Neranjan Wijeyeratne

Neranjan Wijeyeratne
නෙරංජන් විජයරත්න
Neranjan Wijeyeratne; නෙරංජන් විජයරත්න
18th Diyawadana Nilame of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic
	In office; 1985–2005
Preceded by	Nissanka Wijeyeratne
Succeeded by	Pradeep Nilanga Dela
Basnayake Nilame of Lankathilaka Maha Vishnu Devalaya
	In office; 1981–1985
Leader of the Opposition in the Kandy Municipal Council
	In office; 2011–2015
Personal details
Born	9 August 1956 (age 68); Kandy, Sri Lanka
Political party	United National Party
Spouse(s)	Devika Wijeyeratne; (née Mediwake)
Children	Mokshana and Navindra
Parent(s)	Nissanka Wijeyeratne; (father); Nita Wijeyeratne ; (née Dullewe); (mother)
Residence(s)	Meeduma Walauwa,; Rambukkana, Sri Lanka.
Alma mater	Royal College, Colombo

Neranjan Priyadarshana Dullewe Wijeyeratne (Sinhala: නෙරංජන් ප්‍රියදර්ශන දූල්ලෑව විජයරත්න) (born 9 August 1956) (known as Neranjan Wijeyeratne) is a Sri Lankan. He served as 18th Diyawadana Nilame (chief lay custodian) of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy for 20 years from 1985 to 2005.^[1] Wijeyeratne was former United National Party politician and ex chief organiser for the Galagedara Electorate in Kandy District and former Leader of the Opposition in the Kandy Municipal Council.

Early life

Born to Nissanka Wijeyeratne and Nita Dullewe Wijeyeratne, he is the eldest of three brothers and a sister.^[2] They are Mano, Anuradha, Lankesh and Nishangani. His father Nissanka Wijeyeratne and grandfather Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne were prominent politicians who had become cabinet ministers and his brothers Mano was a Non-Cabinet Minister of Enterprise Development and Plantation Services and Anuradha is a former provincial councillor and had been the acting Diyawadana Nilame on several occasions. Neranjan Wijeyeratne was educated at Royal College, Colombo.

Diyawadana Nilame

Following his father's footsteps, he was elected Diyawadana Nilame (chief lay custodian) of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy in March 1985 and served for a total of 20 years, until 2005, being re-elected once again in May 1995. Prior to being named the Diyawadana Nilame he served a term of five years as Basnayake Nilame (lay custodian) of Lankathilaka Maha Vishnu devalaya, Kandy.^[3] He was noted for his ability when the temple was restored following the LTTE bombing in 1998.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] He was also responsible for the construction of the famous 'golden fence' around Sri Dalada maligawa. He set up the Dalada Museum, which houses a historic collection of artifacts related to the Temple of the Tooth and Buddhism in Sri Lanka.^[8] The 'Temple of the Tooth Special Development Fund and Sri Dalada Maligawa Buddhist Welfare Fund was set up by him.^[9] Meanwhile, the Pallekale Sri Lanka International Buddhist Academy (Thai Sri Lanka International Buddhist Institution) with a modern conference hall that can accommodate up to 1000 guests was established by Neranjan Wijeyeratne while he was Diyawadana Nilame.^[10] During his tenure, he maintained close links with Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Myanmar religious dignitaries and played a major role in promoting Sri Lanka's Buddhist heritage.^[11]^[12]

Politics

After stepping down as Diyawadana Nilame following his second term, he went into active politics.^[13]

Family

He is married to Devika Mediwake, daughter of Dr Laxminath and Chintha Mediwake, and granddaughter of William Gopallawa (first president of Sri Lanka) and has two children, a daughter Mokshana Nerandika Wijeyeratne (Senior environmental specialist, The World Bank (Colombo office, Sri Lanka).^[14] and a son, Navindra Wijeyeratne (BS, MS and PhD from University of Central Florida, Florida, US), who is an assistant professor at Florida Polytechnic University, Florida, US.^[15]