Composer In 1937, the popular music of Sri Lanka consisted of songs derived from the
North Indian Ragadhari music. These songs lyrics often contained meaningless phrases with little or no literary merit. Samarakoon set out to create a form of a music that can be classified as Sri Lanka's own and came out with the song
Ennada Menike (එන්නද මැණිකේ) (1940) that paved the foundation for the artistic Sinhala music. In 1940, he composed
Namo Namo Mata (නමෝ නමෝ මාතා) to inspire patriotism and love for the country among his students at
Mahinda College. The song was first performed by young students of Mahinda College at the prestigious Olcott Hall, and it was later selected by the Sri Lankan government as the nation’s official anthem. The love themed song
Endada Menike (එන්නද මැණිකේ) unfolds in the form of a dialogue between a young village boy and a girl. Poetic and beautifully rustic, it became a success and Samarakoon followed it with a string of successful songs in the early to mid-1940s, the period considered his golden age. Among his best known works are: •
Podimal Etano (පොඩිමල් එතනෝ) •
Vilay Malak Pipila (විලේ මලක් පිපීලා) •
Poson Pohoda (පොසොන් පොහෝදා) •
Asay madura (ඇසේ මදුර) •
Sunila Guvanay (සුනිල ගුවනේ) •
Punchi Suda (පුංචි සුදා) •
Nilvala Gangay (නිල්වලා ගඟේ) •
Sumano (සුමනෝ) •
Pudamu Kusum (පුදමු කුසුම්) •
Siri Saru Saara Ketay (සිරි සරු සාර කෙතේ) Painter In 1945, Samarakoon's only son died at the age of five, and the grieving Samarakoon left Sri Lanka for India where he pursued a painting career and held eleven art exhibitions there. Though his painting were critically acclaimed, he returned to music in 1951 back in
Sri Lanka.
National anthem One of Samarakoon's early compositions,
Namo Namo Mata was nominated as the national anthem and was officially adopted as the national anthem of
Ceylon on 22 November 1951 by a committee headed by
Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne. The song faced criticism, particularly regarding the "
Gana" significance of its opening words (
Namo Namo Mata), which some claimed brought disease and ill fortune to the country’s political leaders. Having completed advanced studies in Ghana Shastra in India, Samarakoon firmly stated that he was the only one qualified to judge any errors in the lyrics. Despite this, a few days later he was summoned to the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, where he was made to listen to a version of his song that had been altered without his knowledge or consent.
Death On 5 April 1962, at the age of 51, Samarakoon tragically took his own life by overdosing on sleeping tablets. His suicide is widely believed to have been influenced by the unauthorized alterations made to his composition of the national anthem,
Namo Namo Mata. ==References==