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= Ravi Prasad Herath = Ravi Prasad Herath is a journalist and an author in his professional life. The author was born and raised in the rural setting of Madampe, in the Puttlam district of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka. It has always been Ravi's passion to write; he has been doing it since he was a teenager and has always enjoyed it.

Background
After developing a flair for writing, he was able to impress his friends and parents with his ability to write on a variety of topics. This inspired him to pursue a career in writing. One could fearlessly say that he had an inborn talent for writing, which he developed during the latter part of his school days. His creative way of expressing himself through writing has earned him recognition and accolades, both locally and internationally. His writing focuses on rural life, social issues, and local culture, and he is considered an authority on the subject of conflict resolution. His writings on the conflict areas of Sri Lanka's North and East were enough fodder for book publishers to think twice about his adroit skills as an author.

Following his primary education at Karukkuwa village school in Madampe, he moved to one of the most sought-after schools in the city, St Thomas’ College, which happened to be his father’s alma mater too. His father was a medical practitioner attached to the Chilaw base hospital at the time he attended St. Thomas’ prep school, Kollupitiya, in Colombo. His mother, W.A.D.M.B. Hearth of the Ratnapura Win Castle, was well-known in and around Ratnapura and influenced Ravi's writing skills greatly. This particular educational path allowed Ravi to gain exposure to a variety of cultural and intellectual pursuits. These pursuits influenced his writing and shaped it into the unique style it is today.

Career
Born in 1959, Ravi Prasad Herath’s affinity for the pen developed in leaps and bounds during his school days at St. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, after a short stint at a prep school. There he had the fortunate opportunity to interact with people connected to the higher social strata, and among them was Manu Gunasena, the son of a newspaper magnate. This invaluable exposure gave Ravi the platform to explore his literary talents and opened the doors for him to pursue a career in writing. His aim was to become a fully-fledged journalist while staying on the cutting edge of society.

He had the opportunity to meet with Rohana Gamage, a giant in the vernacular journalistic sphere at the time, and started a long journey as a novice in the field, putting forth his skills as a journalist at the "Rivirasa newspaper."

His initial task was to translate the Migara political column in the Weekend Sun newspaper into the vernacular Sinhala language for the benefit of the Sinhala reader.

Sirikotha Garu Vesamuni or popularly known as "JR a Mafia-type free thinker" seduced many since President J.R Jayewardene in his endurance drafted a comprehensive republican constitution and laid the foundations for devolution of powers under the 13th amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution to resolve the ethnic crisis. The book revolved around the psyche of President Jayewardene, who brought Ravi to fame. Vernacular media books on the political development of the North and East during a raging war between the Armed forces and the LTTE (The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) named Uthure Chandi (The fierce belligerence of the North) are yet another book that carved a niche in the Sinhala literary world.

He also has a penchant for wildflowers and wild animals. He often visited the Sinharaja rain forest in south Sri Lanka in search of new wildflowers and to study the nature of small animals in the wild. He had to spend days and nights researching the subjects that he liked most. He is passionate about preserving the environment and conserving wildlife. He believed that protecting nature was the greatest service one could ever do for humanity and future generations. Then he took to wildflower arrangements and studied Japanese horticulture (Ikebana) under the auspices of the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA).

Ravi used Japanese floral arrangement techniques to propagate Mahayana Buddhism, which is yet another philosophical segment of Buddhism. He also trekked on uncharted terrain, learning the principles of Moribana and Nageria.

He also trained over a thousand youths under the sponsorship of Mobitel in 1985.

A national award SBYO was conferred upon Ravi for his services in propagating Mahayana Buddhism by the Buddhayana Organization of Singapore.

Ravi’s latest project is to set up a Mahayana Buddhism study centre in Sri Lanka where prospective travelers could relax and take a dip in Buddhist philosophical studies. Mahayana Buddhism is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and is widely practiced in China, Tibet, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and other parts of East Asia.

Ravi's specialty is he could work with any character. His advent to former minister Ranjan Wijeratne was through his father who happened to be his classmate. Ravi developed a close relationship with Mister Wijeratne who worked closely with him and made Ravi a director of the Ranjan Wijeratne institute after the minister's demise.

Books by Ravi Prasad Herath
Bheeshanayata Pembadi Uthure Chandi - භීෂණයට ‌පෙම් බැඳි උතුරේ චණ්ඩි

Practical Buddhism

Lankawata Vina Kala Oththukaruwo

Newspaper Articles by Ravi Prasad Herath
The timeless journey of the environment

A shining star in Sri Lankan politics