Senaka Batagoda

Senaka Batagoda (සේනක බටගොඩ), sometimes written Senaka Bathagoda, was a Sri Lankan singer, songwriter and composer whose folk-rooted songwriting reached a mass audience when the band Wayo began recording his compositions. He is best remembered for “Api Kawuruda” and “Ananthayata Yanawamai”, songs that turned a quiet, philosophical lyric style into some of the most-shared Sinhala music of the 2010s.

Early life and beginnings

Batagoda was born on 25 June 1958 in Seeduwa, in the Gampaha District. He entered the music scene around 1980 as a member of the band Chandimal and the Second Connection, working in the western-influenced strand of Sri Lankan popular music. His own writing came later: his first compositions date to 1994, and his sound settled into a blend of folk melody with rock, soft rock and pop rock textures.

Career and breakthrough

For years Batagoda was a songwriter known more inside the industry than to the wider public. That changed from 2011, when the band Wayo recorded and released several of his compositions. The single “Api Kawuruda” became a cultural touchstone, and audiences later learned the song originated with Batagoda himself. Lyrics-lk hosts both the Wayo recordings and Batagoda’s own versions of this material, including Api Kawuruda (Sisikada Wisurunu) and Api Sanasille.

His signature song, Ananthayata Yanawamai (අනන්තයට යනවාමයි), released as a single in 2012, distilled the meditative, searching tone that defined his writing. The site also features the related cut Ananthayata Yanawamai (Sihina Mawannathi), for which Senaka Batagoda is credited as both lyricist and composer.

Signature songs and collaborations

Beyond the Wayo connection, Batagoda built a catalogue of introspective, melody-led songs. He collaborated with singer Priyal Disanayake on Sanasennam Ma, and worked with lyricist Bandula Nanayakkarawasam over his career. Among the Senaka Bathagoda songs that Lyrics-lk presents with Sinhala script, transliteration and English translation are:

• Ananthayata Yanawamai
• Heena Walata Panak Thiyenawa
• Sanasennam Ma
• Nidi Nathi Raya
• Senasuma
• Kelimadala
• Api Kawuruda

Legacy

Batagoda’s later years were marked by an intellectual-property dispute: in April 2024 a Colombo court order restricted his performance of several songs. He died on 11 September 2024 in Ragama, at the age of 66 (some reports give 65), following complications after surgery. He is remembered for proving that a thoughtful, folk-leaning lyric could carry across genres and generations, and for writing songs that other artists, above all Wayo, carried to the top of Sri Lanka’s charts.