39th Death Anniversary Handapangoda Upananda Batugedara

Handapangoda Upananda Batugedara was born on October 20, 1918 and passed away on March 29, 1980. He was a poet of second generation of ‘Colomaba Yugaya’ and he started poetic work from his school days at Ananda College Colombo and developed his talents by studying classical Sinhala and English poetry. He was influenced by prominent newspaper editors, as well as scholar Buddhist priests.   

Late Mr. Hemapala Munidasa, Mr. Piyasena Nissanka, Mr. Martin Wickramasinghe were a few, among those who gave guidance and support to upkeep his writing. Batugedara was not only a poet as his profession was related to mechanical field attached to Public Works Department. His poetry was also included in the school syllabus for public examinations, by the Department of Education.   

He was elected in 1972 to be the president of the ‘Aganuwara Tharuna Kavi Samajaya’ which is known as leading school for all poets in Sri Lanka. It was proven that Upananda Batugedara has been one of the veteran figures in the poetic history. His 39th death anniversary is remembered on March 29,2019.