The largest auditorium in a Sri Lankan university, the Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Auditorium built with Indian grant assistance of Rs 300 million at the University of Ruhuna, Matara in the Southern Province, was declared open jointly by High Commissioner of India Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ruhuna Senior Professor Gamini Senanayake.

The ceremony was attended by a large gathering of more than 1000 people including the faculty, supporting staff, students of the university and other invited guests. No politicians were invited for the event as requested by student unions. 

As part of the program and as continuation of the celebrations of 150th Birth Anniversary of father of the Indian Nation Mahatma Gandhi which started on 2nd October 2018, a brief video of his message and teachings was played.

The state of art auditorium with 1500 seating capacity has been designed by the famous Sri Lankan Architect Geoffrey Bawa to conform to the philosophy of “Tropical Modernism”. The buildings of the Ruhuna University which is celebrating its 40th year of inception, have also been designed under the guidance of Geoffry Bawa.

"The auditorium named after Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore is a symbol of cultural links with India. The great Indian poet and noble laurate has left behind an enduring aesthetic and intellectual heritage for the whole of South Asia and the world. This auditorium upholds his legacy. It will also address the needs of students and public of the Southern Province for cultural and academic activities," the High Commission of India said, in a statement. 

"The auditorium is yet another example of India-Sri Lanka people-oriented development partnership. The overall development portfolio of Government of India in Sri Lanka is close to 3 billion USD. Out of these around 550 million USD is pure grant assistance and the rest of them being concessional credit. India’s development cooperation projects are not limited to specific regions or sectors. India partners with Sri Lanka according to Sri Lanka’s needs and the development projects are being executed all across Sri Lanka," it added. 

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