නලින් ජයවර්ධන
54 songs performed
Nalin Jayawardena (නලින් ජයවර්ධන) is a Sri Lankan singer and songwriter, widely noted as the first Sri Lankan artist to release an internet-based Sinhala audio album, the 2004 collection Kanda Paamule, which he made available worldwide as a free download. Born on 18 April 1957 and long resident in Perth, Western Australia, he has recorded a large catalogue of devotional, romantic, and reflective Sinhala songs.
Jayawardena was born in Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka. He came to recorded music relatively late in life, building his output from Australia rather than through the established Colombo studio system, which is part of why his early embrace of online distribution stands out.
From the mid-2000s Jayawardena built a steady body of work, releasing more than twenty CDs and well over three hundred original songs. He was among the first Sri Lankan singers to put his catalogue on platforms such as iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play, reaching the diaspora directly. Much of his production was handled by his brother Rohan Jayawardena, who served as music director on many of the recordings, and he also worked with composers including Nimal Mendis and lyricist Dr Vicumpriya Perera.
His repertoire ranges from love songs to Christian devotional pieces, the latter heard in titles such as Wande Mariyaa and Insha Alla. Among his most circulated songs is Sansara Suwanda, which also gave its name to one of his albums, alongside Adarayaka Bandila and Ada Apa Samuganna.
Jayawardena’s significance rests less on chart fame than on distribution: by releasing Sinhala music freely on the web before most local artists, he helped open a direct channel to Sri Lankans living abroad. He has also issued tribute recordings honouring the playback singer H. R. Jothipala and published a lyrics collection, keeping his songs and the work of his collaborators in circulation for the diaspora audience that Lyrics-lk serves.
Every Sinhala lyric, composition, and song credit by Nalin Jayawardena.