Rangiri Sri Lanka completes two years

Ruwini Jayawardana

In this era of fast moving lifestyle and competition, it is believed that to get to the news first and be the first to broadcast a vital piece is essential for survival.

For this rat race to succeed being in the city, the most ‘happening’ place in the isle was an essential factor but Rangiri Sri Lanka, dubbed Bauddha Apey Radiova (Radio belonging to us Buddhists) had proved that it is otherwise.

The radio channel which functions from Dambulla Raja Maha Viharaya, around 150 kilometers from Colombo, celebrated its second successful year on April 30.

Incepted by Ven. Inamaluwe Sri Sumangala, Rangiri Sri Lanka is the first FM channel to begin broadcasting outside Colombo to areas all over the country. Their studios are situated in a part of the sacred temple itself and comprises of some of the most modern technological devices of the era.

These include a number of recording studios, broadcasting studios, studios for discussions, studios to store music discs and many more are put to use to bring out quality and meaningful output to listeners of the station.

Rangiri Sri Lanka functions on 96.7 for the hill country and Vayamba, 98.1 for Ruhuna and Uva and 107.2 for the Kandy and Colombo districts. It also functions through the internet if listeners log onto www.rangiri.com

Though the radio channel functions from one of the most renowned places of worship of Buddhists and is under the ownership of a Buddhist monk, it is by no means limited to Buddhist programs and propagating Buddhism.

The programs inserted into the lineup are made up of quality musical programs, entertainment programs, educational programs, news bulletins, discussions based on interesting topics, programs aimed at upgrading the knowledge of listeners and enhancing talent of youths.

It all started with the Rangiri Dambulla Development Foundation in 1995, a non-government agency which focuses on the development of the area. Rangiri Sri Lanka media sector began with the monthly newspaper in 2007 and was soon followed up with the radio channel in the same year.

“We had several goals in mind when we came up with the idea of forming a media sector in this worshipped land. The majority in this country are Buddhists. Our aim is to revive their religious enthusiasm as well as guide them along the correct path. We also need to preserve the age old religious traditions and beliefs handed down to us from our ancestors.

These are not methods to propagate Buddhism rather it is a way of showing the public that we can all live in harmony despite whichever religion we follow,” Chairman of the Rangiri Sri Lanka Media Project, Ven. Inamaluwe Sri Sumangala opined.

He also added that many believed that the channel is for Buddhist monks and Buddhist laity but the channel functions like any other radio station.

“It meets the expectations that people demand from a radio channel. There is a belief that Buddhism elaborates on the pessimistic nature of life. This is false as many of the teachings help people to lead a better and prosperous life. This is one of the main teachings we take up in our programs,” he said. According to Ven.

Inamaluwe Sri Sumangala the team focuses a lot of attention on the language used by their comperes. They use the correct Sinhala terms and pronunciations in their programs. A range of Buddhist songs as well as songs based meaningful and quality tracks based on a variety of subjects from romance to sorrow are selected to be aired by the channel.

“We even select the advertisements which are aired on the channel with utmost care. If the advertisement goes against our traditions and do not meet up to our language policy we refrain from broadcasting it. We also prohibit broadcasting advertisements popularizing pesticides,” he added.

“Our news is balanced as we do not have the inclination of favouring any particular party. We never include predictions in our news but it is something which is stable and had already taken place.”

Commenting on the aspect of whether the radio channel faces difficulties in gathering news as most of the main stories derive from the Colombo region, Ven. Inamaluwe Sri Sumangala said that they have correspondents in each area.

“Technology had taken gigantic strides and had become a part of our life today. We need to make use of this aspect for our own development as well as the development of the country. Most of the scholars and literati in Colombo are village bred.

They are inclined to reside in the city because of their employment. If more projects and institutions are established out of Colombo many of them would be able to find employment in their home town,” he said, adding that all the employees of Rangiri Sri Lanka are committed to their work.

Rangiri Sri Lanka works round the clock and is funded by the Rangiri Dambulla Development Foundation. One of their popular programs is the pirith chants which begin at 10.30 p.m. and conclude at 5 a.m. each day.

The group also hopes to launch a television channel and construction work is coming to a finale. The television channel will function through satellite with the hope of catering to masses around the globe.