Prof.

Sudharshan Seneviratne
Emeritus Professor. University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

Professor Sudharshan Seneviratne was former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India. He had his
primary and secondary education at Ananda College Colombo. He lived in India for 10 years, his
second home, and completed the BA (History Hon.) degree at Delhi University (1973). He was also
the first Sri Lankan to receive, both, Master’s and Doctoral Degrees from Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi, India.
Having returned to Sri Lanka in 1980, he joined the academic staff of the Department of Archaeology,
University of Peradeniya and was later Head of the Department. He eventually held the only Chair in
Archaeology within the University system at that time. In the past forty odd years Professor
Seneviratne mentored the next generation of archaeologists in problem oriented and issue related
archaeology and spearheaded several Sri Lankan and international heritage projects. He had
appointments as Assistant Director Archaeology at the UNESCO World Heritage sites of
Polonnaruwa and Kandy in 1983 and was later Director Archaeology at the Jetavana Project. In 2007
he was appointed Director General of the Central Cultural Fund (2007-2010) – Custodian
Organization for UNESCO. During his tenure as DG/CCF state-of-the-art museums (Maritime
Archaeology Museum in Galle, Sigiriya, Kataragama) were completed along with the Galle Dutch
Fort. He revitalized the Maritime Archaeology Training Program in Galle, Revitalized the museum
at Polonnaruwa and the Artefact replica production center at Bataleeya. He also established the Estate
Workers of Indian Origin Museum at Gampola. As DG/CCF he initiated programs on Sustainable
Heritage Tourism and promoted heritage for conflict resolution & peace education, heritage and
sustainable development, and preservation of traditional knowledge and environment.
He was also Co-Director at the Anuradhapura Citadel Archaeology Project (with Dr. Siran
Deraniyagala) and Megalithic burial excavation (PGIA-German KAVA Project) in 1984/5 (with Prof.
Senake Bandaranayake). He directed the Toyota Project at the Citadel of Anuradhapura and directed
the Galsohonkanatta Megalithic and Vessagiriya cave site Projects. Professor Seneviratne headed the
Project on Ancient Material Culture and Technology at the Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy.
He was a founder member of the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology and a member of its Board of
Management; member of the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, UGC Committees, Chamber of
Commerce Committee for Higher Education, Advisory Board to the Director General of Archaeology
in Sri Lanka and Board of Governors of the Institute of Fundamental Studies (Kandy), Director &
Senior Coordinator of UNESCO & NORAD Projects (archaeology and heritage projects). He headed
projects funded by Ford Foundation, American Institute of Sri Lankan Studies, Institute of
Fundamental Studies, Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, International Center for Ethnic Studies,
UNESCO, NORAD, SAREC and Toyota Foundation and most recently DAAD Project from
University of Berlin. These funding programs were used as a platform for Department faculty
development, student training and upgrading methodological systems.
Professor Seneviratne had active engagements in international affairs and was Senior Advisor
(Culture) to the Ministry of External Affairs under Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar. He was Distinguished
Visitor to India and Visiting Professor at JNU and made definitive contributions towards the
promotion of academic and cultural connectivity especially in the SAARC and Indian Ocean Rim
(IOR) countries. He participated in many academic and heritage policy-making bodies in the SAARC
region, Agha Khan Foundation and Harvard University in the USA and Consultant Archaeologist to
UNESCO, Governments of South Korea, China, Republic of Maldives and the American Institute of
Archaeology and ICOMOS. His international engagements culminated with his appointment as High
Commissioner (Ambassador) from Sri Lanka to India (2014-2106). Professor Seneviratne has
delivered guest lectures and orations in several countries including his address at the United Nations
General Body in 2011 and the Mahatma Gandhi Anniversary and Rabindranath Tagore Memorial
Lectures.
Prof. Seneviratne’s publications and seminar presentations in international and Sri Lankan learned
journals cover a wide range of problem-oriented and issue-related multi-disciplinary topics relating
to historical, archaeological and heritage research and education. His publications in English and
Sinhalese are translated in to Tamil. He was and is visiting Distinguished Professor at several
Universities and as Distinguished Professor at prestigious Liberal Arts Colleges in the USA such as
Cornell University, Bowdoin, Swarthmore, Carleton, Whitman and Macalester. He also holds Life
Membership in several professional bodies in Sri Lanka, India and the USA. He is Fellow and Life
Member of the Sri Lanka Council of Archaeologists and Fellow and Life Member of National
Academy of Sciences in Sri Lanka. In 2013 he was the only Asian to be awarded with the prestigious
Conservation & Heritage Management Award by the Archaeological Institute of America. USA.

Professor Seneviratne was awarded Professor Emeritus status in 2016 by the University of
Peradeniya.