Indra Dassanayake

Indra Dassanayake (1943 – September 2019) was a Sri Lankan university professor in Hindi and was an internationally acclaimed scholar. She was one of the pioneers in introducing and promoting Hindi-language in Sri Lanka through educational institutions. On 26 January 2020, she along with veteran dancer Vajira Chitrasena was conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri award which is one of the highest Indian civilian awards coinciding with the 71st Republic Day of India.[1][2][3][4]

Indra Dassanayake
Born1943 July 29
Kota, Rajasthan, India
DiedSeptember 2019
Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka
NationalitySri Lankan
CitizenshipSri Lankan
Alma materUniversity of Lucknow
Occupationprofessor
OrganizationUniversity of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
Known forFirst Sri Lankan Professor in Hindi; introducing Hindi language to schools and other educational institutions in Sri Lanka
Spouse(s)Late K. B. Dassanayake
AwardsSaraswati Award (1983)
Dr. George Grierson Award (2007)
Honorary Doctor of Literature(2018)
Padma Shri (2020)

Career

She pursued her higher education at the University of Lucknow and became professionally fluent with the Hindi-language. After returning from India, she introduced the Hindi-language in Sri Lankan education system. She was also a renowned professor of Hindi at the Kelaniya University. She also contributed to re-establish the Department at the Kelaniya University in 1995. She also participated in the first World Hindi Conference in 1975 which was held in Nagpur.[5][2]

Honours

Indra was honoured with the prestigious Dr. George Grierson Award from the then Indian President Pratibha Patil for the year 2005 during a World Hindi Conference in New Delhi on 18 December 2007.

She received the prestigious Padma Shri award for her achievement in arts in January 2020 which was given by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.[6][7][8] It was also the first instance where Sri Lankan was honoured with the prestigious award since 2002.[9]

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References
  1. Srinivasan, Meera (2020-01-26). "Two Sri Lankan women receive Padma awards for contribution to arts, language teaching". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  2. admin (2020-01-26). "Chitrasena, Dassanayake awarded highest civilian award in India | Colombo Gazette". Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  3. says, Laleenie Hulangamuwa (2020-01-26). "Lankans, Vajira Chitrasena and the Late Prof.Indra Dassanayake, get India's Padma Shri award". NewsIn.Asia. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  4. MENAFN. "Sri Lanka- Chitrasena, Dassanayake awarded highest civilian award in India". menafn.com. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  5. www.themorning.lk http://www.themorning.lk/brunch-page-3-padma-shri-award/. Retrieved 2020-05-11. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "India honours Deshabandhu Dr. Vajira Chitrasena and Late Prof. Indra Dassanayake from Sri Lanka with Padma Shri Awards | Asian Tribune". www.asiantribune.com. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  7. "India honours Deshabandu Dr. Vajira Chitrasena and late Prof. Indra Dassanayake | Daily FT". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  8. "Two Lankans conferred Padma Shri Awards". CeylonToday. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  9. "Two Sri Lankan women receive Padma awards". newsonair.com. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
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