Viruliya Sevana

07/10/2025

🎓 Hearty Congratulations to Kaveesha Coswatte!

Daughter of Viruliya Lt. Col Mantri Coswatte (Rtd) of Sri Lanka Army, Kaveesha has graduated with an LL.M. in Law & Social Justice from University College London in September 2025! 🌟

She was also felicitated by Viruliya Darukela - විරුලිය දරුකැල an umbrella initiative of Viruliya Sevana, at a gathering in London, UK, with Rajitha Bandara, daughter of the late Major Ramani Bandara (Rtd), representing the initiative that day.

Got a milestone, proud moment, or inspiring journey? We want to hear it! Share it with us and let the Viruliya community cheer you on! 🎉

Wishing Kaveesha a bright and fulfilling journey ahead, as she continues to uphold the values of justice, service, and excellence!

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08/08/2025

Words cannot express how grateful our family is for the outpouring of prayers, love, and support following the passing of the late Major Ramani Bandara (Rtd).
Your presence, condolences, and acts of kindness during this time have brought us great comfort.
We will always remember your generosity and thoughtfulness with deep gratitude.

— The Family of the late Major Ramani Bandara (Rtd)

02/08/2025

In Loving Memory of Major (Rtd) Ramani Bandara
Her funeral service will be held with full military honours on August 3rd, 2025.

For those who are unable to attend in person, the proceedings will be live-streamed at the following link.

Let us come together to honour a life of service, truth, courage, and compassion.

02/08/2025

Ramani: The Woman Soldier Who Picked Up the Pen

Ramani Lalithangani Bandara, one of the pioneering women to join the Sri Lanka Army Women’s Corps in November 1979, passed away last week at the age of 67.

An old girl of Kegalle Balika Vidyalaya, her athletic prowess—particularly in netball—earned her selection into the second intake of six women officers to be trained in the United Kingdom.

Upon her return, she held several senior roles in the fledgling Women’s Corps, including Adjutant, Training Officer for new recruits, and Logistics Officer. She rose to the rank of Major, serving as Staff Officer of Legal Affairs and later as Second-in-Command of the 1st Women’s Corps Regiment before retiring from the Army.

Her brother, Senani Bandara, also served in the Army and was tragically captured and killed during the Eelam conflict.

After leaving military service, Ramani picked up the pen and joined Lake House Group as a journalist. She worked for the Observer, Sunday Observer, and Daily News, contributing to general news and business sections. Over the years, she developed close relationships with colleagues across media circles.

A kind and caring woman, Ramani never forgot her fellow military women. She remained deeply committed to supporting them, always exploring ways to recognize their service. She continually assisted the families of 27 women soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

In 2014, she founded Viruliya Sevana, a welfare and empowerment program that supports retired women from the tri-services and provides scholarships to the daughters of these veterans.

She also founded the Ex-Service Women’s Association 30 years ago and served as its first President. To commemorate its 10th anniversary, she organized the short film “Apasu Haren” (About-turn), which addressed youth pitfalls and promoted awareness and preventive measures.

She is survived by her son Hiran and daughter Rajitha, and will be fondly remembered.

⸻

Funeral Arrangements:
• Remains at: The Respect Home, 483 Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 8.
Visiting Hours: From 3:30 PM on Saturday, 2nd August until 2:30 PM on Sunday, 3rd August.
• Handover to the Sri Lanka Army for full military funeral rites at 2:30 PM, followed by cremation at 3:30 PM.

⸻

May she attain the Supreme Bliss of Nirvana.

—Panduka Senanayake - DailyFT

02/08/2025

https://www.ft.lk/opinion/Ramani--the-woman-soldier-who-picked-up-the-pen/14-779797

Ramani Lalithangani Bandara, one of the pioneering young women to join the Sri Lanka Army Women’s Corps in November 1979 passed away last week. She was 66. ..

01/08/2025

In Loving Memory of Major (Rtd) Ramani Bandara

After 15 years of dedicated service in the Sri Lanka Army, Major Ramani Bandara retired with honour and pride. She was one of the six founding officers of Sri Lanka Army Women’s Corps, who was trained in the United Kingdom in 1979. She went on to become the Founder President of the Ex-Army Women’s Association, serving for eight years, while also working as a senior journalist at the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. She was also the author of several publications, including "පෝපි මල්" (Poppy Flowers) and "ප්‍රයිවට් දේවි V" (Private Devi V).

A true trailblazer, Major Bandara was a strong and compassionate leader who inspired women across the country to pursue meaningful careers. She founded Viruliya Sevana in March 2014 — a continuing self-employment and welfare initiative supporting retired women from the three armed forces.

She was a beloved mother to Rajitha and Hiran, a cherished mother-in-law to Yureshini and Udaraka and a wonderful grandmother to Ria, Raya, Harith, and Arkash.

Her funeral, with full military honours, will be held on 3rd August 2025, 3:30 PM at the new crematorium, General Cemetery, Borella.
Her remains will be at The Respect Parlour from 3:30 PM on 2nd August 2025 onwards, for family, friends, and the public to pay their final respects.

She is a woman of deep principle and unshakable integrity. Her legacy of kindness, strength, and selflessness will live on in us and in all those who knew her.

May she attain the supreme bliss of Nibbāna.
— With love and respect,
The Family

01/08/2025

නිවන් සුව ලැබේවා ඔබතුමියට

සැමට මවක් වෙමින් නිරන්තරයෙන් අවවාද අනුශාසනා ලබාදෙමින් හිටපු ඔබතුමියගේ වෙන්විම හිතට ලොකු වේදනාවක්....

ඇය මේජර් රමණි බණ්ඩාර
ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ යුද්ධ හමුදාවේ මුල්ම කාන්තා බළකායේ ආරම්භ සාමාජිකාවන් හය දෙනාගෙන් එක්කනෙක්.

1979 වර්ෂයේ යුධ හමුදා කාන්තා බළකාය ආරම්භ කරන්නේ බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ පුහුණුව ලබාගත් කාන්තාවන් හයදෙනාගෙන්.
මේජර් රමණි බණ්ඩාර අති දක්ෂ නිර්භීත කාන්තාවක්
ඇය ඉතිහාසයට එක්වන්නේ මුල්ම යුද්ධ අද්දැකිම ලැබු කාන්තා හමුදා නිළධාරීනිය ලෙසයි.

ඇගේ නම තවත් ඉතිහාස ගතවෙන්නේ මුල්ම විශ්‍රාම ගිය හමුදා නිළධාරීනිය ලෙසයි.
වසර 15 ක් යුධ හමුදාවේ සේවය කල ඇය ඉන් අනතුරුව අවිය බිම දමා පැන අතට ගනු ලැබුවේ ලෙක් හවුස් ආයතනයේ මාධ්‍යවේදීනීයක් ලෙස වසර 18 ක් සේවය කර තිබේ.

ඔබතුමියට නිවන් සුව ලැබේවා🙏🙏
🙏

01/08/2025

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Retired Major Ramani Bandara, a pioneering officer of the Sri Lanka Army, respected retired journalist, beloved mother and cherished grandmother, who dedicated her life to service, truth, and family.
She passed away peacefully on 1st of August 2025.
Funeral arrangements are currently being made and will be announced shortly.
Family, friends, colleagues, and well-wishers are kindly requested to await further details.
“May she attain the supreme bliss of Nibbāna.” - Viruliya Sevana

12/03/2025