{{Short description|Sri Lankan writer}} '''Mahanama Rajapaksha''' (1913 – 16 November 1968), who wrote under the pseudonym '''Maya Ranjan''', was a prominent Sinhala writer and schoolteacher from Sri Lanka.<ref name="Silumina">{{cite web|url =https://www.silumina.lk/2017/10/28/%E0%B7%83%E0%B6%AD%E0%B7%8A%E0%B6%B8%E0%B6%A9%E0%B6%BD/%E0%B6%B8%E0%B7%8F%E0%B6%BA%E0%B7%8F%E0%B6%BB%E0%B6%82%E0%B6%A2%E0%B6%B1%E0%B7%8A-%E0%B6%B1%E0%B6%B8%E0%B7%90%E0%B6%AD%E0%B7%92-%E0%B6%BB%E0%B7%83%E0%B7%80%E0%B7%8F%E0%B6%AF%E0%B7%92%E0%B6%BA%E0%B7%8F|title =මායාරංජන් නමැති රසවාදියා (Maya-Ranjan, the Enthralled) |first =Chandrasiri|last =Senevirathna|website =සිළුමිණ, ප්රථම සතිඅන්ත සිංහල අන්තර්ජාල පුවත්පත by Lake House |date =August 12, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2012/03/18/mon03.asp |title=Pioneer writers in Sinhala literature |author=Indeewara Thilakarathne |website=Sunday Observer |access-date=18 March 2012}}</ref>
His magnum opus ''Digaamadulle Aashcharyaya'' ({{langx|si|දිගාමඬුල්ලේ ආශ්චර්යය|lit=The Enchantment of Digaamadulla}}), published in 1957, was important to Sri Lankan literature and established him the country's pioneering wildlife non-fiction writer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lankanewspage.com/?p=12954 |title=නෙල්ලිකැලේ බුරියාද මායා රංජන් ද |author=Thilak Senasinghe |website=www.lankanewspage.com |access-date=31 July 2019}}</ref>
He also translated Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe into Sinhala.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.booksbay.lk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=644 |title=ත්රෝජපුර සංග්රාමය |author=Maya-Ranjan |website=www.booksbay.lk |access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.booksbay.lk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=554 |title=වන සංග්රාමය |author=Maya-Ranjan |website=www.booksbay.lk |access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref>
== Publications == === Own work === * ''Digaamadulle Aashcharyaya'' (දිගාමඬුල්ලේ ආශ්චර්යය/The Enchantment of Digaamadulla) * ''Pitisara Minissu'' (පිටිසර මිනිස්සු/Rural Folks) * ''Mage Raajyaya'' (මගේ රාජ්යය/My Kingdom) * ''Ape Raajyaya'' (අපේ රාජ්යය/Our Kingdom) * ''Kalisama saha Sukumari'' (කලිසම සහ සුකුමාරි/ Sukumari's Pants) * ''Weediya Bandara'' (වීදිය බණ්ඩාර) * ''Neela'' (නීලා) * ''Kumaraya saha Ran Menika'' (කුමාරයා සහ රං මැණිකා/The Prince and Ran Menika) * ''Heenen gae suwandha'' (හීනෙන් ගෑ සුවඳ/Dreamed Fragrance) * ''Sahodarayo denna'' (සහෝදරයෝ දෙන්නා/Brothers) * ''Pandukhabaya'' (පණ්ඩුකාභය) * ''Prema Poojawa'' (ප්රේම පූජාව/Romantic devotion) * ''Atalle upan Kumariya'' (අටල්ලේ උපන් කුමරිය/The Princess who was born in Atalla) * ''Nirbheetha punchi sannaliya'' (නිර්භීත පුංචි සන්නාලිය/The gallant little dressmaker)
=== Translations === * ''Throejapura Sangramaya'' (ත්රෝජපුර සංග්රාමය) - translation of Iliad and Odyssey * ''Wana Sangramaya'' (වන සංග්රාමය) - translation of Ivanhoe
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Rajapaksha, Mahanama}} Category:Sinhalese writers Category:20th-century Sri Lankan writers Category:Sri Lankan non-fiction writers Category:Sri Lankan novelists