Dayawansa Jayakody & Company

“Books are the carriers of civilization... without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill...” as per the saying of Barbara Tuchman and many other intellectuals, books indeed shape our lives towards achieving our goals and for living a life worthy of exaltation.

By coinciding with the aforesaid concept aspired to enrich Sinhala Literature, Dayawansa Jayakody embarked on a long lasting career in the publishing arena 43 years back, with the release of ‘Ginidel’ written by P. M. Jayathilake under the name of “Dayawansa Jayakody & Company”. Ever since then thousands of books have been released based on a wide spectrum winning sincere readership towards the company thus far.

One of the milestones the company passed during early period was the release of “Sithata Sithak” by Kumara Karunaratne in 1971 recorded as one of the bestsellers in the history of the company due to the significant fact that it sold out 13,000 copies in just 7 days.

Dayawansa Jayakody & Company soared day by day enriched by the notable contribution of eminent authors including G. B. Senanayake, Gunadasa Liyanage, K. G. Karunathilake, Somaweera Senanayake, Newton Gunasekara, and Chandra Anagirathne who can be referred to as the stalwart pillars of its success.

When noting about the success the name Dayawansa Jayakody cannot be discounted, the founder of Dayawansa Jayakody & Company has served 13 years as a Director of Sri Lanka Library Services Board and currently working as a member of the National Book Development Council.

It was his passion for books that triggered him to embark on this venture where it all began with the success he gained through “Hela Bima” school news paper while he was studying at Ananda College, Colombo. He was the editor of “Hela Bima” which became very popular those days in turn laid stepping stones to his publishing career.

In October 2003 Dayawansa Jayakody & Company held a unique book exhibition for a nominal cost, parallel to the International Book Fair hosted at the BMICH. This was held in the motive of encouraging readers to put up their own home libraries. The response of the crowds thronged around the bookshop was indeed outstanding.

On the entrance of Dayawansa Jayakody & Company’s Maradana bookshop a prominent statement suspended on the wall reads, “Books are the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing that he builds ever lasts.” It is the very statement received by all participants of the 25th Congress of the International Publishers Association in Geneva, where Dayawansa Jayakody represented the country being the President of Sri Lanka’s Book Publishers Association in 1990.

Highlighting this fact as a motto, he continues his endeavor to fortify and sustain Sinhala Literature, publishing manuscripts of veteran as well as amateur authors towards building a learned nation who would value the essence of religion, history and culture above all