T. B. Tennakoon was a gifted poet. He was born on the 26th March 1912, at the village called Pilawela, Pathadumbara. He valued his religion, language and the independence of his country more than his own life. His heart was charged with patriotic fervour, enlivened by the love for culture and inspired by a poetic vision. He chose to serve the people with commitment and dedication

His father, L. M. Tennakoon was a rural pedagogue who had earned a name for being a balladeer, astrologer and an indigenous medical practitioner. The villagers came to him for medical treatment and to get their horoscopes read and auspicious times fixed before embarking on important events of their lives. He married Miss Muthu Menike of Thoradeniya and thereafter, both of them jointly cared for the poor villagers. He authored a number of poetry books such as Ranthaliye Sinduwa (the song of the Golden Bowl), Dambadiwa Vistharaya (Narrative of the Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India), Themiya Jatakaya (Jataka story depicting a previous life of the lord Buddha), Dalada Seepada (Poems on the sacred tooth relic) and Padhmawathi Sinduwa (The Song of Padmavathi).

L. M. Tennakoon had thirteen children and T.B. Tennakoon was the 9th child of the family. He received his education at the Government School at Gunnepana.  TBT  was influenced by his fathers’ poetic talent and displayed an aptitude for dancing, singing and poetry from his early days. He lost both his parents in one single year before he reached the age of ten.

After the demise of parents, driven by hardships, he left Pilawela and came to Kandy in search of a job.  He joined the railway running shed – coal section for a paltry daily wage of 62 cents. Poesy and art were the sole partners of his life. Soon he left the railways job and joined Sirisara Printing Press for a salary of Rupees 15 per month. Despite the low income, he made use of this opportunity to improve and fine-tune his latent talents. He composed and published short and simple ballads on popular stories and poetry books. Occasionally, he used to recite the ballads in public places drawing public attention to popular local issues from which he derived great satisfaction.

TBT was a man of substance and integrity. Around 1934, with the money he earned he was able to open a small printing press of his own and publish a monthly magazine titled “Honda Hitha” (Goodwill). During this time, under the leadership of the great poet, Ananada Rajakaruna, The All Ceylon Sinhala Poets’ Conference (Samastha Lanka Sinhala Kavi Sammelanaya) was popularizing poetry among the Sri Lankan public. TBT followed suit and set up the Kandy Society of Young Poets.
He did not confine his services to the sphere of art and poetry. He established numerous other societies such as Siyabas Peramuna (The national Language Front), Mahanuwara Adyapana Peramuna (Kandy Education Front), Udarata Tharuna Peramuna   (Upcountry Youth Front) and capped it up by setting up several charity organizations.

He entered the stream of national politics after being appointed the secretary of the Kandy branch of the Sinhala Maha Sabah, the political party established by the late Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranayake. During this period he worked as a journalist as well. On one occasion he got into a conflict situation with the Kandy Municipal Council (KMC) when a municipal councilor vehemently alleged that TBT had misreported his speech. The then Mayor and several other councilors intervened and resolved the dispute. But, true to his indomitable character, before leaving the chamber TBT pledged that he would come to the KMC as an elected municipal councilor.

In 1946 he had an easy victory and was elected as the Councilor of Deiyyannewela ward of KMC which he represented until such time he was elected to the Sri Lanka Parliament in 1956 and appointed to the post of the Deputy Minister of Cultural & Social Affairs.. He pursued the national language issue even at the municipal council. Up till then, the proceedings of the KMC were conducted only in English His struggle eventually resulted in changing its functional language to Sinhala.

In 1952 Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranayake left the United National Party and formed Sri Lanka freedom party (SLFP). TBT was one of the founder conveners of the new party. He emerged as a stalwart of the island-wide campaign to make Sinhala the national language. In 1955 he was appointed the co-secretary of the Sinhala Basha Peramuna (The Sinhalese Language Front) led by late Mr. Somaweera Chandrasiri.
 
He contested the Dambulla electorate at the 1956 as a candidate of Mahajana Eksath Pereamuna (MEP). Though a new comer to Dambulla he was able to defeat his opponent H.B.Tanne Rate Mahatmaya who represented the electorate in the parliament since 1947. T. B. Tennakoon polled 14,688 votes while Mr. H. B. Tanne received only 5536 votes. Since then TBT reigned as the most beloved leader of Dambulla people.

In March 1960, he contested the general election with 7 opponents and was re elected by a majority of 6840 votes. His majority even exceeded the combined total of the votes polled by the seven which is a testimony to TBT;s popularity among the people of Dambulla.

The results of the general election held in July 1960 too were the same. The opposition candidate was unable to obtain even a respectable fraction of the votes polled by TBT. In the subsequent general election of 1965 the wheel of fortune was not much in favor of the ruling SLFP. Many of the party stalwarts were defeated but TBT retained his seat in the parliament. In 1970 too, he won the Dambulla electorate again thereby becoming a rare kind of Parliamentarian who was returned to the Parliament by his people for 21 years consecutively from 1956 to 1977.

At the second cabinet reshuffle of the government of Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranayake, TBT was appointed the parliamentary secretary (deputy minister) of the Ministry of Cultural and Social Services. When the then Minister of Education, Mr. W. Dahanayake became the prime minister in September 1959 consequent to the assassination of Mr. Bandaranayke and chose to form a new political party. TBT resigned from the post of Deputy Minster and remained a revolutionary back bencher, probing the roots of the assassination.

After the general election of July 1960 he became the Deputy Minister of Transport and Public Works. Later, on 28th May 1963, he took oaths as the Deputy Minister of Education. In the coalition government of 1965 he was appointed as Deputy Minister of Internal and External Trade and Supplies. This appointment brought two old friends together under one roof. Mr. T.B.Illangaratne, the Minister of Trade was his colleague working together in the Kandy Socialist Front