshani by Manjula Wediwardane, Thara Mage Dewduwa by Nissanka Wijemanne, Mariya Silonika Wasthuwa by P.B. Jayasekara and Paada Yathra" by Eric Ilyaparachchi.

The winner of the Swarna Pusthaka Award, will get a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakhs. The 2014 Swarna Pusthaka award went to Kurulu Hadawatha written by Liyanage Amarakeerthi.

The award was presented by D.B. Nihalsinghe and also the CEO, Sampath bank, Aravinda Perera. Amarakeerthi said by organising such events, the authors and the people of the literary field get some encouragement and attention.