The artistic talent of 137 children was celebrated and rewarded with Rs 3 million in cash prizes when the Commercial Bank of Ceylon concluded the fifth edition of its ‘Arunalu Siththam’ children’s art competition with a grand awards ceremony recently.

The Bank’s Managing Director/CEO Mr Sanath Manatunge and members of the corporate management of the Bank attended the event at the Kingsbury Hotel.

Exclusively for children between the ages of four and 16, the competition was hosted under the banner of the Bank’s popular children’s savings account ‘Arunalu’ and was also open to Sri Lankan children living overseas. More than 12,000 drawings were uploaded to www.arunalusiththam.lk as entries in the five age groups specified for the competition, and Commercial Bank invited 137 winners and their family members to the awards ceremony. The three overseas winners participated in the event online and shared their thoughts. The cash prizes presented ranged from Rs 10,000 to Rs 100,000 each.

Holders of children’s savings accounts at Commercial Bank among the winners of the competition received special gifts in addition to their cash prizes.

The judging of drawings submitted for this year’s competition was entrusted to an expert panel of judges headed by Professor Susiripala Malimboda.

Commercial Bank launched the ‘Arunalu Siththam Art Competition’ in 2017. The flagship children’s savings account of Commercial Bank, Arunalu, after which the competition was named, offers a higher interest rate for Children’s Savings Accounts and rewards account holders with special cash prizes if they score the first, second or third highest aggregate marks in their schools at the Year 5 Scholarship Examination.

Pictured here are the winners of the 2024 Arunalu Siththam Children’s Art Competition with Commercial Bank’s Managing Director/CEO Mr Sanath Manatunge and representatives of the Bank’s corporate management.