Rahal Bulathsinhala

Rahal Bulathsinhala died on 22 October 2026, aged 73, while receiving treatment for an illness at a private hospital in Colombo, according to family sources. The nature of the illness and the cause of death were not made public. Newswire, Gossip Lanka, IBC Tamil and other Sri Lankan outlets reported his death that morning. Funeral arrangements had not been announced at the time of the first reports.

Rahal Bulathsinhala was the son of an army officer, and his father's example led him at first to hope for a career in the security forces. Reports of his death gave his age as 73, placing his birth around 1953; his exact date and place of birth have not been confirmed by reliable sources. Little else has been published about his childhood.

Bulathsinhala began his working life as a prison officer and served in the Department of Prisons for about 22 years. He was drawn into acting through stage plays and moved fully into the arts later in life.

On television he was remembered for the role of Podi Mahaththaya in Kopi Kade and for teledramas such as Kodi Gaha Yata. His screen career in cinema began with Rodaya in 1995. His films included Pem Mal Mala (1997), Left Right Sir (2004), in which he played Steven Cooray, Que Sera (2014), Sama Kumaru Kathawa (2019) and Theja. In 2026 he played a senior Buddhist monk in the short film The Empty Robe.

His widest recognition came from Nadagamkarayo, a comedy drama directed by Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan and written by Saddha Mangala Sooriyabandara, which aired on Swarnavahini from 18 January 2021 to 2 August 2022. He played Loku Hamuduruwo, the chief monk of the village, and committed himself deeply to the part, changing his diet and way of life while playing it. He reprised the character in the spin-off series Kolam Kuttama, which began in August 2022. In a 2022 interview with Sarasaviya he described folding the robes and handing them back after worshipping three times when the role ended.

Bulathsinhala was married to Susila Kottage, the actress and comedian best known as Dayawathi in Kopi Kade. The couple met while working on stage dramas. He said in interviews that a painful experience in love had once made him consider becoming a monk, and that meeting Kottage changed his path. He shared stories from his prison career and his family life on radio and television programmes including Ma Bala Kale on Neth FM and Adaraneeya Jeewithaya and Asanga Live on Siyatha TV. In his later years he lived in Mulleriyawa, near Colombo.

Bulathsinhala is remembered as a character actor who arrived in the arts from an unusual background and earned audience affection through careful, committed work. His portrayal of Loku Hamuduruwo in Nadagamkarayo made him one of the recognisable faces of Sri Lankan television in the early 2020s, and his partnership with Susila Kottage made the couple a familiar pairing in local entertainment.