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 Virakesari (வீரகேசரி) – The Premiere Tamil Daily in Sri Lanka | |
| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Pvt Ltd |
| Founder | PPR. Subramanian chettiar |
| Publisher | Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Pvt Ltd |
| Founded | August 6, 1930; 95 years ago (1930-08-06) |
| Political alignment | Independent |
| Language | Tamil |
| Headquarters | Colombo,Sri Lanka |
| Circulation | 120,000 daily |
| Website | www.virakesari.lk |
Virakesari is one of the leadingTamil daily newspapers inSri Lanka. It is the oldest and the largest circulatedTamil Newspaper inSri Lanka. Virakesari is owned by Express Newspapers (Ceylon) (Private) Limited, a leadingprint andweb media organization inSri Lanka.
Virakesari was founded byP. PR.Subramanian Chettiar in the first half of 20th century. Subramanian was an entrepreneur and journalist from the villageAvanipatti inTamil Nadu, India.
Upon immigrating from India toBritish Ceylon, he saw the conditions of the Indian Labourers and decided that he would establish anewspaper to promote justice and equality for those people by publishing a newspaper with a distinct voice of its own.
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The first edition was published on 6 August 1930 under the mastheadVirakesari meaning "Victorious Lion" . Subramanian guided the publication for over 20 years, during which the publication focused on the rights and grievances of the Plantation workers, capturing the attention of theTamil speaking population. Today, this newspaper is the most widely circulated and read newspaper by the entire Tamil speaking population in Sri Lanka.
In 1948, soon afterCeylon obtained independence from British dominance, theCeylon Parliament enacted theCeylon Citizenship Act. Faced with the choice of obtaining Ceylonese citizenship or continuing with his Indian citizenship, Subramanian chose to return to his homeland, unable to come to terms with losing his nationality. Before his departure, he sold his interests to a small group of Ceylonese Citizens ofIndian origin.
In 1965, during the period of political upheaval in Sri Lanka, the Virakesari newspaper was taken over by aSinhalese political party with the intention of introducing a Sinhalese national newspaper. However, as fate would have it, the company was sued for defamation compelling the new owners to relinquish control, reverting ownership to the earlier owners.
In 1970, Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Limited was registered as a private company and as publisher of the Virakesari newspaper. It was the intention of the Directors that as a company, expansion programs could provide for a wide range of Tamil language publications for the Tamil speaking population.
Today,Virakesari has evolved into anational newspaper with the motto "Tharamana Valiyil Thelivaana Thagaval" ["Quality news with clarity"].
Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Limited also publishes a wide range of magazines and newspapers catering to the different sectors and markets of the Tamil speaking population.
The Online Division of Express Newspapers launched virakesari.lk, a24x7 breaking news website, in 2002, and in 2005 they launchedVirakesari'sE-paper, which was the world's firstTamilE-paper. The websites boasts of over 2.5 million hits from across the world.Virakesari also plays a significant role in the field ofsocial media having large numbers of young audience engaged on their websites. The Alexa rank of this website is under 250.[1]
Annalakshmi Rajadurai joinedVirakesari in 1962, when women were unusual in Sri Lankan newspaper journalism. She stayed with the newspaper for decades.[2]
Virakesari was voted the "Best Designed Newspaper" at the "Journalism Awards for Excellence 2005" by the Editors Guild and the Sri Lanka Press Institute. In 2010 virakesari.lk won the title of "Sri Lankas' Favorite Tamil Website" in polling conducted by bestweb.lk.[3]
Due to the significant numbers ofSriLankan Tamil population (diaspora) spread across the world,Virakesari has become a world-renowned name inTamil.Virakesari has a Weekly edition printed inDoha and distributed around thestates ofMiddle East. TheSunday Virakesari is distributed in over 15 countries including United States, Canada, UK, France, Germany, India,Middle East, New Zealand and Australia.