<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Sri Lanka Matha (Sinhalese: ශ්‍රී ලංකා මාතා Śrī Laṁkā Mātā; Tamil: ஸ்ரீ லங்கா தாயே, translit . Srī Laṅkā Tāyē) is the national anthem of Sri Lanka . </P> <P> There are differing accounts as to the origin of the Sri Lanka Matha . The most widely held view is that Sri Lankan composer Ananda Samarakoon wrote the music and lyrics to the song inspired / influenced by Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore . A minority suggest that Tagore wrote the anthem in full . Some have suggested that Tagore wrote the music whilst Samarakoon wrote the lyrics . Samarakoon had been a pupil of Tagore at Visva - Bharati University, Santiniketan . After returning to Ceylon Samarakoon taught music at Mahinda College, Galle . The song, which was then known as Namo Namo Mata, was first sung by students at Mahinda College . After it was sung by the choir from Musaeus College, Colombo at a public event it became hugely popular in Ceylon and was widely played on radio . </P> <P> Prior to Ceylon's independence (1948) the Lanka Gandharva Sabha had organised a competition to find a national anthem . Among the entries were Namo Namo Matha by Samarakoon and Sri Lanka Matha Pala Yasa Mahima by P.B. Illangasinghe and Lionel Edirisinghe . The latter won the competition but this was controversial as Illangasinghe and Edirisinghe were members of the judging panel . Sri Lanka Matha Pala Yasa Mahima was broadcast by Radio Ceylon on the morning of 4 February 1948, independence day, but it was not sung at the official Freedom Day celebrations . Ceylon continued to use the British national anthem as its official national anthem after independence . At the first independence day ceremony held on 4 February 1949 at the Independence Memorial Hall in Torrington Square both Namo Namo Matha and Sri Lanka Matha Pala Yasa Mahima were sung, in Sinhala and Tamil, as "national songs". </P>

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