Ranwala Brigade

Ranwala Brigade

The late Lional Ranwala, archivist and developer of traditional Sri Lankan music began the Ranwala Foundation to preserve Sri Lankan traditional folk music by popularizing the art form amongst the younger generations. Following in his footsteps, his son Sahan Ranwala continues to work on preserving the essence of the Sri Lankan folk music tradition in Sri Lanka for the next generation.

The Ranwala Foundation conducts lectures and workshops on folk music for University undergraduates and school students to raise their awareness of the richness and uniqueness of traditional Sri Lankan music. The foundation conducts academic research on folk music and collects folk tunes and melodies from across the island for archiving purposes.

This foundation is made up of several counterparts including “Ranwala Brigade”, “Mathu Parapura”, “Ranwala Children’s Brigade”, “Swasthi” and “Thalama National Foundation”.

“Ahase Innawalu – 1999”, “Gama Awlanggnang – 2003”, “Yuddetath Ewith – 2007”, “Podi Ayata Jana Gee – 2007”, “Onna Babo Ethinniya – 2010” and “Three – 2011” are some of their renditions of traditional Sri Lankan folk music.

The group has toured Australia, China, India, Cyprus and many other countries. In 2011 the Ranwala Foundation won first place at International Folk Music Awards which was held in Shanjiaji-China.