the third sumathi awards ceremony was celebrated in 1997 at the sugathadasa indoor stadium on november 28, 1997 at 6.00 pm. the national youth services council and sumathi newspapers (pvt) ltd jointly organized the event where 38 prizes were offered to the winners in various categories of teledrama production including youth award. a cash prize of sl rs 50,000 was awarded to the best teledrama series and best single episode teledrama was awarded a cash prize of sl rs 20,000.