The history of Sri Lanka, Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike or S.W. R.D. Bandaranaike was a Prime Minister with distinction. Though, when he occupied the chair, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon. To acquaint the people of the country with the life and times of the great man Bandaranaike Museum was created. A visit here will make you understand one of Sri Lanka’s best prime ministers even better. S.W.R.D Bandaranaike was the husband of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the first woman prime minister in the world. She became the prime minister of the country three times. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was the father of Chandrika Kumaratunga. She also has a distinguished political career and occupied the highest chair in the country, that of President.
Bandaranaike was born in Colombo, in the upper echelons of the society and was a practicing Christian, though much later he said that he was a Buddhist. Many consider this to be a political strategy rather than adoption of Buddhism as his religion. He was sent to England to train as a lawyer. Returning back to the country he joined United National Party as an ordinary member. Later he came to hold a cabinet position. Bandaranaike in 1951 took out his faction, the Sinhala Maha Sabha, out of United National Party. He established the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) to fulfill his political ambitions.
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