චරිතා ප්රියදර්ශනී
20 songs performed
Charitha Priyadharshani (also spelled Charitha Priyadarshani; චරිතා ප්රියදර්ශනී), full name Visharadha Charitha Priyadarshani Peiris, is a Sri Lankan vocalist, radio and television announcer, and music teacher whose career spans pop, soul, and Indian classical traditions. She is widely known both for her own recordings and for her decades of duets with her husband, the singer Edward Jayakody.
Charitha Priyadarshani Peiris was born on 19 October 1967 in Mirihana, Nugegoda. She grew up in a household already steeped in broadcasting and film: her father, Ariyadasa Peiris, was a well-known radio artist and filmmaker. She studied at Anula Vidyalaya in Nugegoda and went on to complete the Visharada examination in Indian classical music, the qualification reflected in the honorific that precedes her name.
Charitha Priyadharshani began her broadcasting life in the mid-1980s, joining programmes at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation and presenting her first radio show, “Sonduru Sevena”, in 1985. She later worked as an announcer and news reader, and for more than three decades presented the long-running “Shanida Vaasanava” lottery draw, a fixture that made her voice familiar across the country quite apart from her singing.
Her marriage to Edward Jayakody in 1991 also shaped a long musical partnership. The two have toured internationally with their “Marambari” concert series, and several of their recordings sit side by side in the Sinhala songbook. On Lyrics-lk you can read their duet Sikuru Tharuwa Raye alongside her solo recordings.
As a vocalist Charitha Priyadarshani is associated with tender, melodic love songs and devotional pieces. In 1998 she composed the melody for “Dalmalamu Api Eka Iti Pahanak”, a song performed collectively by a large group of Sri Lankan women singers to mark International Women’s Day, work that drew a commendation from the University of Colombo. In 2020 she was recognised with the Siri Sugatha Kala Award.
Beyond performing, Charitha Priyadharshani co-runs the Sarisara Music Academy with Edward Jayakody, preparing students for local and Bhathkhande music examinations. For listeners across the Sinhala diaspora she remains a recognisable voice from radio, television, and the concert stage, and her recordings (filed under both the Charitha Priyadharshani and Charitha Priyadarshani spellings) continue to find new audiences online.
Every Sinhala lyric, composition, and song credit by Charitha Priyadharshani.