Sri Lankabhimanya

Sri Lankabhimanya (The Pride of Sri Lanka) is the highest national honour of Sri Lanka awarded by the President of Sri Lanka on behalf of the Government. It is the highest civil honour and is conferred upon "those who have rendered exceptionally outstanding and most distinguished service to the nation".^[1] The honour can only be held by five Sri Lankans contemporaneously, and may also be conferred posthumously.^[2] The honour is conventionally used as a title or prefix to the name of the person who receives the award. To date it has only been awarded seven times, since 1986. Currently, A. T. Ariyaratne, Lester James Peries and Christopher Weeramantry hold the honour. The title is also referred to as Lankabhimanya (Pride of Lanka).

Awardees

Awardees include:

1986

• Ranasinghe Premadasa - 3rd President of Sri Lanka^[3]

1993

• Dingiri Banda Wijetunga - 4th President of Sri Lanka^[3]

2005

• Sir Arthur C. Clarke - Science fiction writer, popularizer of space travel, futurist, and inventor.^[3][4]
• Lakshman Kadirgamar - Diplomat, politician and lawyer, former Foreign Minister. (Awarded Posthumously)^[3]

2007

• A. T. Ariyaratne - Founder and president of the Sarvodaya Movement and pioneered the Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka^[3]
• Lester James Peries - Film director, screenwriter, and film producer^[3]
• Christopher Weeramantry - Former judge of Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and a member and later Vice President of the International Court of Justice^[3]

See also

• Sri Lankan honours system
• Deshamanya
• Deshabandu

References

External links

• National Awards Conferred by His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka