ගිම්හාන රාත්රිය (Gimhana Raathriya)
අරමුණක් සහිත, සංගීතමය වැලන්ටයින් රාත්රියක්
(A Valentine’s Night of Music with a Purpose)
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with an unforgettable evening of music, rhythm, and romance at Gimhana Rathriya, a special musical performance presented by the Alumni Association of the University of Peradeniya – New Zealand Chapter.
Taking place on Saturday, 14 February 2026 at the Dorothy Winstone Centre, Epsom, Auckland, the evening will feature much-loved Sri Lankan artists Uddika Premarathna and Amandya Uthpalie, supported by talented local musicians and dancers. With Valentine’s Day as its inspiration, the performances will centre on themes of love, emotion, and connection—set to music that resonates with the heart.
Taking place on Saturday, 14 February 2026 at the Dorothy Winstone Centre, Epsom, Auckland, the evening will feature much-loved Sri Lankan artists Uddika Premarathna and Amandya Uthpalie, supported by talented local musicians and dancers. With Valentine’s Day as its inspiration, the performances will centre on themes of love, emotion, and connection—set to music that resonates with the heart.
Beyond an evening of exceptional entertainment, Gimhana Rathriya carries a deeper purpose. All proceeds from the show will go towards funding the rebuilding of essential infrastructure at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, following recent damage caused by extreme weather events. By attending, you are not only enjoying a beautiful night out but also contributing meaningfully to the restoration of a cherished institution.
- Saturday, 14 February 2026
- Dorothy Winstone Centre, Epsom
- Tickets start from $40, with premium seating available at $100
Join us for a night where music meets meaning.
Spend Valentine’s Day celebrating love — and making a difference.
පේරාදෙණිය විශ්ව විද්යාලයේ ආදී විද්යාර්තයින්ගේ සංගමයේ නවසීලන්ත ශාකාව ඉදිරිපත්කරණ විශේෂ සංගීත ප්රසංගයක් වන ගිම්හාන රාත්රිය 2026 පෙබරවාරි 14 වෙනිදා එනම් පෙම්වතුන්ගේ දිනයේදී (Valentine’s day) වේදිකා ගතවේ.
ඩොරති වින්ස්ටන් ශාලාවේ පැවැත්වෙන මේ ප්රසංගයේදී දක්ෂ දේශීය සංගීතඥයන් ගේ සංගීතයට ගී ගයන්නේ ශ්රී ලාංකිකයින්ගේ ආදරය දිනූ කලාකරුවන් වන උද්දික ප්රේමරත්න සහ අමන්ද්යා උත්පලී ය. ආදරවන්තයින්ගේ දිනයට සරිලන ආදර හැඟීම් දනවන ගී මාලාවක් ඔවුන් ගයනු ඇත.
ගිම්හාන රාත්රිය විනොදස්වාදයෙන් පිරුණු සුවිශේෂී ප්රසංගයක් පමණක් නොව එයට වඩා ගැඹුරු අරමුණකින් ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නකි. එනම් මේ ප්රසංගයෙන් ලබන මුළු අදායම ම මෑතකදී ආන්තික කාලගුණ සිදුවීම් වලින් හානියට පත් පේරාදෙණිය සරසවියේ අත්යවශ්ය යටිතල පහසුකම් නැවත ප්රතිසංස්කරණය කිරීම සඳහා පරිත්යාග කිරීමය.
මෙම ප්රසංගයට සහභාගී වීමෙන් ඔබ විනෝදාස්වාදයක් ලබනවා පමණක් නොව එමගින් මේ උතුම් කටයුත්තට දායක වීමට අවස්ථාවක් ලබාගන්නවා ඇත.
- 2026 පෙබරවාරි 14 වෙනි සෙනසුරාදා
- ඩොරති වින්ස්ටන් ශාලාව, එප්සම්
- ප්රවේශ පත්ර $40 සිට ඉහලට $100 දක්වා
අරමුණක් ඇති, සංගීතයෙන් පිරුණු, රාත්රියකට අප හා එක්වන්න
ආදරය සැමරීමට සහ වෙනසක් ඇති කිරීමට වැලන්ටයින් දිනය ගත කරන්න
Pera Nite Dinner Dance
On Saturday 16th August 2025, the Alumni along with their families and friends came together to celebrate our University connections at the prestigious Remuera Golf Club with a lovely buffet dinner followed by dancing into the night. Look forward to joining us in 2026 for another night of fun and fellowship.
Inauguration of the Association in 2009
The inauguration of the Association was celebrated with a dinner / Paduru Paatiya (Peradeniya Night -1) in March 2009. This inaugural celebration was attended by over 200 Sri Lankans.
This was followed a few months later by Peradeniya Night – 2 held in November 2009. These events were held at St. Mary’s Hall, Ellerslie.
Per Nite – 3 was held in Nov 2010 organized by the Association with alumni of other Sri Lankan universities in attendance. This event was also referred to as an inter-university event.
Pera Night
Pera night is the largest of the social events in the calendar of the New Zealand Chapter of the Alumni Association of Peradeniya University. The evening consists of a mix of song, performances, skits, quizzes, dinner and dance which make up a very entertaining evening enjoyed by all.
Although it is intended to hold this event annually, it has not always been possible. In recent years this event was held as follows:
Sat 27 Sep 2014 at Commerce Club, Remuera
Sat 22 Aug 2015 at Commerce Club Remuera
Sat 17 Sep 2016 at Alexandra park Function Centre, Greenlane
Sat 29 Jul 2017 at Te Tuhi Centre, Pakuranga
Sat 15 Feb 2020 at Commerce Club, Remuera.
Sat 29 May 2021 at Commerce Club, Remuera.
Sat 29 Jun 2024 at Remuera Golf Club
Gee Sandella
This has proved to be a very popular evening event where members and their families come together to listen to and sing along classic and modern Sinhala songs.
This fun evening program also referred to at times as the Members’ Night පැදුරු පාටිය has singing led by our very own musical Duo Bernard Wimalaratne and Sanka Bambarawana. It is a ticketed event with any surplus funds generated directed towards projects supporting our Alma Mater.
This was first organized in 2014 and given its popularity, continued in later years – June 2015, July 2016, May 2017, January 2021, June 2023, and November 2024. All AAUPNZ events were suspended during the years when the Covid viral epidemic hit our shores.
Screening of Sinhala Movies
Over the years, the Alumni Association has embarked on arranging fund raising events. Screening of Sri Lankan movies has generally proved to be successful in raising funds to support its various projects.
Gauthama Buddha Maatha Sinhala Movie
The Alumni Association of University of Peradeniya presented the screening of the movie Gauthama Buddha Matha at 2.30 pm on Sunday 18th May 2025 at the Hollywood Cinema, Avondale. Directed by Professor Sunil Ariyaratne, Gautama Buddha Matha is a cinematic portrayal inspired by the life of Mahapajapati Gotami, a revered queen and one of the earliest followers of the Buddha. The movie features a powerful musical score composed by Dr. Rohana Weerasinghe, cinematography by Channa Deshapriya and renowned Indian and Sri Lankan actors.
In November 2015, the movie Maharaja Gemunu was screened at the Academy Cinema, Auckland City.
In May 2016, the Association screened the movie Oba Nethuwa Obath Ekka, an international award winning film produced and directed by Prasanna Vithanage at the Academy Cinema in Auckland City.
In May 2019, Ginnen Upan Seethala, a movie about Rohana Wijeweera was screened at the Hollywood Cinema in Avondale.
In October 2021 the movie “Miduna Vishwaya”was screened at the Hollywood Cinema in Avondale.
In August 2022, the popular movie Ayu was screened at the Hollywood Cinema, Avondale.
In August 2023, the movie Dada Ima was screened at the Hollywood Cinema in Avondale.
In January 2024, the movie Visangamanaya was screened at the Hollywood Cinema in Avondale.
Other Events
From time to time, the Association holds various events. Some are social events for Alumni members and their families to get together. Others are for fund raising purposes.
In 2010 the association was involved in hosting the SL High Commissioner in Australia at Commerce Club, Remuera. In May 2011, the association was also involved in hosting Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe, advisor to the then president of Sri Lanka on reconciliation.
In 2010, a stage performance, Sankranthi with internationally famed performers was hosted by the Association.
In its early years, the association was also involved in arranging special events (Pujas) at the local temple too in remembrance of our alumni who have passed away.
A fun day out at Wenderholm Regional Park was organized in March 2017. A sumptuous picnic lunch, a game of cricket and plenty of yarns shared among those who attended made the event a very memorable one for all!
On 8 January 2022 after a period of silence due to Covid pandemic members and families limited to those who chose to be vaccinated got together for a barbecue at Cornwall Park, Greenlane.
In August 2018, a musical show Dewani Inima was organized as a fund raising event held at the Dorothy Winstone Centre with all proceeds going to identified projects to assist the university of Peradeniya. This was a huge success financially.