Professor (Mrs.) Prashanthi Narangoda
Director

Professor (Mrs.) Prashanthi Narangoda (Professor of Fine Arts) is a qualified professional and an academic who has been serving in the Department of Fine Arts, University of Kelaniya since1992. In addition, she serves as the Secretary of the Ethics Review Committee of University of Kelaniya, the central body which evaluates and reviews the quality of the research carried out by the candidates who accomplish their research at University of Kelaniya and elsewhere possible. She, at the Department level, holds the position of the Senior Treasurer of the Performing Arts Students Society of the Department of Fine Arts, and Coordinator of the Art Gallery both of which serve enhance the quality practice of the soft skills of University students whereas at the National level, serves as a member of the Subject Bench Mark Panel of Fine Arts, and a member of the Management Committee, Gamapaha Wickramarachchi Ayurvedic Institute, University of Kelaniya. She obtained her Bachelors’ Degree of Fine Arts with a Second Class Upper Division Honours from the University of Kelaniya in 1992, and Master of Science Degree from the Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology, affiliated to University of Kelaniya in the year 2000. In 2012 she obtained her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of the West, California, USA. She also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Architectural Conservation of Monuments and Site from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka which she obtained in 1994. She bears the life membership of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch) since 2007, American Association of Religion (AAR) since 2010, and a member of the Scientific Committee of the UNESCO International Dance Council since 2016. She is also a member of the National Trustees Board. Her vision is to become an academic and a research scholar who can better serve enhance the quality of research, education and social awareness to treat the needs of economy, polity and culture of Sri Lanka and contribute to achieve the best standards of education in the global market.

Dr. Bina Gandhi Deori
Deputy Director – Research

Dr. Bina Gandhi Deori holds Ph.D from Deccan College, Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune . She was teaching in the Department of Ancient Indian History Culture &Archaeology, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan (India) before joining SCC on deputation.

Dr. Deori was awarded Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, UK Visiting Fellowship 2014-15 and the CRASSH Charles Wallace India Trust Fellowship to study the collections from Northeast India at the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology (MAA) and at the Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge University in 2016.

Dr. Deori was granted the Erasmas Mundus NAMASTE Consortium Grant for academic staff mobility to spend 1 month at the Institute of Ethnology & Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw, Poland and Erasmus Mundus-Euphrates scholarship-academic staff mobility at the Dept. of Anthropology, Vilnius University, Lithuania in the year 2015 and 2017 respectively.

In 2019, Dr. Deori was selected to participate in capacity building workshop on Nature-Culture linkages in heritage conservation in Asia and the Pacific, at the University of Tsukuba, Japan in cooperation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, IUCN, ICCROM and ICOMOS.

Dr. Deori has presented papers in several national as well as international conferences and worked in several projects documenting the cultural heritage of the indigenous communities of Arunachal Pradesh as the Principal Investigator.

K. Keerthi Gunathilaka
Administrative Officer

K. Keerthi Gunathilake obtained his Bachelor of Arts Special Degree (Second Class Upper) in Fine Arts in 1997 and his Master’s Degree in Mass communication in 2005 from the University of Kelaniya. He first joined Korea Ceylon Co-operation Pvt Ltd as a senior executive officer and thereafter joined the Ministry of Education as a development officer from 2002 to 2008. Then he joined the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as cultural promotion officer and consequently was transferred to Foreign Cultural Relations unit in 2009. He joined the SAARC Cultural Centre as the Administrative Officer in 2010.

Kalum Bandara
Finance Officer/Accountant

Kalum Bandara holds a Master’s Degree in Business Studies and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from the University of Colombo.  He is a Certified Business Accountant of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and a fully qualified member of the Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka.  Prior to joining the SAARC Cultural Centre in 2010, he had worked in many reputed public and private organizations as assistant accountant, and finance assistant.

Dilani Fernando
Personal Secretary to the Director

With over 20 years of experience as a secretary/personal assistant, Dilani has served as the personal assistant to chairman and managing directors of several private and public institutions. She holds a Higher Diploma in Business Management, Diploma in Diplomacy & World Affairs and a Diploma in Confidential Secretarial Practices. She started her career as a confidential secretary to top management at the Ministry of Industries in Sri Lanka. After 12 years of service, she joined the private sector and worked as a confidential secretary/personal assistant in insurance, media, finance and operations sectors.

Mahinda Sumanasekara Bandara
Documentation Officer/Librarian

Mahinda Sumanasekara Bandara obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Special Degree in Languages and Culture from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Master of International Relations (MAIR) from the Colombo University. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Information Management (PGDIM) at National Institute of Library and Information Sciences (NILIS), University of Colombo.  He started his career as the Cultural Promotion Officer at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and subsequently joined the Ministry of Cultural Affairs to handle the International Cultural Relations including UNESCO and SAARC affairs.  He joined the SAARC Cultural Centre as the Documentation Officer and Librarian in 2012.  He is responsible for the SCC Resource Centre, media and publicity.

Apsara Karunaratne
Research Assistant

Apsara Karunaratne holds a BA degree (Second Class Upper) in English, International Relations, & Demography and a Master’s in International Relations from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. She is responsible for assisting in conceptualizing and implementing research programmes and editing publications of the Research Division of the Centre. In addition, she has been lecturing in the Diploma in Advanced English (DAE) for Administration and Academic Purposes, Extension Courses in English, at the Department of English, University of Colombo since 2008 and has served as the Assistant Course Director and the Course Director of the DAE from 2014-2019. She is also a visiting lecturer at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS) where she lectures on Politics in South Asia in the Postgraduate Diploma/Higher Diploma programme in International Relations. She has extended her expertise to the Sri Lanka Army from time to time as editor and translator to a number of important publications including the annual Defence Seminar report. She has been serving as a member of the editorial board of the Defence and Security Journal, the annual journal of the Defence Services Command and Staff College, Sapugaskanda since 2016. Prior to joining the SAARC Cultural Centre, she contributed for a number of socio-anthropological research projects at the University of Colombo as project coordinator, editor and research assistant. She has edited and translated many publications and has authored articles for journals. Her research interests are cultural studies, South Asian politics, and socio-linguistics.

Harishnath Nadarajah
Programme Assistant

Harishnath Nadarajah obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Madras, India and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.  As part of his MBA industrial training component, he went on a study tour to the Yunan Normal University of China in 2017. He also holds a Diploma in Human Resource Management from Madras Christian College, India.  He worked as Operations Executive in the private sector prior to joining the SCC in 2017.

Ishan Amaraweera
IT Officer

Ishan Amaraweera has a Professional Graduate Diploma in Information Technology from the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute for IT in the United Kingdom.  He has more than 10 years of experience in the field of IT and graphic designing. Before joining the SAARC Cultural Centre, he worked at “Practical Action” (now Janathakshana), a UK based International non-governmental organization in Sri Lanka.  He is responsible for all IT related tasks, art work and design requirements of the SAARC Cultural Centre.  He is also an avid photographer and his work has often been featured in the print media.

K.G. Madusha Lakmali Samarasinghe
Finance Assistant

Madusha Lakmali obtained her BSc in Business Administration as an external candidate from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. She has obtained her Chartered Accountant Intermediate Level certificate from the Institute of Chartered Accounts of Sri Lanka and now working towards her Business Level Certification. She has obtained her Diploma in Accounting and Business Studies from the Institute of Certified Management Accountants.  She had worked for 11 years as an Accounts Executive in the private sector prior to joining the SAARC Cultural Centre in 2017.

Rajagopal Shanthani
Receptionist

Rajagopal Shanthani holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the Kamaraja University in Madurai, India.  She has also obtained a certificate in Human Resource Management from the Institute of Personal Management in Sri Lanka and is also partly qualified in CMA. She has worked in the fields of accounts and customer relations in the private sector prior to joining the SCC as the Receptionist.

Mass Kumala Mass Aron
Documentation Assistant

Mass Kumala Mass Aron holds a three-year Higher Diploma in Library and Information Science at University of Kelaniya. She has completed a Certificate in Computer Applications at Lumbini College and a Certificate Course in English Language at University of Colombo. She has completed a practical training program conducted by the Library and Information Service in National Institute of Education. Prior to joining the SCC, she has worked as Librarian and Assistant Librarian at Lyceum international school (2011-2020), Librarian at Giggles International School (2009-2011), Assistant Librarian at Lyceum International School (2004-2007).

Uvini Kithma Diyawadana
Computer Operator

Uvini completed a diploma in web designing at IDM Nations Campus, Galle in 2012. She has also obtained certificates in “English for Job-seekers” and “Information & Communication Technology” and a two-year Diploma in Information & Communication Technology in 2015 from the College of Technology in Galle, Department of Technical Education & Training (DTET) of the Ministry of Skills Development and Vocational Training of Sri Lanka. She is currently pursuing Bachelor of Technology in Software Technology at the University of Vocational Technology in Ratmalana, Sri Lanka. Prior to joining the SCC, she has worked as Computer Trainee at the Department of Education of the Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Computer Trainee at Sri Lanka Telecom PLC Sri Lanka, and Information Technology Assistant to the Information Technology Department of Grace Cosmetics Sri Lanka.

Nalin Siribaddana

Ajith Jayawickrama

Priyantha Deepal

Saman Lakmina

Chandana Hiththatiyage

K.M. Malki Anuradha