More specifically, in 1950 Minister of Finance J. R. Jayewardene requested that the government recognise Samarakoon's "Namo Namo Matha" as the official national anthem. The government appointed a committee headed by Edwin Wijeyeratne, Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development, to pick a new national anthem. The committee heard several songs but, after much deliberation, picked "Namo Namo Matha". The committee made a minor change to Samarakoon's song, with his approval, changing the tenth line from ""Nawajeewana Damine"" to ""Nawa Jeewana Demine Nithina Apa Pubudu Karan Matha"". The committee's decision was endorsed by the government on 22 November 1951. The anthem was translated into the Tamil language by M. Nallathamby. "Namo Namo Matha" was first sung as Ceylon's official national anthem at the independence day ceremony in 1952.