The hosts, who trailed India by 192 keeps running in the first innings, battled again from 95-5 to achieve 263-6 in their second thump by tea on the third day.
Chandimal and Thirimanne, who held hands before lunch with their group still 98 flees from making India bat once more, propelled a splendid counter-assault to put on 125 for the 6th wicket.
Chandimal was unbeaten on a run-a-ball 98 with 11 limits and two sixes, and Thirimanne made 44. Sri Lanka now lead by 71 keeps running with four wickets close by.
As the pair settled down, the Indians were left to mourn the refusal by their effective cricket board to utilize the Choice Survey Framework for their two-sided matches.
Both batsmen were blessed to get into twofold figures in the wake of surviving three advances for gets near the wicket - two against Chandimal and one against Thirimanne - in the last three overs before lunch.
Replays demonstrated every one of the three gets were unadulterated, baffling India's offered to drive an innings triumph in the first match of the three-Test arrangement.
Jehan Mubarak stayed with Chandimal at tea on 23 after Thirimanne was gobbled up at slip off Ravichandran Ashwin to give India its solitary accomplishment in the post-lunch session.
Prior, Kumar Sangakkara scored 40 in his penultimate Test and chief Angelo Mathews made 39, the pair including 87 for the fourth wicket after Sri Lanka were decreased to 5-3.
Sri Lanka, who continued at 5-2, lost nightwatchman Dhammika Prasad off the first chunk of the day to give India a flying begin.
Prasad endeavored to fight off a short ball from Varun Aaron and gloved a catch to a jumping Ajinkya Rahane at ravine.
Mathews and Sangakkara assumed responsibility with a progression of assaulting shots, including a straight six and an opposite breadth limit by the Sri Lanka skipper off Ashwin.
Sangakkara, who looked in great structure amid his 70-ball innings in which he hit five limits, was rejected against the keep running of play 20 minutes prior to lunch.
The left-hander edged Ashwin to the slip district where Rahane plunged to one side to get a shocking one-gave get.
Sangakkara got an overwhelming applause from in the ballpark of 1,500 home fans as he strolled back subsequent to playing his last innings at the Galle Universal Stadium.
Mathews fell in the following over to leg-spinner Amit Mishra, gloving a catch to Lokesh Rahul at senseless point. (AFP)