Sri Lanka
"ශ්රී ලංකා මාතා" "Sri Lanka Matha" (Mother Sri Lanka)
Words by: Ananda Samarkone
Music by: Ananda Samarkone
Adopted: 1951
After independence was granted to Sri Lanka (at the time known as Ceylon) in 1948, the need for a national anthem arose. As a result of a contest, Ananda Samarkone's contribution, written in Sinhala, was chosen as the new anthem. It was first performed on the fourth anniversary of independence in early 1952. There was some controversy with the early lyrics, and they were slightly changed in the early 1960s.