Manjula prabhath hettiarachchi

Manjula Prabhath Hettiarachchi, who holds a Bachelor's Degree in Mass Communication from the University of Kelaniya with a Second Class (Advanced) Honours, joined Upali Newspapers Ltd. as a writer for the Wathmana magazine published by that institute, while he was pursuing the degree at the University. He then served as the Deputy Features Editor of the weekend ‘’Irida” national newspaper and as the Deputy Editor of Aratuwa, the first business newspaper in Sri Lanka (2000-2005).

The Sinhala lyric, 'Mal Suwandai Gasa Esuwanda Vinidunu Nethi' (2004), which Manjula penned while he was working for the Aratuwa newspaper, was first recorded song composed by him. Its music was composed by H.M. Jayawardane and it was sung by Shanika Sumanasekara and Visharad - Waruna Sanjeewa Liyanage. The song was also aired on the radio at the time.

Further, Manjula earned a reputation as a poet by publishing his works in almost every leading national newspaper in Sri Lanka, and his first book of poetry entitled 'Sanda Madala Ginigani' was launched in 1999 as a book selected for publication by the National Library and Documentation Services Board. This book was considered for the final round of Vidoyodaya Literary Award of that year.

Manjula authored and published the book titled 'Mahapolowen Sandalutalayata' (2009) based on the life stories of Sri Lanka's leading businessmen who won their lives through hard work. Publishing of this book encouraged him to embark on publishing books, and he undertook the task of publishing more than 12 books authored by various writers.   

Manjula, who gave up songwriting due to the injustices that prevailed in the field, returned to that field 2019 consequent to the encouragement received from the popular singer Keerthi Pasquel. It result in the song ''Kadulakwa'' sung by Keerthi Pasquel to the music of Dharshana Wickramatunga. 'Oba Kohe hari Ethi' sung by young singer Ravin Kanishka is another song written by Manjula, which won a huge fan within a very short period. Its music was composed by Sandaruwan Jayasinghe. This song attracted hundreds of thousands of youth on YouTube. Meanwhile, on an invitation by Keerthi Pasquel, Manjula wrote the devotional song “Bawandura Nivu Himi” for ‘’Vesak Sanda Re’’ devotional songs programme of Derana TV, and its music was composed by young musician Sandaruwan Jayasinghe.

Having returned to the field of songwriting with “Kandulakwa” song, Manjula has written and recorded 08 new songs for veteran and amateur singers during the past one year period from April 2019, and those songs are being aired on the radio and television. He is currently engaged in recording two songs written for two most veteran singers in Sri Lanka. Despite being a gifted songwriter, Manjula works as the Media Manager of HNB Finance PLC by profession.

You can enjoy the songs composed by Manjula on the following YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/manjulaprabhani