Bhadraji Mahinda Jayathilaka

Bhadraji Mahinda Jayathilaka (also spelled Bhadraji Mahinda Jayatilaka, බද්‍රජි මහින්ද ජයතිලක) is a Sri Lankan singer, songwriter, and composer who also built a parallel career as a novelist, broadcaster, and academic. Most of his songs are works he wrote and composed himself, blending Sinhala lyricism with the lighter melodic style that defined Sri Lankan pop from the 1970s onward.

Early life and education

Jayathilaka was born in 1948 and schooled at Royal College, Colombo. In the early 1970s he moved to the United States, studying communications and public relations and later cinematography and television production in California. That training shaped a career that ran across music, writing, and media rather than music alone.

Career and music

After returning to Sri Lanka, Jayathilaka was involved in the launch of the country’s first television station, ITN, in 1978, and worked as a producer and consultant for both ITN and Rupavahini. Alongside that media work he recorded a body of Sinhala songs, writing both the lyrics and the music for many of them.

One of his best known recordings on Lyrics-lk is Api Raga Wayanawa (අපි රාග වයනවා), a collaboration tied to Clarence Wijewardena, the guitarist and composer who helped define modern Sinhala pop. He also recorded Dewata Aine Mal Pipenne with Samitha Mudunkotuwa, writing and composing the song himself.

Notable songs on Lyrics-lk

• Sasara Sayuren
• Athabulak Lesin
• Dewata Aine Mal Pipenne
• Api Raga Wayanawa
• Hanthana Kandu Pela

Beyond music

Bhadraji Mahinda Jayatilaka is also a prolific author, with more than thirty Sinhala novels to his name and work that earned him the D. R. Wijewardhana Award in 1994. Based for much of his later career in the United States, he has continued to write, teach, and perform, presenting Sri Lankan music to audiences abroad while staying connected to the songs he is remembered for at home.