Anuradha Dullewe Wijeyeratne අනුරාධ දූල්ලෑව විජයරත්න | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Diyawadana Nilame of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic Acting | |
| In office 1975–2005 | |
| Councillor of Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council | |
| In office 1988–1993 | |
| Coordinating Secretary to Ministry of Justice | |
| Public Relations Officer Ministry of Higher Education | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1962-03-22)22 March 1962 (age 63) |
| Party | United National Party |
| Spouse(s) | Dayanganie Dullewe Wijeyeratne (née Gunasekara) |
| Children | Yanushi |
| Parent(s) | Nissanka Wijeyeratne (father) Nita Wijeyeratne (née Dullewe) (mother) |
| Residence(s) | 168 / 7, Inner Flower Road, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka. |
| Alma mater | Royal College, Colombo Kingswood College, Kandy D. S. Senanayake College, Colombo |
| Occupation | Politician and Entrepreneur |
Anuradha Neelendra Dullewe Wijeyeratne (Sinhala: අනුරාධ නිලේන්ද්ර දූල්ලෑව විජයරත්න) (born 22 March 1962) (known as Anuradha Dullewe Wijeyeratne) is a Sri Lankan politician and entrepreneur,[1] He has served as the actingDiyawadana Nilame (Chief lay Custodian) of theSri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy on several occasions for three decades appointed by the Commissioner General of Buddhist Affairs with recommendation fromMahanayaka Theras of theMalwatte andAsgiriya Chapters ofSiam Nikaya.[2][3][4] He was a Provincial Councillor of theSabaragamuwa Provincial Council too. In March 2020, he was invited by theUnited National Party to contest the Parliamentary General Election 2020 and was appointed as the chief organizer for theMawanella electorate. In2020 general elections, Wijeyeratne ran unsuccessfully for theKegalle District seat inParliament. He is ideologically positioned on theright wing of the United National Party.
He was born on 22 March 1962 inAnuradhapura to a prominent political family who had been in active politics in the country for nine decades since 1931.[5] Anuradha is the third son ofNissanka Wijeyeratne and Nita Wijeyeratne (née Dullewe) and has three brothers and a sister. They areNeranjan,Mano, Lankesh and Nishangani. His father Nissanka and grandfather,Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne were prominent politicians who had become cabinet ministers.[6] Wijeyeratne was educated atRoyal College, Colombo, before moving toKingswood College, Kandy and laterD. S. Senanayake College, Colombo.
Wijeyeratne entered active politics in 1984 fromUnited National Party's Samavadhi Student Union[7] and also served as member of the United National Party National Executive Committee. Later he contested the Provincial Council elections in 1988 and was elected to theSabaragamuwa Provincial Council. He had also served as thePublic Relations Officer, Ministry of Higher Education &coordinating secretary to theMinistry of Justice. He was a member of Sri Lanka Government Delegation to the UNESCO 1979 Regional Conference inGeneva, Switzerland, member of the Sri Lankan Government Delegation in 1983 for theCommonwealth Sri Lanka festival held in London, member of the Government Delegation for the 1983 International Peace Conference,Hiroshima, Japan, a member of the Sri Lanka Government Delegation toUNESCO 1985 General Conference inSofia, member of Sri Lanka Government Delegation toUNESCO 1987 General Conference in Paris, France and member of Sri Lanka Government Delegation to 1993 Asia Local government Conference inKyoto, Japan. Wijeyeratne had also served as the Chairman ofDedigama Electorate Development Planning Committee.
He is married to Dayanganie, daughter ofTudor Gunasekara (former minister and diplomat) and Chandra Gunasekara (née Perera). Anuradha and Dayanganie have one daughter, DrYanushi Dullewe Wijeyeratne, Cardiology Specialty Registrar withPhD atSt George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.[8]