 Samaranayake died in Stockholm, Sweden on 6 June 2007.The Sri Lankan Government awarded Samaranayake a funeral with state patronage at the Independence Square, Colombo on 13 June 2007, as an appreciation of the contributions and accomplishments Prof Samaranayake.After completing his education Samaranayake went on to serve the University of Ceylon (in 1974 University of Ceylon was abolished and University of Colombo created from the Colombo campus of the former university) for the next 43 years since 1961.