Prof. Dr. Lasanthi Manaranjanie Assumes Duties as the New Head of the Department of Fine Arts

Prof. Dr. K. D. Lasanthi Manaranjanie officially assumed duties as the Head of the Department of Fine Arts, Faculty of Humanities of the University of Kelaniya, on 20 April 2026 (effective from 08 April) at the Department premises.

Dr. Manaranjanie is a versatile musician and a scholar with rich international experiences. She graduated with First Class Honours in Fine Arts at the Department of Fine Arts of the University of Kelaniya. In 1996, she started her academic career as a temporary assistant lecturer in the same department and continued in the period between 1999 and 2011 as a permanent lecturer in the Department of Performing Arts, Sri Palee Campus of the University of Colombo. During this period, she earned her M.Mus. degree in North Indian classical violin from Banaras Hindu University in Banaras, India, pursued her doctoral study for two and a half years at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in Shanghai, China, and finally earned her Ph.D. Degree in (Ethno)Musicology with a focus on music therapy and medical ethnomusicology from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Following her graduation in 2010, she took opportunities to establish herself in the international arena through lectures, concerts, seminars, and workshops at various venues, including universities, research institutes, schools, conferences, and festivals. Her research work, musicianship, and teaching efficiently complement each other. She was involved in teaching courses on B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. levels in Slovenia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Taiwan, Turkey, and U.S.A. So far, she had shared her knowledge and skills with the audiences in Austria, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Nepal, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Taiwan, Thailand, Türkiye, USA, and Vietnam.

She is active as a researcher and performer (singer, violinist) and represents Sri Lanka as Chair of its National Committee in the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance (ICTMD, the leading global association of ethnomusicologists). She is the author of several scholarly publications, including the book Music and Healing Rituals of Sri Lanka: Their Relevance for Community Music Therapy and Medical Ethnomusicology, articles published in academic journals world-wide, and a CD of Sri Lankan music performed with her Slovenian ensemble. 

Her research interests include music therapy, medical ethnomusicology, music and healing rituals (medical ethnomusicology), music of minorities, music and conflict resolution, and applied ethnomusicology. 

Throughout her career, Professor Dr. Manaranjanie has served in many academic and administrative roles as Head of the Department of Performing Arts, Student councellor, Academic Warden, Senior Treasurer of the Arts Council of Sri Palee Campus of University of Colombo, and in many capacities at the University of Kelaniya since 2020 including the coordinator of the M.A in Music.

The event was enriched by cultural traditions such as kiri itirīma (boiling of milk), traditional drumming, lighting of oil lamp, Buddhist chant and tieing pirit nūl for blessings by Ven. Dewagoda Piyarathana Thero and Ven. Meetiyagoda Buddhananda Thero from the Department of Sanskrit and Eastern Studies. The celebration ended by a traditional tea party arranged by the academic and non-academic staff members and students.