Professor Leelananda Prematilleke is a renowned archaeologist who lived in this country in recent times. He was a valuable scholar who worked with a good understanding of not only archeology but also history and our heritage.
Dr. Nandana Chutiwongs
‘Professor Prem’, in fond remembrance and deep respect.
It has been more than a great privilege in this lifetime, to have met my very dear ‘Professor Prem’, to have learned to know him and worked with him for so many long years. He was indeed like a father to me, as well as a very understanding friend, a mentor and mental refuge in both good and bad times.
Emeritus Professor Chandima Wijebandara
Professor P.L.Prematilleke, my teacher of Buddhist Art.
Hearing that I had been selected to enter the University of Ceylon (now the University of Peradeniya), one of school teachers told me that the era of learning from ‘teachers’ who took almost parental care will be now over and I was ‘destined’ to learn from lecturers who would deliver lectures from a podium for us to listen and take notes.
Chair Professor Chulani Rambukwella
Veteran Professor Prematilleke.
Prof. P. L. Prematilleke is a great person in the truest sense of the word as a teacher, scholar, researcher, and a great human being. So, it is a great privilege to have the opportunity to express my gratitude to Prof. P. L. Prematilleke my beloved teacher and former Professor of Archeology at the Department of Archeology, University of Peradeniya. I am grateful to his loving daughter, Isha Prematilleke, a consultant doctor for giving me the opportunity.
Colombo National Museum Director Ranjith Hewage
Prof. Prematilleke’s National Museum Contribution.
A great light to the field of Sri Lankan archaeology, Professor Prematilleke was a rare scholar who had marked the excellence of any work in his field. He truly transcended the field of Sri Lankan archaeology. Having a unique experience in designing museum exhibitions, he started the mission of promoting national museum exhibitions in the mid-90s by contributing to the exhibition called “Sri Lankan Bronze Sculptures”.
Professor Sudharshan Seneviratne
Meeting Prem in 1979 was a friendship we continued well over several decades. What caught my eye from the first day was his gentle enduring smile. Over the years, that smile stayed with you.