Siddhalepa (the balm) is the flagship brand of the Hettigoda Group, manufacturers of over 150 ayurveda medicines, health care, beauty, skin, oral care, wellness and Spa products. The Group was founded in Sri Lanka in 1934 by Kidney Specialist and Astrologer Dr. Hendrick de Silva Hettigoda who hailed from an ancestry of ayurveda physicians of over 200 years. In 1969, of his nine children, Hendrick De Silva Hettigoda chose his fifth child Victor, to continue his ayurveda medical practice. The father recognized in this son, the making of an entrepreneur. Victor is also the nephew of a world-famous Buddhist priest and philosopher, the late Venerable Aggamahapanditha, Prof. Walpola Sri Rahula Thero, who authored What the Buddha Taught and propagated Buddhism in the West.
Victor was a student of Rahula College, Matara and later apprenticed in the family profession under his father’s tutelage. He spent nearly twelve years learning the theory and practice of ayurveda, consulting ancient manuscripts and books and acquiring practical experience. His dedication and devotion to the subject convinced his father, Hendrick de Silva Hettigoda, to share with Victor a family secret: the formula for a balm with powerful healing and analgesic properties, known as Siddhalepa.
A modern young man with an ancient practice handed down three generations, Victor set out to do what his forebears had never attempted before: manufacture and market Siddhalepa on a commercial scale. With seed-money from a relative, he launched his venture in 1971. He worked hard, crisscrossing the country to persuade ayurveda apothecaries, pharmacies and other retailers to try the product for themselves and recommend it to customers based on their own experience with it. His efforts paid off: today the Hettigoda Group is a large, diversified conglomerate based on ayurveda medicine, with its flagship brand Siddhalepa.
In recognition of Dr. Hettigoda’s contribution to Ayurveda and industry, the presidential award of “Deshabandu – Class I” was presented by the then President, Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1990. Dr. Hettigoda has received many national and international awards including a listing among the 50 greatest Sri Lankan Entrepreneurs after the independence. According to the LMD, a leading local business magazine, the Siddhalepa Group is ranked one of the best 100 companies in Sri Lanka.