Virakesari

Virakesari

Virakesari (வீரகேசரி) - The Premiere Tamil Daily in Sri Lanka
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner(s)	Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Pvt Ltd
Publisher	Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Pvt Ltd
Founded	6 August 1930
Political alignment	Independent
Language	Tamil
Headquarters	Colombo, Sri Lanka
Circulation	120,000 daily
Website	www.virakesari.lk

Virakesari is one of the leading Tamil daily newspapers in Sri Lanka. It is the oldest and the largest circulated Tamil Newspaper in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is owned by Express Newspapers (Ceylon) (Private) Limited, a leading print and web media organization in Sri Lanka.

Virakesari was founded by PPR. Subramanian in the first half of 20th century. Subramanian was an entrepreneur and journalist from the village Avanipatti in Tamil Nadu, India.

Upon immigrating from India to British Ceylon, he saw the conditions of the Indian Labourers and decided that he would establish a newspaper to promote justice and equality for those people by publishing a newspaper with a distinct voice of its own.

The first edition was published on 6 August 1930 under the masthead Virakesari meaning "Victorious Lion" . Subramanian guided the publication for over 20 years, during which the publication focused on the rights and grievances of the Plantation workers, capturing the attention of the Tamil speaking population. Today, this newspaper is the most widely circulated and read newspaper by the entire Tamil speaking population in Sri Lanka.

In 1948, soon after Ceylon obtained independence from British dominance, the Ceylon Parliament enacted the Ceylon Citizenship Act. Faced with the choice of obtaining Ceylonese citizenship or continuing with his Indian citizenship, Subramanian chose to return to his homeland, unable to come to terms with losing his nationality. Before his departure, he sold his interests to a small group of Ceylonese Citizens of Indian origin.

In 1965, during the period of political upheaval in Sri Lanka, the Virakesari newspaper was taken over by a Sinhala political party with the intention of introducing a Sinhalese national newspaper. However, as fate would have it, the company was sued for defamation compelling the new owners to relinquish control, reverting ownership to the earlier owners.