දීපිකා ප්රියදර්ශනී
77 songs performed
Deepika Priyadarshani (also written Deepika Priyadarshani Pieris, දීපිකා ප්රියදර්ශනී) is a Sri Lankan vocalist whose warm, classically trained voice has carried a long run of love songs and devotional numbers on Sinhala radio and television since the mid 1980s. She is widely regarded as one of the country’s most popular female playback and stage singers, and is often cited as the only Sri Lankan vocalist to have received the international Gusi Peace Prize.
Deepika Priyadarshani Pieris was born on 16 July 1966 in Kalubowila, near Colombo. Her father, Sumanadasa Peiris, was an engineer, and her mother, Karuna Peiris, a nurse. She studied at Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda, and came to music young, singing on children’s programmes for the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation while still in her teens.
She trained formally under teachers including Dunstan de Silva and the singer Nanda Malini, and went on to take a Bachelor of Music Education and the Vocal Visharad, both with first-class honours, from Bhatkhande University in India in 1990. She later completed a Master of Arts in Mass Communication at the University of Kelaniya.
Graded as an A-class radio and television artist from the mid 1980s, Deepika Priyadarshani built a catalogue of tender, melody-led songs that suited her clear upper register. Among the works listeners most associate with her are Sina Podak Wee and Pembara Kumarana, along with romantic numbers such as Premayata Nim Him and Ma Thotin Ena. Her repertoire ranges from light love songs to slower, devotional and reflective pieces.
Several of these recordings are hosted here with their Sinhala lyrics, transliteration, and English translation.
Deepika Priyadarshani has been honoured at home and abroad, including a presidential award for best singer, a Sirasa FM award for most popular female singer, and the Gusi Peace Prize in the Philippines, an honour that recognised both her music and her social work. Beyond performing, she heads an aesthetic institute under her own name and has taught and run workshops for children in rural and conflict-affected parts of the country.
Every Sinhala lyric, composition, and song credit by Deepika Priyadarshani.