Chennai: Indian High Commissioner to Colombo Gopal Baglay on Thursday presented the prestigious Padma Shri award to Sri Lanka’s cultural icon Dr. Vajira Chitrasena in the presence of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and other dignitaries.
At a ceremony held at the Temple Trees, Baglay conferred the 2020 award upon her on behalf of the President of India.
The formal ceremony was held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi earlier this month in which President Ram Nath Kovind had presented the Padma award to Vathsala Dassanayake Ishtaweera, daughter of the late Prof. Indra Dassanayake.
Dr. Vajira Chitrasena could not travel to attend the ceremony.
She is a traditional dancer, choreographer, and instructor with extensive experience. She had been awarded the Padma Shri for her outstanding efforts to enhance India-Sri Lanka relations through the promotion of dance and the fusion of both countries’ art forms, particularly Kandyan and Odissi.
Dr. Chitrasena and Prof. Dassanayake have been influential in further improving the people-to-people links between India and Sri Lanka through their pioneering efforts.
Earlier, India had conferred a Padma Shri on W. D. Amaradeva, Sri Lanka’s acclaimed music maestro, in 2002.
(Venkatesh Iyer)