• Entries to be submitted online on or before 31st August 2024
• Open to Sri Lankan children resident overseas as well

Sri Lankan children countrywide as well as those living overseas can once again unleash their artistic talents and win cash prizes with the launch of the fifth edition of ‘Arunalu Siththam’ – the children’s art competition conducted by the Commercial Bank of Ceylon, which is offering Rs 2.4 million in cash prizes to winners.
Exclusively for children between the ages of fourand 16, the competition is hosted under the banner of the Bank’s popular children’s savings account ‘Arunalu’ and will be conducted online, the Bank has announced.
Arunalu Siththam will once again reward a total of 142 young artists with cash prizes and present merit certificates to another 250 contestants. All entries should be submitted online on or before 31st August 2024. 

Contestants can submit their drawings by simply visiting www.arunalusiththam.lk and uploading a scanned copy of their drawing along with the relevant details. The drawing should be in JPEG format and should not exceed 5MB in file size, the Bank said. Submissions are limited to one drawing per contestant and should be an original piece of work, not submitted to any other competition.
Contestants can submit their drawings under five categories: Pre-school (ages 4-5), Primary (ages 6-7), Post Primary (ages 8-10), Junior (ages 11-13), and Senior (ages 14-16). While the contestantsin the Pre-school and Primary categories will have the complete freedom to draw on a topic of their choosing, participants in the Post Primary, Junior and Senior Categories are requested to create art exploring the themes of ‘Villagers’ (Gam Wasiyo), ‘Our Customs’ (Chaarithra Waarithra) and ‘Our Cultural Aspects’(Apé Sanskruthikaanga) respectively. The paper size for three youngest age groups is A3, while contestants in the two older groups must use 14x18 inch paper.
Contestants may choose a medium of their preference to colour their ideas on paper, avoiding sticky and non-drying types of paint.
The bank said 25 of the youngest contestants who submit the most creative drawings in the Local Pre-School category will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 10,000 each with certificates. Another 50 participants in this category will receive Merit Certificates.
The drawings that win first place in the other four Local age categories will each be awarded a cash prize of Rs 100,000, while the second and third placed drawings in these categories will receive cash prizes of Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively, along with certificates.
In each of the Local Post-Primary, Primary, Junior and Senior categories 25 contestants will also receive Awards of Excellence with cash prizes of Rs 10,000 each along with certificates. Another 50 contestants from each of these four categories will be awarded Merit Certificates.
Existing ComBank Arunalu and Isuru account holders at the closing date of the competition will be entitled to a special gift, if they are chosen as winners of cash prizes, the bank said. However, any child in these age categories can participate in the contest irrespective of whether or not they are account holders of Commercial Bank.
Meanwhile, the best drawing in the five age groups by Sri Lankan children resident overseas, will each receive a cash prize of Rs. 50,000.
The bank said it reserves all rights to the submitted drawings and all decisions made by a veteran panel of judges regarding winners will be final.
Commercial Bank launched the ‘Arunalu Siththam Art Competition’ in 2017.