Veteran film director Dharmasena Pathiraja has passed away at the age of 74. 

His funeral will take place this evening at the Mahaiyawa cemetery, in Kandy. 

It is learnt that Pathiraja had previously requested his friends and family to conduct his funeral within 24 hours after death. 

Pathiraja, a doyen of Sinhala cinema, was the director of landmark films Eya Den Loku Lamayek, Ahas Gawwa, Bambaru Ewith, Para Dige, Soldadu Unnahe and Ponmani (Tamil). 

He studied at the Dharmaraja College, Kandy, and later at the University of Peradeniya. 

Pathiraja obtained his Phd from the University of Monash, in Australia.