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ORIENTALIA IN THE UNIVERSll�Y

Ratna Handurukande

This brief and by no means an exhaustive survey of Oliel1tal Studles and matters of relevant interest in the University established in 1942 and the Ceylon University College (1921-1942), which it replaced, is considered an appropriate contributi on to the

Jubilee Commemoration Volume of the Sri Lanka 10urnal of Humanities.

The question of provision to be made for Oriental Studies in the University College received the early attention of the authorities concerned with its establishmenL Writing on the subj ect in 1914, Sir :<obert Chaimefs. Governor of Ceylon 1913-·19 6), later Lord Chalmers, himself an orientalist with an Oxford education, editor and

translator of Pali canonical texts, one of which was dedicated to a scholar monk of Ceylon as a western tribute to eastern scholarship,' readily agreed that adequate facilities should be given for such studies and recommended the immediate appointment of a Professor of Sanskrit and Pali, so as to provide from the outset of the life of the College courses in these two classical languages. These courses, however, were to be recognized as altematives available for those wishing to adopt them, without interfering with the

courses of western study, which were to form the main part of the work of the institution.2 Chalmers' recommendation for a chair of Sanskrit and Pali was an additi.on to the chairs proposed in an earlier communication hy Sir Henry McCall m, Governor of Ceylon (1907-1913), in whose view the staff of the College was to consist of the Principal and seven Professors of Greek and Latin, English Language and Literature, Modem History, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Biology. The Principal and the Professors . were to be paid in sterling. In addition to these so-cailed Sterling Appointments, Sir Henry recommended the appointment of lecturers for Special Courses'

2

Chalmers' publications include the following: The lataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former Bin'h.\'. Translated from the Pali by various hands undeJ' the editorship of E.B.Coweli. VoLt Cambridge University Press. 1895. R()bdt Chalmers. B.A. of Oriel College, Oxford; Majjhima-Nikaya VoU! ed. London (1896-98) reprinted 1951, 1977 dedicated to Trenckner with the inscription Manibus Gulielmi Trenckneri; Majjhima-Nikaya Vol. III. ed. London (1899-

1902). Repnnted 1951, 1960 dedicated: "To Vajirallalla. A Western Tribure 10 Eastern SchoLarship." The reference should be to Palane Vajiranana (1878-

1955), a short account about whom is given in: Dharmabandhu, T.S. (1973):

Simhala Veerayo. Colombo. M.D.Gunasena and Co. pp. 500-503; Further

Dialogues of (he Buddha (Majjhima-Nikaya). Vol.i.Lord Chalmers. London

1926; Vol. II. Lord Chalmers. London 1927. For the years of rule and information about Chalmers and other governors, see: Hulugalle,H.AJ.(1963): British Governors of Ceylon Colombo, The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.

Ceylon Sessional Papers XVI-1915. Despatches relatingto the. Establishment of a University College in Ceylon. Colombo 1915. No.1 Governor Sir Robert Chalmers K.C.B. to the Right HOrt.L.Harcourt M.P. January 20, 1914. p.l;

Compare also : Ceylon University College.Pro.wectus 1935-36. Colombo, Ceylon

Government Press. 1935. p.2.

RATNA HANDURUKANDE 267

t ' .Ie paid in rupees. These included among others lecturers in Classics, Ancient History, ";ental History and Archaeology. Sanskrit and Pali, Higher Sinhalese and Higher 'l�nil. 3 Chalmers suggested that the appointment of the salaried lectUfers ret�ommendC(1

l " Sir Henry be postpontxl. 4

Regarding he branches of study at the University College , Chalmers' view was

that after the intermtxliate course there should be a more specialized course in Arts, 3<- \ence or Oriental Studies of a standard approximately equal to the London B.A. or

8 Sc. The suggested curriculum for the Oriental Final Pass was i) any two of the

languages Sanskrit, PaJi and Arabic (ii) one of the languages Sinhalese or Tamil and (iii)

f-listory of Ceylon upto 1500 A.D. with Archaeology and Epigraphy, while that for the �}riental Final Honours was (i) Sanskrit and Pali with either Sinhalese or Tamil and (ii) l-listory of Ceylon up to i500 A.D. with Archaeology and Epigraphy.s

Chalmers left the island long before the inauguration of the University College,

<I matter of regret for him, it was believed, and for others who worked with him.6 The

'=hair he proposed for Sanskrit and Pali was also left out in subsequent recommendations. ','he Professorial appointments recommended by a sub-committee of a commjttee

"ppointed at a meeting called by E.B. Denham , the Director of Education, in 1920, to .:.Iraft recommendations for the courses to be taken at the University College were in r�:nglish Language and Literature, Classics (which at that point of time refened only to

[he mediterranean languages) and Phiiosophy, Modem History and Economics, Physics,

:hemistry, Mathematics and Agricultural Science. Denham , writing on the subject to the =olonial Secretary in April 1920, drew atten tion to the fact that the l{uestion of the

3

4

6

Ceylon Sessional Papers XXVl-1913. System of Education in Ceylon. Despatches relating to the proposed Reorganization of the System of Education in Ceylon. (In continuation of Sessional Papers XIX and XX of i 912) Colombo 1913. No.1 Governor Sir H.E.McCallum to the Right Hon. L. Harcourt M.P.December 24, 1912. p.6

CeylOll Sessional Papers XVI-1915 op.ciLp.2

ibid. pp .2 ,5 . Compare also: Ceylon Sessional Papers XlV-1916. Report of the Conference summoned by H.E.Sir Robert Chalmers 00 the subject of the Proposed Ceylon University College. Colombo 1916. p.2. This conference was

held at Queen's House on November 22 and 23, 1915.

Ceylon Sessional Papers XIV-1916 op.cit. p.4

ORIENTALIA IN THE UNIVERSITY .. ______ -=268

recruitment of staff on whose efficiency, ability and adaptability the succe�;s of the University College depended was the most important the College had to face and proposed that the Professors be recruited in England, with the exception of the Professor

of Mathematics who could be obtained in India Of locally. He further suggested that the Professors recruited in England should be graduates of Oxford and Cambridge. In addition to the Professors, provision was to be made for seven lecturers , which. included three ledu.rers ror subjects falling wIthin the range of Oriental Studies, viz. one for

Sanskrit and Pali, and one each for Sinhalese and Tamil. A specific proposal was made in the case of Sanskrit and Pali, namely thal the Venerable SuriyagodaSumangala who was then studying on a two years' scholarship at Manchester College, Oxford should, if found competent, be appointed lecturer in these two languages on his return to Ceylon . 7

Provision was also requested in this correspondence for special courses in Sanskrit and Pa l i , Tamil, Sinhalese, Oriental History and Archaeology besides such

courses as Agricultural Science and Astronomy.8 Of the fifteen Entrance Scholarships recommended, each of the value of Rs. 480 per annum deemed �uffi('ient to prc'.'ide for the student's board and lodging and enable him to meet the cost of books etc., two were for Sinhalese, including a knowledge of Sinh�lesc H istory and Archaeology; two for Tamil, including a knowledge of the History of South India, of the Tamils in Ceylon and Tamil Literature ; and one for Sanskrit and Pali with the proviso that the candidate would be required to show that he has a sufficient knowledge of English to attend lectures in English; one for H istory, the requirement stipulatf:'Al being "The modern history of the world 1789; the History of Ceylon"; and one scholarship for Western Ciassics (Latin and Greek)9. An enclosure sent along with Denham's correspondence recommended that the Oriental Studies Society' S examinations whic!l "have undoubtedly greatiy encouraged the study of oriental languages, and scholarship and research, for which the jJi;-ivcnr.ls afford great scope" should be stimulated by the provision of scholarships. to

7

8

9

10

Ceylon Sessional Papers 1920-IX Colombo 1920_ Correspondence relating to the Establishment of the University College in Ceylon .. The director of Educati on

to the Hon. Colonial Secretary . April 17, 1920. pp. 3-5.

ibid. pp. 5 .

ibid. pp. 6,7

Enclosure 3. ibid. p.IS

RATNA HANDURUKANDE ____ 292

The University College opened or was "rushed into existence" I! in College

House, formerly called "Regina Walauwa", in 1921, sans a Professor of Sanskrit and

Pali and also with no provision to teach Orientai languages at its first full session of July

21 1921 - June 22 1922. Measures, though inadequate, were taken to remedy this iapse ,

when the teaching staff, which already consistfAi of a Professor of English, a Professor of Classics and Philosophy, and a Professor of iViodem History among other Professors and Lecturers, was " strengthened ". as the first Principal of the Coltege, Mr.Robert Mans (M . A. Oxon) reported in 1931," by the appointment of a Lecturer in Sanskrit, Pali and Sinhalese and a Visiting Lecturer in Tamil, who was replaced by the appointment of a

permanent Lecturer in 1924". Fed on by what one might call crumbs falling from the academic table, classes were opened in Pali, Sinhalese and Tamil during the year 1922-23. An additional ledurer in Sanskrit, Pali and Sinhalese was appointed in 1927, and an Honours Class in Indo-Aryan (Sanskrit and Pali) was opened in July that year. 12

The lecturer in Sanskrit, Pali and Sinhalese appointed in 1922 was Reverend Suriyagoda Sumangala who had by then earned the research degree of Bachelor of Letters at the University of Oxford. 13 He had other scholarly attainments besides, such as the publication of a new edition of the Pali text, the Dhammapada, in 1914, which Viggo Fausboll published for the first time in 1885 with a literal translation in Latin. In the foreword to his edition of the text, written at the Parama Dhamma Cetiya Oriental College, Ratmalana, Ceylon, Venerable Sumangala stated that he coilated his manuscript with Sinhalese, Siamese and Burmese editions and the second Fausboll edition published in 1890. Sumangala Thera's edition of the Dhammapada, undertaken at the request of the President of the Pali Text Society, was published by this Society in London, The President of the Palj Text Society at the time was T. W.Rhys Davids. His wife,

Mrs.C.A.F.Rhys Davids D.Litt., who succeeded him as President of the Society,writing a Prefatory Note to . Rev.Sumangala's edition of the Dhammapada said: "We were

II

12

13

As stated by the Principal of the College in a speech at an Inaugural Dinner

reported in The Ceylon University College Magazine, published by the Ceylon University College Union Society , Colombo. (University College Magazine hereafter), Vol. 1. No.3. [l926]p.22.

Ceylon. Administration Reports. 1931 Part IV University College Department. Report of the Principal, University College, for the Academic Year July 1930 to June 1931. B 14; Compare also: Ceylon University College ProJpectus

(Prospectus hereafter) for 1936-37, Colombo 1936. pp. 3-5.

University College Magazine, Vol. l.No.1 [1924] p. 17.

fortunate to secure for this work, a well-known Pali-ist of Ceylon, 'Nho combines with erudition a familiarity with every word of the venerable stanzas". The title page of the edition describes Sumangala Thera as the "author of a Graduated PaLi Course, The Lakkhanasataka, Samyuttagathasanlla etc. H 14

The University College Magazine publIshed by the Union Society records thai Revd.Sumangala delivered :) public lecture (jll the History of Sinhalese Litera, re at tht: College during the Academic Year 1923-2415, extended his patronage as President to the Sinhalese Society founded on the 25th of January 1923 and addressed the Society on

the study of the Sinhalese Language and on Sinhalese Poetry at two of its meetings.16 Venerable Sumangala' s resignation during the Academic Year 1925-26 is recorded

summarily in a subsequent issue of the Magazine,J7 an abrupt end to what could have

been a prestigious career, considering his academic background and his previous scholarl y activity.

The appointment of Gunapaia Piyasena Malalasekera (1899-1973) as Lecturer in Sanskrit, ?aii ano Sinhaiese in the year 1927 was a momentous event in the history of Oriental Studies at the University College. A great teacher, in the words of O. H.ue A Wijesekera,18 one of his earliest pupils, an assessment endorsed by generations of

students who sat at his impromptu lectures , a prolific researcher as evidenced by his numerous publications which won for him a distinguished plaCe in interna tional scholarship, a silver-tongued orator who could recall an anecdote or indeed invent one to suit occasion and audience, a dynamic figure who flung himself with vigour and enthusiasm into whatever he set out to do, whether it he the promotion of Buddhi,;n1,

fostering of indigenous culture, nurture of the arts, or arousing patriotic feelings,

14

15

16

17

18

The Dhammapadn. N�w Edition by Suriyagoda Sumangaia Thera. London, Pali Texi Society, (PTS) [19141 T.W.Rhys DaviJs was the President PTS from 188 \-1992 and Mrs. C.A.F.Rhys Davids was the President from 1922-42. Vide

Issues of the Pali Text Society 1982 p.2.

University College Magazine VoLl No. I [1924] p.18.

ibid. p. 35; also Vol. I No.3 [1926] p.4l.

University College Magazine, Vol. II No.I [1927] p.3.

Malalasekera Commemoration Volume., edited by O.H.de A . Wijesekera ,

Colombo 1976 Editor's note.

RATNA HANDURUKANDE 271

Malalasekera certainly made his presence felt in the Univers ity College. Besides being an outstanding teacher judging by the excellent results of his pupils who followed the Indo-Aryan course, he actively participated in their extra-curricular activities, giving them help and advice, and extending his patronage in the organisation of their literary, cultural and social events, which assistance has been recorded by the students in their College Magazine,19 and more recently by Vinnie Vitarana in a commemorative lecture entitled Malalasekera and our cultural experience.20 Malalasekera expressed his satisfaction when his students passed their examinations and recorded with pride the achievements of his brighter pupils in the Annual Reports he submitted to the Principal of the College.

Reporting that Joseph Vincent Fonseka was placed in the First Class in Indo-Aryan in 1930-31, he noted that it was the first time a candidate had obtained a first in the London University examination offering Pali as a subject. 21 Fonseka won the Government University Scholarship for Oriental languages that year,22 the previous winners of this prestigious award being E. W. Adikaram in 1929, and K. Kanapathipillai, another First Class graduate, in 1930.23 In 1932, the Oriental Languages Department was congratulated by the Princ ipal of the College on the achievement of Oliver Hector De Alwis Wijesekera, the only First Class in an Honours degree during the year, who won

the coveted Government University Scholarship as welJ.24 While these scholars and subsequent winners of the award such as N.D.de S.Wijesekera (1933) and P.B.F.Wijeratna (1934)2.� remained in the academic field engaged in the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge, L.Piyasena, who obtained First Class Honours in Indo-

19

21

22

23

24

25

University College Magazine, Vol. I No. I Academic Year 1927-28 pA7.

Professor G. P. Malalasekera, 90th Birth Aflniversary Cornmemorative Lecture,

delivered on 19th November 1989 by Professor V. Vitharana. Published by the Malalasekera Institute of Buddhist Education and Culture, 380a, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7.

Ceylon. Administration Reports, 1931 Part IV B 6; Prospectus 1932-33. p. 48.

Prospectus 1932-33 p. 49.

Prospectus 1931-32 pp. 15, 48. Adikaram was placed 10 the Second Class (Upper Division) at the final examination.

Ceylon Administrative Reports, 1932 Part IV B 8, Prospectus 1935-36 p.54.

Prospectus 1935-36. p. 57,

ORIENTALIA IN 1HE UNIVERSITY 272

Aryan in 1934, Joined the Income Tax Department as a Probationer26and later heccw ,

its Commissioner , thus provlIlg that th<: training he had in Orientai StUf !i.�� at th:·� University !_:f)l!ege equip0�:1 him to distinguish hi.mseif in d totaHy unrelated field.

Though the few who joined the Oriental Department of the Umvers"ty ':::o.legc did well or excelled in the field , not manv or>(i>·d fl� .... �a � ese ubjeds. -<�ponmg that

ftO ('andiaates offered PaE or Smhalese or Sanskrit for the Entraoce Scholarship Examination during the Academic Year 1930-31, Malalasekera said: "This is undoubte.dly

due to the fact that the vast m.ajority of the secondary schools of this island make no

adequate provision for the study of these subjects in the higher classes. Even where an

elementary knowledge of Sinhalese is given to satisfy the requirements of the Code , the work in the m�jority of cases is done so half-heartedly and so obviously without the hlessings of the school authorities that the su�ject loses prestige in the eyes of the students. While the Mediterranean culture enjoys all its present privileges in the various departments of life in Ceylon, it is futile to expect any great change of heart on the part of students or their parents "27 Stating �hat at:el1lpb to have Pall Included in the Ci Ii i1 Service Examination had until then been unsuccessful, Malalasekera added that every bright student harboured, in secret at least , a hope of being able to try for the Civil Service.28 No female, however bright , could aspire to join this service at the time.

Curiously, there was an increase of women reading S,lnskrit, Paii anuSmhalese around this time," a very healthy sign of the growth of interest in Orientaha" according to Malalasekera, who hoped that these W{"'l11c;fl would playa very important part in the "renaissance of Sinhalese culture" which he felt was inevitable29 The report for the ye.af 1935-36 states thai Pali and Sanskrit had been included in the Civil. Se.rvice examin(l,tiCol:, a matter of great gratification for the teachers, kindling the hope that this might produce a "ch�nge of heart" among parenh, and principals of schools .egar mg the desirability of mtroducing these subjf'..cts into school sy\labuses.:lO

26 ibid.

27 Ceylon. Admillistration Reports 1931 Part IV B 6.

ibid.

29 Ceylon. Administrafion Reports 1933. Part IV B 5.

30 Ceylon. Administration Reports, [936 Part IV B 6.

RATNA HANDURUKANDE 273

The opening of the portals of the prestigious Ceylon Civil Service to students 'eading for the Indo-Aryan degree had the desired effect. Graduates of the Indo-Aryan iepartment, who joined the service in open competition, served with disri.nction in

·,xecutive positions and proved to be equals of graduates of other departments. The ':;uccess of these students and their outstanding ability as administrators, being equipped vith a better background knowledge of the problems facing the public than the students

. vho had a training in European oriented discipiines, helped increase the number of students enrolling in the department. 31

One of the first orientalists to become a Civil Servant was M.J.Perera, University Scholar in Oriental languages (1936),32 referred to in a recent talk as "an honest man and a fine administrator" who "was more sensitive to the cultural ambience )f the country than his predecessors and contemporaries,33 M.J.Perera was closely

associated with the University of Ceylon in the sixties. Then Permanent Secretary to the r-Ainistry of Education and Cultural Affairs, he was appointed by the Council of the University to be a member of its Senate in 1965,34 Appointed Vice-Chancellor 10 1968, tie assumed office on the first of July and served the University in this capacity until he "esi gned his post on February 7, 1969, apparently under circumstances where he had no alternative but to resign. It is reported that in his short period of service Me Perera fully ! ived up to the reputation which he had built up for himself earlier as a public servant .vho was in every sense a servant of the public. The Board of Regents of the University passed a special resolution expressing its appreciation of the courage and competence :.tisplayed by Mr.Perera in handling the extremely difficult situation that prevailed in the .ampus shortly before his resignation. The Board Conunittee that inquired into the ;mfortunate event that led to Mr.Perera's resignation, namely a clash between army men 'md students in the campus, also expressed its admiration for the way in which he

31 Mutukumara, Nemsiri (1981): Tribute to Malalasekera. A collection of messages, appreciations and pen portraits. Compiled by Nemsiri Mutukumara. Colombo. Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. Lake House. p.20. Observation of N .A,Jayawickrema.

32 . Prospectus 1941-42 p.51.

33

34

Abeysekara, Tissa (1991): An English version of a talk given in Sinhala on the 10th Sunil Shanta Commemoration held on April 27, 1991 printed in the Sri Lankan daily newspaper, Daily News Wednesday May 15, 1991.

Annual Report 1965 p. 3.

QRIEl'1TAUA IN THE UNIVERSITY ________ 274

conducted himself once the situation had become tense and added thzt he showed a rare degree of courage and a high sense of duty Y The comment of a don that the rcport quotes: " the manner of his resignation sets a standard of conduct for person5�n high office" is worth reiterating.

A fine example of a public servant whose training in Orienta! studies equipped him for th posihons he held IS W.J.Femando, who wIll perhaps be best remembered as

the first Commiss�oner of Ayurveda in Sri Lanka. Born into a family of native physicians

at Wadduwa, Fernando had his early education at a monastic institution, the Pravacanodaya Pirivena at Molligoda and at Nalanda Vidyal aya . He read Sanskrit ,

Sinhala and English for his bachelor ' s degree at the University of Ceylon, where he was a contemporary and friend of Venerable Dr.Walpola Rahula. On joining the public service in 1946, Fernando was placed in charge of local government in the Badulla

district. He accepted this post, travelled widely in the Uva province and submitted a report containing proposals for its development. Appointed Special Commissioner of Anuradhapura in 1949, he was a pioneer in reconstructing the city. Fernando was appoin ted the first Secretary of the Sri Lankan embassy in Moscow in 1956 with Malalasekera as ambassador, but was recalled by the then Prime Minister, S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike, to head the newly created department of Ayurveda, which position he hel9 until 1965. The enactment of the Ayurveda Act, the establishment of the Ayurveda Research Institute and an Ayurvedic (pharmaceutical) drugs corporation took place during Fernando's tenure of o ffice as Commissioner of Ayurveda. Wh�n he was

the Government Agent of Kand y, Fernando sought to improve the aesthetic aspects of the annual pageant , the Kandy Perahera. Even after retirement, Femando remained active. Attracted to journalism through his association with D.B.Dhanapala, he campaigneJ for press freedom. That Fernando's interest In Sanskrit was kept alive is attested by his audio library full with stanzas from the VeJas . At the time of his death on June 28, 1 99 1, Fernando was the Chairman of the National Film Corporation.36

An orientalist who has successfully combined scholarship with administration is Ananda Guruge, now (1992) Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States. An illustrious

35

36

AnllualReporr 1968-69pp 1,32-33

Newsreport in the Daily Nelt's, Monday July 01, 1991 entitled: Death of W.J.Femando a loss to country ; Article by Dr.Upali Pilapitiya, Secretary ,

M inistry of Indigenous Medicine on W.J.Femando in the Sinhala daily newspaper Divayilla of July, 01. 1991; Article on W . .I.Fernando by Bert ie Galahitiyawa in the Daily News of July 22, 1991.

RATNA HANDU R U K AN D E ___________ --.2.75

pupil of Betty Heimann and O . H .de A.Wijesekera, Guruge read for a Sanskrit Honours degree with Indian History as a subsidiary subject at the Universi ty . He passed '>-'lith fi rst class honours in 1950 winning the GoverGment University scholarship in Oriental Stlldie�: t.enable in the United Kingdom which however he did not make llse of. He Joined the

Ciyil Service in 1 952, but pursued his academic interests as well and was conferred a

doctorate in 1 953 for a study of the society of the epic poem, the Ramayana. Awarded

the national honour of f(aluU,-[i in the year 1 987 in recognition of his eminence in

humanities , Guruge was fel icitated hy his coi leagues, friends and well-wIshers in December 1 990 wi th a collection of papers on Buddh ism and Indology .17 This volume contains a biographical sketch of Guruge, an assessment of his ach ievements and a

bibliography of his published wri ti ngs in Si nhala and English . The na t i onal honour of

Deshamanya, was conferred on Guruge on the National Heroes Day , May 22, 1 992.

Malalasekera did oOl confine his efforts to the promotion of Orienta! languages in the University alone . He expressed in strong terms his dissatisfaction about the languages of the country not being given their due share in the curriculum of stud ies in

secondary schools, stating that Sinhalese and Tamil and their c!a��ics were treated very much as poor relations who must be accommoJattXi at the educat ional table. Blaming not

only the government and school authorities but also the public who were content with a

"bread and butter education " , Malalasekera argued that the problem of combining Engl ish

learn ing with the absorption of indigenous culture was not one that defied solution but one that demanded courage and earnestness . 38

Reviewing a volume that "commemorates Malalasekera, the Orientalist and Buddhist schoiar " , Ananda Guruge points out that "his equally i llustrious contributions

to the educational development of the country , the organization and guidanc\� of the Buddhist movemen t, the promotion of arts and crafts and �tudy of S inhala cul ture and the p ioneering efforts in evolving a nat ional way of l i fe" could have been appropriately taken note of in a reasonably detailed essay on him. �9 The d iversity of M alalasekera's interests

37

38

39

Karunadasa , Y . ( I 990)edited : Ananda. Papers on Buddhism and Indology . A Felicitation Volume presented to Ananda Weihena Pal Jiya Guruge. Colombo. Printed at the State Print ing Corporation for the Fel icitation Volume Edi torial

Committee.

Ceylon. Administration Reports 1 935 . Part IV B 6 .

Malalasekera Commemoration Volume. op .cit . Review by Ananda W . P.G uruge

p rinted in the Sri Lankan daily newspaper Sun on Thursday September 29 , 1 977.

ORIENT ALI A I N THE U N I V E RSITY . ___________ 276

and " the gamut of his invol vement in the very fahric of Lankan l i fe " were considered at a recent lecture delivered hy G. L. Peiris, Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Law o f the University of Colombo. «) A collection of artic les i n Sinhala drawi ng attention to Malalasekera 's diverse concerns was publ ished three months afte!" his death which took place on April 2 3 , 1 97 3 , at the age of seventy-three.4 1 Another puhlication ent i tled: Tribute to Malalasekera , which i n the words of its compiler, Nemsiri M utukumara, was "an earnest endeavour to collect and compile the tributes paid hy people of various \.valks of life and from organisations and institutions from far and near" appeared in 1 9 8 1 .42 Mutukumara had earlier publ ished a collection of a hundred short speeches made by Malalasekera in Sinhala. �3 This volume contains a short introductory essay on

Mal alasekara, written by Edwin Ariyadasa .

A learned monk who assisted M alalasekera at the U niversity College in inculcating i n his pupils a love for the indigenous literature and culture of the land was Venerable Ra mbukwell e Siddhartha Mahathera, M . A . Calcutta, Lecturer in the Depart ment of Sanskri t , Pali and Sinhalese of which Malalasekera was the head . 44 Ven. Siddhartha' s interest in Pali and Sanskrit grammar is retlected in his publ katiol1s : Origin and developmelll of the Pali language with special reference to SansA.Tit grammar;45 and

40

4 1

42

43

44

45

Malalasekera Memorial Lecture . His contribution to Lanka' s intel lectual , rel igious , cultural l ife. Printed in the Daily News Thursday , November 1 4 , 1 99 1 .

Malalasekera Allusmarana Samgrahaya ( 1 973): Edi tors : L . G . Hewage, Bogoda Premaratne, Hewage Jayasena, Si risena Malalasekera . Publisher: All Ceylon Buddhist Congress. Colombo. M . D . Gunasena and Co.

Mutukumara, Nemsiri ( 1 98 1 ) op.cit .

M utukurnara, Nemsi ri ( 1 975): Malalasekera Mataka Satakaya . Colombo. Samkha Publishers.

Tilakasiri , J. ( 1 970) : edited. Anjali. Papers Oil Jndology and Buddhism. O. H. de A. Wijesekera Felicitation Volume. Col ombo 1970. p . ix .

Publ ished in: Buddhist ic Studies. Edited Bimala Chum Law, Calcutt a 1 93 1 . Vide

Ceyloll . Administration Reports . 1 932. Part IV B 1 4 .

R ATNA H A N D U R U KAN DE 277

The apparent irregularity ill the declension of the Sans/a-it pronoulls Asnwt and Yusmat. 46 Ven . Siddhartha spent part of his leave during the academic year 1 932-33 in Europe visiting libraries and mu seums and brought back with h i m copies of several documents of importance connected with Ceylon and i ts history and l i terature . These were to be submi tted in the fi rst instance to the Historical Manuscripts Commission of

whi ch he was a member. Visi ting lecturers were enl iste<1 to carry on Revd . Siddhartha ' s work in his absence, Revd. Polwatte Buddhadatth, another scholar monk being one o f them_ 4 7 The avai labi l ity of competent persons t o replace teachers o n leave appears to have been a great boon at the time (c. E . Godakumbure was v isit ing lecturer in the year ] 937 -38), for two permanent lecturers had to teach three separate subj ects , which resul ted

in their not being able to give the Honours students an adequate foundat. ion for higher

research work . The students in the Indo -Aryan Department at the t ime included a Ch inese scholar o f repute from Ch in a , a German student from Berlin , and a Muslim, a native of Cey lon . 48 The Principa l of the College was sy mpathetic and agreed that in a well­establ ished insti tution , Sanskrit and Pali alone wou ld each have i ts Professor and assistants. Report ing that proposals for fill ing the gaps were being placed before the autho rities , he said that the needs were indisputable but the resources uf the i)tatiC W0f0 meagre. 49

The report of the Sinhalese Soc iety for the first term of the Academic Year 193 1 -32 makes reference to an in teresting lecture by Revd. Siddhartha on the Recitation o f Sinhalese Prose and Poetry and his association with Dr. Malaiasekera in starting some Sinhaie..<;e classes for students of the College who were not members of the Indo-Aryan department . 50 The i nterest aroused in the study of Sinhala had the desi red i mpact , for

the Secretary of the Society in h i s report for the subsequent year states that the hope expressed by his predecessor that the S inha lese Society should not be looked upon as the

46

47

49

50

Publ ished in the Li terary and Hi storical Supplement of the Sinhalese wec:kly newspaper, the Silumina . Vide Ceylon. Admin istration Reports 1932. Part IV B ..

1 4 .

Ceyloll. AdminisrrmivfI Reporrs 1 9 3 3 Part IV B 5 .

Ceyloll . Admini.Hrmioll Reports 1 93 3 . Part IV B 6 .

Ceylon. Administration Reports 1933 Part I V B 1 5 .

University College Magazine. Vol . VII . No. 1 Oct . 1 93 1 . pp. 23 , 24 .

.'.

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rnonopoly of the:; Indo-Aryan s�udcnts had bcxn realised to a great ex i�n i , :tlll::l thai iht:; responsibi l i ties and dut ies of the society were sharf-A! by (i i i secwms of the Coilege j i Contributions i n Sinhala and Tamil i dlJguages als{) appearf-Al for the fi rsi l ime in the: 1 932 Issue of the Col lege Magazine, " a uefimte step in (he history ;;f dl<:: m;133]ine " in d,e vlOrc!:.; of i ts �ditor 52 Revd. S iddhartha was (he President c,f lhe S inhnle:,e Socl;.-;tj �! i!!::, t ime . 53 Some Sinhala verses composed by Rev . Siddhartha on the Vesak POyi":; rXq, 9th May 1932" which he spent in the city of M unich , Germany were pul:>li sbe.':l_ ;n dv:: O:-;j l(�gc Magazine. 5� Ediriwira Sarachchandra refers to Revd. Siddh:.:r!na' ,; �;kill c�s :1 t�ache.;- of Sanskrit and states that this teacher ' s intluence fostered his own love for Oriental l i terature and the indigenous arts and crafts. ss Robert M arrs , the Principal. of the Col l ege; noted the relevance of the activi ties of the Sinhalpse �nd T:� mj! Soc ieties for the progress made in Oriental Stud ies at the t i me. He described the system of elementary and

advanced classes in Sinhala and Tamil ini tiated by these societies fur those cormected with the College, both staff and students, as a " l ahour of love inspired by a recognition of the desirabil i ty of ex tending the accurate and cl'iturt" ... d use of the languages of the country tc

those who have not selected them for their University course. " 56

The position of Tamil stud ies in the University Col lege vvas far from ,;<ltisraclory . Only five 0ui of devea students in lhe Intermediate Class Wefe allowed io sit for the public examination in the academic year 1 930-3 1 . Of these one failed, this being the first failure within five years, The reason for the fai Il!re , i t sPA�meri , was I hl:': candidate answering his papers in Tamil , instead of in English! However , this .'leaf was also marked by a happy event . For the first t ime in the history of the Col lege , a '.'JOmar. student passed ihe Intermediate Examinat iOJ1 offering Tamil as one of the four subjects required . There were aiso more students in the Tamd classes than in any previous year. Though Revd _ F . K ingsbury (B . A . Madras) , L...f'...crur�r in Tami l , found this encourag ing , he

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56

University College Magazine. Vol . V I I No.2 1 931 . r - 33 .

ibid. Editorial Notes. p . l ,

ibid. p . 3 4 ,

University College Magazine. Vol . I X . Apr i l 1 934. No. 2 . Sinhala section. p . 5 .

Sarachchandra. Ediriwira ( 1 985) : Pilll ati snrasn vi varamnk denne ( a S inhala work ) . Colomho. Dayawamsa Jayakody Saha Samagama. p , 6 3 .

Ceylon. AdministrntiOfl Reports 193 1 Part I V B 1 2 _

RATNA !1AN D URUKAN DE 279 . --�.----. . - -. . . --------.'- --_.----...... ----� ------.- -----.-- ---�-----.-. . -.- .--- ----- ---- - -_.-._"----'._ .. _-

0:lk",.1 most emph3.iical iv thai one cOuld O.c.f, ;-est satistid t i l ! th� lJ;1i'!f��'si, � 'y ;l{ l{)ndon ' 'C.cognize<i 'l?Jnd as a clas,; ical language, whid! j i: undoubtedly is , or t i l l th,� U ni v ersi ty 'H;�l lrk,d Tamil among lilt': ::;�lbjtj.;i '; Fell' iLl B , A , Honou,-:� 5] 1:'; the yc.:;RC � oY' , 3 3 ,

: ,j iss , G Snbram<l.ni,aw, the first W(lmall CclJldida!e i n the hdory ,)f tite U"i',/i': I '�;i (./ d :')ndon to pass the B . A .General degree examination ofkring Tarm! as <mt, 0 ,: ; I K\ nbjf,,cts, 5':',CHl.'ed Fi rst Class marks in TarnjL She was offered the A,j unacha.lam ;COUi�fSi t j. p Q�O �.) i \·.��-'�Aj.\ 1 tv /�di'l�l�'iZi L::�� :J�j� -/31·S�C�·- fc �- �]" f" ��< -=:�;.: �: ! '� .� -,... 'T::- .�_T.:: t. l. -:Jh ;�� "'.l Ii.},:

; jol avai lable at the University Col lege. However, Iv1 iss. Suhramaniam dedii1(�j ,l Ie oifu . '.n the ab�ence, of Honours Courses i n Tami l some students proficient in T�m.il opted to Fol low honours courses in other su�jects . Revel. Kingsbury found it grat i fying that one or {WO of them n�ad for the Indo ,Aryan degree vlith Sanskrit as �he principal subJe.ci:18 .Ai: {be end of the academic year 1934-35, Rev d . Kingsbury sta ted in an apparent atti tude of resignation: ' I h<l.v,� l ittie or nothing (0 repoft about the T<:mj I department ft)f the Yf;>lr under review . But: as years (oJ: on , my conviction gf0W:; st on;;er that i :!: i ti ! ','!'e; h>lVp. ,f Univer�ity of OUf own, there can be very l i t tle hope for the revival of Tami �, leanling in Ceylon . " 5 9 An Honours DipJoma course in Tamil was slarted in i 936-37 , vvhich \vas t·:) continue tiH tbe U!liversity of Condon establ ished a E . !\ . hOlIUUf:) Cvu, ;o,,-, ; " '; '''' i ';'; ! . l( Kanapathipi Jlai , Lecturer in charge of Tami l studies at the time, hoped thM the. establishment of the Honours course would be an established fact berore long ,W 1-hs hope had not been reaJi sl.".d by the end of the decade, for the Principal of the Col lege

wrote as fol lows i iI June 1 939: "One student has been rending ftH the Fr.) ihHl I :3 Diplora::-; in Tami L . . U n t il Tamil studen ts specia l ize in Sanskrit in 'he Se/;onJiilj SdKJG:" imd the Londen U n!'len:i1y l '1trodlJces Tamil into i ts Honour.:, cUfficulurn, th':;f2. is i iUe )jf;)';PX:, of a strong �e"t>'(\�"'m<:"nt () f 'o te.fes� in Oriental scholarship among our Tamil students . " 6 1

How the Tarn.il department fared in the early fort ies under its first Proiessor S"Yvarni Vipolarwnda B .Sc . (Lond , ) Pundit(Madnra), memher of the R('I.Inakn�hna Mission > aS51s ted by K. Kanapathipillal B . A . , Ph . D. (Lond , ) \/idvafl (i�1JJam;.J;:J.i ) , Gc"''':: ' 'tin r�r�: !.! < � i'/G,;:,a.i.:..

57

53

59

60

61

- - _ ._- - _ . . . _ - - - -_. - ----_ . - - - .. - ..... � . .

Ceylon. Administration Reports

Ceylon. Administration Reports

Ceylon. Administratioll Reports

1 93 1 Part IV B 6 .

1 933 Part IV B '1 .

1935 Part IV B 6 .

Ceylon. Administration Reports 1 938 Part IV B 5 , 6 .

Ceyloll. Adm in istration Reports , 1 938 Part I V B 1 8 , 1 9 . The report was signed

by the Principal on June 3 0 , 1939 ,

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r . ! I ' i r · : .

Scholar ( 1 930) and V . Cheivanayagam B . A . (Lond . ) , M . A . (Annamalai)6L and bO"'i (ht revival of Tamil sludi.es Revdo Kingsbury hoped for tock place in ,:he subsequent y':o<\rs was outline.d by Professor S . Thi i la i nathan , the pre�en� Hea.d of ths Dep8rtment� of'Tar"j j , i!niversity o f Peradeniya, at the Juhilee' Semirnl' l)f its Faculty of A,'b, held i u I)cce:nix;1 � ;9 L 6� It migh�� be no led illfer (l LiCI tbai. Kingsbury ' s concern For TilI,.ii studies j o; remembered in tl1e form of the Rev d . Francis Kingsbury Prize for Tmnil . (>'!

In the acaderrlic y..:;ar 1 9 3 L52, PfOf�!;S01 S . A . P�kemal t , Head OJ the Departmeli( of History and Economics at the Un iversity College, saw the desirabi l i ty of wme student.,; taking Oriental History (Branch 1 1 1 of the London Honours cOl.lfse) but iwted tbat th5 :1Verag3 student entirely lacked thE'; \.:)ady l inguistic tra i ning whidl is essential , particulnrl:; · in Sanskrit. 65 However, in the formulation of schemes for the exten sion of stud ies in the department in 1 934-3 5 , it was decided to introduce BnUlch I I I (Oriental H istory with special reference to the History of India) in to the H;[:;(or;,' Honours course. (Xi

This course was begun as envisaged in the fol lowing year but Pakeman noted

students came from schools with a knowledge of Sanskrit and Pali which was refJuireJ Y()( students in this branch. A post-graduate diploma course 10 Ceylon History was a lw planned , which it was fel t would help remove the stigma that only a handful of Ceylon.0se

take any real and practical in terest in the study of their own history .67 In 1 936· 3 7 , only

6)

65

66

67

Prospectus, 1 944-46, p . '/ ; Compme note 23 above.

Thillainathan, S . ( 199 1 ) : Some Aspects (?! the University 's Ct.mtriburio!l to Tamii Studies in Sri Lanka . Seminar Paper 6 pages. Published in : M OR E OPEN THAN USUAL: edi ted by R . A . L . H . Gunawardana. Colombo. 1 992; see al so: M . A. Nuhman , The Universi ty of Pe.radeniya and the Devdopment of Tatnil Literary Criticism in Sri Lmka. i bid.

c f. Annual Report, 1 95 8 p. 29 ; A Kingsbury Fund to support which the Tamil

society organized a concert is ment ioned in the Annual Report 1 942 p . l O .

Ceylon. Administrarion Reports 1 932 Part I V B 5 .

Ceylon. Adl1lill istrarioll Reports 1 93 5 Part I V B 6 .

Ceylon. Administrarion Reporrs 1 936 Part I V B 8 , 9 .

•• � students Vlere s�wlying Ori�nt8.! H istory, '.Nhich in the vpinion of Pakeman \fJ(I . .':i a

; u:.t more desirable for students attending a thlvefsi 1 y instituiion situated in As.ia. The

, , that the course c:.m i ed li.Hle .)[ no advant"?;.� 1'0, the C i v ! l Service Examin!.1ti l)(1 Wa�;

to be the reason b, ; l ! ; l lnpopul aritj , a point shown further by �he tiKI (hy.: Il(!

" tents came to take the nev.;ly estahlished post-graduate dipioma in Ceylon hi�;: :�; ry ,. ;-.. ,- :';;Ib �'J �r(lm for the Civil S<c 'l i,:e Exa minat ion privately . 6� The fo l to\ving y.-o<! ,'

J 'J , Oriental H islory faikd to 3 t t r>l.Ci mGr� t han J. 'iti)' ;.�.�.' 5;:<1 ' ) :..',.: :, '�f r!-w Hrmml C, i nk., ;i l l-J not much interest was taken ill the Col kge H istorical Society W AC!;.. iotis ;,; ::��

! !)n re students reading Oriental History , fake maE f�J t the desirabi l i t y of bringing the . . : b jects of stuuy in the B ranch of Oriental Hi story withlH the scope of the Clvi i Service ' ,: amination. 70 The introduct ion of Palj and Sanskrit for th is examination in 1 93 5 -3 6

Il �; j p.-oved effecti\fE"- in attracting st udents. The nu mbers reading these subjects had , . . : reased considerahly so that rooms previously aijocated for classes were found i ; , �u ffi cient and a large lecture hal f had to be used. 71 Malalasekera \'\/{' s then in t.he " i (v iahle position o f being able to say thai the teachers had no complaint tG rnake as

,gards ej the! th0 kl:erl..neS5 (\r the i ntell igence of students.n

The new regulations i ltrodu�e!.l <1 t �\1e time of the establ ishment of the Univers i ty

.'1 l. 942 assumed that the Department of History wil l change the centre of interest h 0il: .�il rope to Asia, while not neglecting the study of European hi story in general , and of :·Jritish history in part icuhr. Courses in ali three years were t() cover the hi story of India 'Dei Cey lon. I t was l.1ot�vt l' l,at the material available for teaching OrieEd !-liston' "";�s

' /�ry scanty and that every course had to (,c h3.:.ied upon research. !� wac.; :;uggeSk{! t :l l ; hcre should be a Professor and four kC� i.l. i0'�; �;- :\ssist<lot lecturers in the department , :hree of whom were to be speciai isi:s in Or.i:::n.t�! ; ' i s �o,y and two in Occident.al history . Tl

In 1 943 Dr. H . C. Ray of the Calcutta Uni versity was appolllted the first Professor of

68 Ceylol/. Administration Reports 1937 Part I V B 7 , 8 .

69 Ceylon. Administration Reports 1 9 38 Part I V B 6 .

70 Ceylon . Adm ill isrrat ion Reports 1 939 Part IV B 6 .

7 1 Ceylon. Administratioll Reports 1 939 Part I V B 5 .

72 Ceyloll. Adminisrration Reports 1 939 Part I V B 5 .

73 Annual Report 1 942. Appendix 1 p . 1 9 .

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ORIENTALIA IN T H E lJ.N I Y E RSITY 282

History at the University .74 The department flourished under him and his successors.

The scholarly achievement of historians trained by th is department of the University IS well -known .

Pro fessor K . M . de Silva refers to the period 1 942 to 1 955 as the heyday of the Un iversi ty of Cey lon during which it had hu il t up a corps of highly competent teachers , a University trad itiOT and v ry higl academi :.: st nda ds at itb exanifl' l ion� . 7' T t: contribution of the. members of the Facul ty of Oriental Studies leading to such an assessment is considerable and worth documenting . Th is facul ty was noted as that which most obviously required devel opmen t at the inception of the Universi ty in 1942. It was fel t desirable that this development shou ld take both of two forms: namely the development of the study of oriental languages through the medium of Engl ish and the

development of study genera l ly through the medium of Sinhala and Tami1 .76 The re­organization of the Department of Sanskri t , Pali and Sinhala into three Departments of Sanskrit , PaIi and Sinhalese in 1 943 was a momentous event in the h istory of the Faculty . The titles of the posts held by the teachers of the Department were changed . Dr.

G . P . Malalasekera became the Professor of Pal i ; Or. O . H . de A. Wijesekera was lecturer in Sanskrit , Mr. D . E . H ettiaratchi lecturer in S inhalese and M r. C . E . Godakumbure

Assistant lecturer in Sinhalese. Dr. M . D . Ratnasuriya who was appointed the Profe�sor of Sinhalese this year assumed duties in 1944 . A graduate from the Cey lon Universi ty

College, Ratnasuriya had spent nine years at the School of Oriental and African Studie� , Un iversity of London , several of these years as lecturer , before returning to the

Universi ty of Ceylon as Professor of Sinhalese. He was the Dean of the Faculty of Oriental studies in 1 945 and was re-electt'Ai i n 1948. Having carried a heavy burden both

as scholar and as administrator, he was about to leave for England for a holiday , when

he took ill and died �uddenly in Apri l 195 1 . 77 The 1 95 1 -52 issue of the magazine of the S.inhalese Society of the Universi ty has a photograph of Ratnasuriya.

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77

Annual Report 1 943. p.6 ; 1 95 8 . p . 2 .

De Silva, Kingsley ( 1 990): ' The Sri Lankan Universities from 1 977 f O 1 990: Recovery , Stabi l ity and the Descent to Cri�is . · Minerva. A review of Science, Learning and Po l icy . Vol . XXVfTI . No . 2 . Summer 1 990. p. 1 57 .

Annual Report 1 942. pp . l S , 1 6 .

Anllual Report 1 95 1 . pp. 2 , 3

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The new Chair of Sanskrit (hat wa:; inaugurated in 1 944 was offered to Miss. Betty Hei mann Ph . D Halle, i1 position she accepted ')n arrival in the if/land in 1 945 . 78 Like Ratnasuriya , Hei mann !;lIsa had been <l leachef a� the U niversi ty cf London . Stel la Kramri.sch , the famous ari; historian , ref.�fs to Hei rnanl1 as a " refugee Pwfi.;ssor of Sanskrit from Heidelberg " teaching at the School of Orienta l and African Stud ies , "vi:h WhUlTI she v,Ias j;;) ighte.d to renew her friend::;hip. Heimann and Kramrisch had mel' some

years earlier in Calcutta, in the home of G,=,rman friends HeimailH ""�0 o/ i;�itirJl]; �� l"d ba';(C>/'l their friendship on mutual interests in Indian philosophy. Heimann was a clOi:>e friend and colleague of Heinrich Zi mmer who had taught at Bonn University. 79

Hei mann's interest in Indian Phi losophy is wel l attested by her writings, p-Polly , late and posthumous, in her major works published in Germany and London and also in her numerous essays in iNestern and Asi<ln periodicals.�.o She was thus 3 most suitable

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79

Annual Report 1 945 . p . l ; 1 949 p2 ; Tilabsiri , j . ( 1910) 0p . I;\' . ., . ;\ ; .

Stoler Miller,Barbara ( 1 983): t-xploring India 's sacred art. Seie(;teci \iv'riiii lgi:> of Stella Kramrisch . Edited with a biographical essay . Philadelphia. Univers i ty of

Pemlsylvania. p. -vi . Heimann had been a student at Heideiberg vide Preface page 8 of her public<1tiop. , Indian and Western Philosophy. A 3wdy in Contrasts. London 1 93 7 .

These include :

( 1 922) Tr. Ananda. Til'tha . Madh vn 's Kommentar zur Karhaka Up(lflisad; ( 1 930; Studien zur Eigellart indischell Denkells. Tubingen . Mehr und Siebeck . v i . 328 pp. ; ( 1 937) Indian and Wesrern Philosophy. A Study in Contrasts. London . Allen and Unwin Ltd . : ( 1.945) . Lila. The Div ine Play . ' University 0/ Ceylon

Review. Vol . i i i . No.2.pp . 29-34; ( 1 946) ' Basic Ideas of India and the \Vet; t , ' Indian Art a/ld Leiters. ; ( 1 946) : ' Significance of Negat ions in Hindu Thought.. '

B. C Law Jubilee Volume. Calcut ta; ( J 947) : . Kathenotheism and Danasturis or Kathenotheism and istadevaras' .AlInals of the Bhandarkar Orienral Research InstitUTe. Vo l . XXV III . pp .26-33 ; 'Why Study Sanskrit? ' ibid.pp.294-300 ; ( 1 948) : ' Form not " apart " but "a part " of meaning as exemplified in Sanskri t Li terat urer ' . Ulli versity of Ceyloll Review. Vol . VI . pp . 23-28 ; ( 195 1 ) : ' 'The Significance of Prefixes in Sanskrit Phi losophical Terminology ' . Royal Asiatic Society MO/log raphs. Vol . XXV . London . Royal Asiatic Society . V . 99 pp . ; ( 1 957) : 'Contrai:>ts i n Fundamental Postulates: Monothei s m or Henotheism?

M iracles or Laws of Nature? H istory or Mythology? 'F elicirarion Volume

presented to S. K Belv{/Zkar ed . by . S . Radhakrishnan er al. Moti lal

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' k . p.

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perso!"' to lead c� delegation of staff and students from ihe University of CGyloo 10 ih(:; Indian Philosophical COl1gfess in 1945 . ThIs delegation Vtas organi.:;ed hy the Phi losophical Society of �hc Uni ;iE.fsity .}; 'Heimanl1 appear� LO have participated in ,; �;J(knt })c!lv i t!l:'�s SOOh after he.- assumptioil of duties. She addressed ihe Buddhis( Bwt\it;;h ood i,) I t.)!j5f.2 and delivered the first anniversary lecture of the Parishad, the Sanskrit Soc iety of the. Universi'(Y , ill March 1 949 Y An art icle ent i t led : \{"hy study S(tltskriJ 'J pub!.i :.;l-,t)d i ·<! 1 9.1.784 r·:.:,f1c�tG �'l-:.: ��-l:::r:::�t j/( p0pulaii�iilg it:) ::->iuuy . 1-1t;inlcui"t"i, (;(tli;�:;!1. i:i·U�>:;({ C'f.i d:H�; genera.( inherent value of the language in her essay as opposed to R. N. Dandekar \vho dealing predominantly with the wide prevalence of Sanskrit in the India of that day indicated the relation which exists between the various current vemacuiaj"";; and their

parent Sanskrit in a study publ ished around the same time. �5 Heimann noted with pleasure that the tvvo studies made from differe.nt angles corroborated each other. 8if[har

the study of Sanskrit is an essential and a most fruitful task was the conclusion Hei.mann arrived at in her paper after discussing many aspects of the question and giving reasons for upholding the claim.

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Bana! sidaSE; . Ba.rJdfas. pr . 2 1 9- 227 ; ( 1964) FaCEts oj lndiwJ IhoiAf;h ,. L0itJOil . George Al len ai"1d Unwin Ltd . (a posthumous publ ication) . According to the Inlfociucto(y Not0 hy the Exe.c:utor given on 1' . 7 . of i:his vob ';:m�, H(�i nlanrl len another unpubl ished work: HilUiu T770 1/8hl in lllustration y H.t thc. tirne of her death . I have had no access to most of the puhl icati.()n.<; l i st.:-xl 8.hove. The information is from secondary sources .

Annual Report 1 945 pp . 1 7 -23

ibid p . l 7

vide Card Catalogue s . v . Heimann, Betty i n the library of the Un iversity of Peradeniya. The Puhl ication , lost or misplaced , was not avaiiable for consultation at the t i me of writing .

Heimann , Betty ( 1947) : Anflals of the Bhalld{//"kar Oriental Research lnstiture

Vol . XXVIII pp. 294-300

ibid p. 294 .Dote 1

ibid.

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RATN A HAN DURUKA N D E . ________ 2�2

When Betty Heimann retired from the Chair of Sanskri t shortly after reaching

the age limi t as reported in the Annun l Report of the Conncil of 1 949, the number of students reading for the Honours Course in Sanskrit had risen t.o tweni.y ·::;t: V(�n in 194 8 from five in 1945 . This is attributed to the remarkable energy she showl:'..lJ in the organization of her department despite being comparatively advanced in age at the time of her arrival in the island in 1 945 . The first Ceylonese to he awarded the degree- of Doctor of Phi losophy statf'Al to have been one of helnJalll's pijpiIS�7 is app�r(,nUy �u,::/ de Soysa, who submitted a dissertation on the Development of Yama for this degree in 1 948, a copy of which is available at the University Library . Another woman , Edith Luclowyk-Gyomroi w�s conferred a Ceylon Ph . D . earlier in 1 944, the suhject of her dissertation being: The Role of the Miracle in Early Pali Literature H!ith special reference to the Problem <?f Faith. Her supervisor was Malalasekera whose help and that of Revd. Bhikkhu W. Rahula she acknowledges in the introduction to her work, a copy of v,thich is kept in i:he University library at Peradeniya.

Heima!1P spt;\nt her last years of ret irement in London, where she used to welcome visitors from Sri Lanka . During a visit at the beginning of the six tIes, when her

fflends DL and Mrs D . J . Wijayaratne introduced me to her as a student of Sanskrit , she remembered with affection her "star" pupils at the Univers ity of Ceylon, the name:, mentioned on the occasion being those of Ananda Salgado Kulasuriya, Pamalhy Sivagnanasundaram (later Thanabalasundaram) and Kailasanatha Kurukkal . No voiume to fel icitate or commemorate Betty Heimann , the first Professor of Sanskrit and the first woman Professor of the University of Ceylon, has been published . I have not seen

obituary not ices if any appeared i n academic journals or elsewhere givi!1g in formation about her. That her l ife span covered 1 8 88- 1 96 1 has been noted by me 88 The time of

her death right upto which she was in the midst of l i terary acti vi ty is given as May 1 96 1 in a posthumous pUblication89 where she is referred to as the late Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Philosophy , U niversity of Ceylon . A p iCture of Betty Hei mann \Nhich I hel ieve is an enlargement of a photograph that was in the possession of PrOfe!iSOr Kai lasanatha Kurukkal hangs at present in the room of the Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Peraden iya alongside those of her successors O . H . ue A . W�jesekera and J . Tilakasiri .

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88

89

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Annual Report 1 949 p .2

Possibly from a card ca talogue where her publ ications were liste.d .

Hei mann ,Betty ( 1 964) : Facets of Indian Thoughl. London , George Allen and

Unwin Ltd . Introductory note by the Executor p . 7

.� . . j f >

�- . i' ;;0., .

r···· · , ' : t .

\

O. H .. de A. Wijese!Wia was, as noted earL ier, a bri Hiant s(uden( at the l Jniversif y Col lege. H e succeeded Heimann, who had beel.1 OBe o f hi:: teacDers in Lundell! , B.S Professor of Sa.nskrit , in i 948 , a posi tion he hdd until I ')(\) , wh�on he V,'8S apvq;·; zP:(I. Vice··ChanceHor at the University of Colombo90. 8e�ides a first class indo· }\l'yan <:k;gTC{� of the University of London obtained in 1 932 and a Ph . D . confened on him hy the Si3Jn� Universi ty in 1 936 for a thesis deal ing with a comparative trea.tmf:.nt of the morphology <;ild .;ynt<tx 01 Pali iii ;';:;\c1 ii0ii lO ,,'8(;;C, Sansk.ric 4i1d h aK(i ( , vv ;y;:;e!,�t:;r<t was success ful. in gaining a dip loma of the London School of Oriental Studies special ising in Indian and Buddhist Philosophy and a Master of Arts dt�gree for Clll.ssical and Phi losophical Sanskrit also from London.9 1 This academic background is ret1ected in the views he expressed

at his Inaugural Address, delivered on 25th Jan uary 195 1 n at King George' s Hali of the Universi ty of Ceylon then located in Colombo, regarding the methods of teaching and research which he believed should prevaii in the Sanskrit Department of .':1 modern University. Here he pointed out the advarltages thar the Sanskritist may derive by paying

due attention to the comparat ive, cri tical and historical methods of modern scholarship

in preference to the tradit ional and conventional methods of teaching and study i.ng Sansknt toHowed by the trad i tional scholars , the Pundits and the Shastries . Analyzing the motives of such scholarship in Ihis 3.ddress the theme of '.vhich was Sansk,.;! in tho University , W ijesekera drew attention not only to the linguistic i mporlance of Sanskrit

which can be said to live in i ts derivatives, a host of d ialects including Sinhalese, but also to its role as a culture-carrier and its importance in this respt'A:t for a study of the civilization permeating the l ife of nearly everyone in a large part of Asia including the Sinhaiese and Tamils of Ceylon. Discussing the place of Sanskrit studies in the academic �cheme of (./, ffi(\{iem University , Wijesekt�,'a described the richness and variety and. the ereat cultllral Rnd �esthetic value of Sanskrit l i terature, a reach ing of which fDm;! i mrneasurabiy add to the cultural content of any Un iversity education . Drawing attenti on to the scientific value of the ancient l i terary documen ts found in Sanskrit , he stressed the importance of i ts bearing on the problem of the concept of synthesis in University education and its professed ideal of humanism, Further he discu::;sed the historical significance of the data afforded by the vast Sanskrit l i terature for a study of the science

of language, comparative rel ig ion and mythology, pre-history and the history of civi l izations and fable l i terature. He also focussed attention on the abundant l iterature

91

92

Tilakasiri ,1 . ( 1 970) op. cit . p . x i ; also Annual Report 1 949 p . 2 .

Tilakasiri , J . ( 1 970) op. cit p . x i i i ; Cey lon . Administration Reports 1 9 3 8 part IV B 5

Printed in the Un;versity of Ceyloll Review IX/2 Apri l 195 1 pp. 8 1 -97

. �: ...

_._._ .. _ .. ____ . ___ -.RAIN A� HAN DUR U KANDE ___ . ___ . _ _ ______ ___ JXI

available in Sanskrit on a variety of subj ects l ike poli tics and economics, law and medicine, gramrn�.r, astronomy and mathematics, music , dancing, dramatic; art , poetic�, architecture, scu l ptl!re and phi losophy _ Finally , \Vij esekera emphasi�.;ed what tk� thought should be regarded as another val id motive for the development of S:Hlsl(ril studies in the Uiliversity, namely the fact that the enlightenment that must result fWln such an academic pursuit will he of immense help to the two majority communit i�s of the island in understanding each oth",r.

Wijesekera ' s activi ties as a teacher, researcher and a Uni versity administrator won for hi m the admiration of his pupils and col leagues who fel ici tatf'Ai him with a volume of papers on Indology and Buddhism on his sixtieth bi rihday.?3 The special focus of this volume is on his scholarl y pursui ts . However, the bibl iography of his publ ished writ ings both in S i nhala and Engl i sh covering the years 1 930- 70 included in the voiume reflects his interest in music and drama . Four plays in Sin.hala written and produced hy Wijesekera are listed in this volume. 94 One of these, Kamala or Ralahamy 's Ambition , a two-act play , was written and staged by him for the Sinhalese Society when he was an undergraduate at the University College. Y) The Secrerary of (flis

Society described i t as a maiden attempt whi ch was a success while Rohert Marrs, the Principa l of the College, noted the significance of the play , referring to i t " as a comedy of modem Sinhalese l i fe_ "96 A three act play cal led Navalamka which WijGsekera wrote in col laboraiion with D r . N andadeva Wijesekera was publ ished in 1 94 1 under the pseUdonym Candradeva coined by combining ihe first two name::; of the writers Hemacandra and Nandadeva.97 Hemacandra was a name adopted by Wijesekera l ater,

his first names as they appear in the early University reports hei ng Ol iver Hf..ctor De Aiw.is .98 Writing on the 8 1 st birth anniversary of Wijesekera > Dr. Ranjan Abeysinghe gives more information about WUe..c;ekera ' s first play and l ists the names of others, 'Nhik

93 Tilakasiri , l . ( 1 970) op. cit

ibid p. xv

95 University Collage Magazine VIJ/2 1 932 1"> . 33

96 Ceylon_ Administrarioll Reports 1 93 1 Part IV B 1 2

97 Tilakasiri , J . ( 1970) op. cit. p . x v i i i

e . g . Prospectus 1935-36 p . 54

.1 1','

; . .

.,

, , ,.

" -

,

hf.; deals at greater length with his interest in Norlh Indian (,:; I(j.s�i icHI \IJ'.\sic. (Yo)

A so<:idy forme.d tv CGmmemorate P':';;f(Ossor Wijesl-;ke " t irr,-;:mg::-;(i ii'!emm l r d k�cture�; in his honour. The inaugural lecture in this sel'ief. was del i vered by Pmfes(jor Erneritus Jayadeva Tilakasiri on September 2 1 : 1 990 at the Sri L;;'llka FOtmdal:.i.o!1 Institute in Colombo . The theme of his lecture was: Religion, Language end Politics iii the DC: " "; !0Pitli}iil. <?/ Nighu CiiuClliiofi ill St i LliiLKI.i ( i SlL�C, .. ; 0;·i):, . '7.\(.,� S(;';;<')" li i:;;ciu/(' del ivered at the :,ame venue on September 06, 1 99 1 was by Venerable Professor Dha mmavihari , formerly Jotiya Dhirasekero., on the theme: The Q,W!.\! for n'urh . Printp,,(( copies of the lectures were distributed on the days they were del ivered . The third lect.ure in the series ddivcred by Professor L. P . N . Perera on September 03, 1 992 was on th;; theme " Philosophical Inputs towards Universalism - The Buddhist Contribution " . The

W)j esekera commemoration committee has also init iated the pUbl ication of two coiieeiiomi of Wij�sekera' s articles found in di fferent journais. The first of these compri sing articles

of academic importance, edited hy Professor M . H . F .Jayasuriya, is being pri nted by Motilal Banarsidass Printers in Delhi . The second collection comprising writings of a popular nature is being prepared for publication by Professof L P . N . Perera 'NllitB the Post-graduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies of the University of Ke\aniya plans to publ i.sh ProfessOl' Wijesekera 's doctoral dissertation . 100

.

,'\110111el' outstanding scholar of the Uni versity i L l its eady days WelS D . E . Hett.iaratchi who succeeded Ratnasllriya as Professor of Sinhalese in 1 95 1 and 'was th,= HeRd ·')t the Department to! nearly seventeen years unti l b� lett the U n iversity to D':'£.::ome the vic('-Chfl.!1cel10r of the Universit;' 0f Sri IE':)'£\'!'.lf(.lh'.!.n,!p'.l !'''. , then kl1.o'?·;n 9.:i Vidyod fl.y:.., lOI Hel. t.i aratcli i entere.d th£' Uniwfsi r.y Coihge i.n 1 923 ']<lift. a''\ E'Chibit ioD in i\.rts, ,'cad IndO-Aryan Languages for his degree and graduated in 1 9J I . !02 In 1 9 30 he distillgm:->iled himself by warning the Govemor 's Prize, a prize oJ hundred rupees awarded. annually by Hi !; Excel lency the Governor, President of the C)Hege, for the best

99

100

10 1

102

Article enti t led ' O . H .de. A . W ij esekera ' in the Sri Lankan daily ne�/spaper l"lalld of Thursday 6th September J 990.

Personal communication from M rs . Mabel Wijesekera , the widow of Professor Wij esekera by letter dated 1 3 . 3 . 92

Anllual Report 1 95 1 p . 4 Anllual Report 1 968-69 p . to3

Prospectus. 1 934-35 pp. 1 2 . 5 1

. , I ' ;'

RATN A HAN D U R U K A N D E ___ 289

original verse composi tIOn in Sanskri t or Pali on a set subject in a given metre or metres . IOJ Not too l on g after his graduation , Hetti aratchi went to Calcutta and fol lowed

a pos t-graduate course in Sanskrit and Prakri t . Thi s training made him e.minently sui ted to pursue Sinhala Phi lological Stud ies . 104 On his return from Calcutta, Hettiaratchi was appo inted an Assistant Editor of the Si nhal ese Dict ionary under the edi torship of Jul ius de Lanerol le. Before going abroad Hetti aratchi had worked in the same capacity fOf 3 shorr period under Sir D. B . Jayat i l a.ka . Wh ile making an invaiuable contributioll to the comp i lation of the di ctionary , Hettiaratchi made use of his time to read the S inhalese classics and to enrich h is knowledge, which made him emi nent ly suited once again t o hold a position as a teacher in the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the Universi ty of Ceylon at its incept ion in 1942, where he taught both Sanskrit and Sinhalese. l OS At the Universi ty , Hettiaratchi proved to be an exceHent teacher, a prol ific researcher and a fair­

minded administrator. The edi tors of the Hettiaratchi fel ici tation volume publ ished in

1 9 8 3 describe him as a philologist and a language special ist firstly 10 S inhala , Pal i , Prakrit and Sanskri t and secondly in the Dutch, Portuguese and Engl ish Languages which exercised an immense influence on the Sinhala language; as a l inguist well -versed i n dictionary and encyclopaedial ed i torial work and an heir to a rich tradition of classical schol arship, which he endeavou red to foster . 106 In this felic i tation volume, Ananda Kulasuriya assesses Hettiaratchi ' s contribution as a teacher, wri ter, professor and vice­

chancellor, 107 while P . B . Meegaskumbura discusses Hettiaratchi 's e.xpert ise as an editor of exegetical texts and a lex icographist l 08 and J . B. Disanayaka eval uates Hettiaratchi ' s

last ing con t rihution to l inguistic studies , focussing attention on his role in bridg i ng the

103

1 04

1 0'>

Prospectus 193 1 -32 p. l 7

Mutukumara, Nemsiri ( 1 9 8 1 )op. cit . p . 1 7 .

Samskriti ( 1 983_) Cultural Quarterly , vol . . 1 7 No.4 edited by S . G . Samarasinghe, A maradasa Gunawardana, Harold Peiris. Colombo. Paginated twice. pp. 1 - 1 35 Sinhala section ; pp . l - 1 04 Engl ish . p.66 (Engl ish section) .

106 ibid Editorial No tes p . 2 (English Section)

1 07 ibid. pp. 1 3-22 in Sinhala; Resume in Engl ish pp. 65 -69 . Reprinted in the Dai ly News Nov . 2 1 , 1 985 .

1 00 ihid. pp. 3 1 -4 1 in Sinhala ; Resume in Engl ish pp. 73 -76

.... .. \

ORIENTALIA I N THE UNIVERSITY 290 .--.-...-----.. --�-.-------------.-- -----------�-.�.�--.--�--.-.------.---.. �-.. ,

gap het1,.veen phi10Jogical studies f.l.nd modem l inguisticsY)'�HetUafatch i : s ini tials stoe':: fO!.- Don Elaris in the early days . 1 1 0 This part of his name wa� l�teT cbanged i z.'

1 r.1 ' 1 " h fY " . , • j ' <: ' j , ' , . . Dayananf. a L� <.anatn.Ct , ;N!!lcn C ,.ange L. 1 3al1ayaA(a :�;ra.tes I S ;f. ( �,(IU�)t :jY :r�ri'.J .. i.C O� r�1e GJ !:: ;>(Yfl-':-2 �

role hl-! was destined to play : his participation in the tran"fonnation of a coJoilial University into one that reflects the hopes and aspirations of a resurgent indep\�nd�nt nation . 1 1 1 A bibliography of the published writings of l-iettiuBtr:hi coveTing the y \�'l i':; F)'3 �\ I 9 8 1 IE: incl uded it: this fel ic i ldl i (){j �, ,') l uil'\; . " ·� r; ; ,"�;i:l ::;,' j ; ';, i\ ·vvi""fl.m who plcpafe('; thi s bibliography states that most of the t i tles had been col lected by H . A . LGoonetileke.

Kariyawasam also refers to a bibl iography presented to Heu:iaratchi by layampa ti Aigama, at a reception , which however, was in the state of preparation and therefore incompiete. l l ) A public rm".-eting organized un de! the auspices of the Sinhalese Writers Association on 9th February J 982 to pay tr ihute to Hettiaratchi ' s contribution to society

and culture in general and to Sinhalese language and l iterMl.;n ... iiJ particular is ,'eferre,j to by Kulasuri ya. "�

In 1983, the Senate of the U niversity of Peradeniya recommended the award of all. Emeritus Professorship to Hettiaratchl In recognition of his eminence. l I S NJore recentl y , on 3rd December 1 990 . a photograph of Hettiaratch i was unvei led in the Senior Common room of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Peradeniya and the Lecture Theatre h)rmerly known as the Arts Theatre or room A was ' renamed as the D . E . Hettiaratchi IV1emorial Auditorium. i 1 0 A special issue of the Sri L{/nka Journ{/l of

104 ihid. pp. 1 1 5 - 1 26 in Sinhala ; Resume. in English pp. <} t -96 .

' 1 0 n . " 934 35 5 1 . rro,'pec!us . .l - p.

I I I Samskrfi ( 1 983) op.ci t . p . 9 1 (English Section)

1 1 2 ibid. pp. 97- 1 04 in the Engl ish se.ction .

1 1 3 ibid. p . 9 7 ,

1 1 4 ibid. p . 65 (English Section)

1 1 5 Annu{/l Report 1 983 p. t o .

l i n D. E. Hefliarafchi anusmarana sravanagaraya; Annual Report 1 990. p . 1 4

. ,. r: ' nr.;:fi!I'Jf�. __________ _

the Humaniiies is dedic<lieJ LO Professor HettiarMchi in honour of his sch0!arsh;iJ. 1 1 7

Ediri.wira ;)prrachch,wdrH , \vho '.'Vii:; 8pp" inted to a new!\, Vt�iJkd second dl<ti, of Si iLhalese at the Uuive!sity rcom 8th /\pril ! 960, l i B IS a man of divers(;O ta. lem ,., i ih achievements in many fields to his credi t . Kno\vn as f . R . de Si. l v i:\ at the University Col le.ge where he read S inhala , Pa l i ,\iid Sandcrit for his first degree, hl� won the Waidyasekera Prize f�Jr Pa l i in 1 934, I I � to teach which s u tl leci !!e \AI,iS aPiiO ; ilt·,."J �'. , � � : :_. . . , Univers i ty of Ceylon in 1 944 . He already hau a Maskr of Arts degree from lhe Uni vers ity of London by this ti me. l eO Sa.achchandra 's varying experience hefore he

j oined the teach i ng staff of the Univers i ly incJuded a year spent in India, studying musi(: and phi losophy at Shantini ketan and travel l ing widely during his leisure t i me, and <l f�iJ'/ years editorial work at the Sinhal ese Dictionary office. 1 2 1

In the: University , Sarachchandra had the distinction ot beIng one of the contri butors to the maiden issuG of the Uni versity of Ceylon Review in 1 943 , the �iubject of hi� c\)uil ibutiOl} bciDg '8h'7"(11!3(1 rU/d the Buddhist Psychology of Perception, > 1 2� the theme of his doctoral dissertation submitted to the Un iversi ty of London in I L)40 , : �; later published as a b(/�)k in 195 8 . 124 Th<� same volume f)f this journal carrit:' .. tj a review

1 1 7 Voi XVl 1 990 N os . , and 2 10 be publ ished in 1 993 .

1 1 8 Annual N.eport j 96() p . Q

1 1 9 Prospectus 1935-36 p. 1 7

I :?O Annunl Report \ 944 p . 2

1 2 1 Vimomsa ( 1 987) Ediriwirn Sarachcluwdra Upaharn AmKaya (1!.dirhvira

Sarachchandra Felicilarioll lssue) . Edi tors . Udaya M aHawa racbchi , Somaratne

Balasuri ya, H . M . M oratuwagama , Sa rat Wijesuriya. Kelaniya. Vidyalallkara

Mudranalaya p. v i

1 22 VoL I . Apri l 1 943 . Edited G . P . M alalasekera pp. 94- 1 02

1 23

124

A nnual Reporl 1 948 p . 4 ; also Villl(/IIlSa op. ('if. p. v i i where the year guveh us

1 949.

Buddhist Psychology of Perceptioll . Colombo . Cey lon Univen.;i ty Press 1958 l l O . pp

ORIENTAUA I N THE U N IVERSITY 292 ____ �v� ________ • _____ _'�_,_. ____ ·_� _____ · _ ··_�� · ___ ·.·_---- .-" •• • ,-• • • • --- ••• - •• ----.- • • -- - .

by E. F . C . Ludowylc of the first edition of S�lrachchamlra 's Modern 5,'inhriiese Pic{ie,! I "� indicative of his contemporaneous i nterest in Sinhalc. li terature. A �ec()nd edi lion of t�js crit ical work �.vhich 3.sses:ied contemporary 's idlaia 1l.ovels »ppeared ill : 945 1 1 , lhG :::;a lYiC year in which he puhlished Sinhaia translations or French 1 27 i:1WJ r<uss ian s(ories l 28 in col laboration with others. Sarachchandr<t continlled publ ishing in the University of Ceylon Review of 'Nhich he became editor in 1950 along with r.wo otherf:, these beint; O.H .d�; ,(\, . VVij�::;eku {l aml G . C . l\ii endis. His article O!! the 'l"lhhidlwmmn PsychoLogy of Perception and the Yogacara TheOfY of Mind >1 29 and hIs review of a

translation of the Suttanipata where he no[o:':s that three translator,; of the 'Nork in questi()(! shared the fundamental defect of not revealing any consi stent attitude regarding tl-i:.�, philosophical basi.s of the hoolc l 3ll show his continutd interest in Buddhist philOsophical

studies. But after his transfer to the Sinhala Department in 1952, 1 3 1 and even before that , his writ ings reflect his grolNing in terest in fields related 10 that branc:h of studies. These wtitings have been noted, commented upon , classified and evaluated by many others in their individual writings and in collections of essays published to felicitate Sarachchandra. m .

A speciai issue of the Sinhala joumal Granthavicam was puhlished in 1 965 to

_._-------------

1 25

; 26

1 28

1 29

1 30

1 3 1

1 32

�/l ount Press , iV'lount Lavinia. Ceylon pp. xxi i 1 74 . Rs. 3 . 5 0 , Re\'iew�d in the Universify of Ceylon Review. )loU November 1 943 pp. 84-85

Published by Gunasena and Co. vide Antlual Report 1945 p . 25

PUb1i0hed by Svastika Press i bid

Publ ished by Ola Book Co. ibid

Uni versity of Ceyloll Review VoL I V . Oct . 1 946 pp. 49-57

ibid pp. 74-75 : Review of Wo ven Cadences of Early Buddhists . Translated by E . M . Hare. Ox ford University Press , (Printed in Ceylon ) 1944

Vimamsa oj). cit p . v i i

e .g Vimamsa op. cit

mark the event of Sarachchandra comp!ei ing lws 50th yei H i J3 and as iJ triblJ i e to \1 i ,j contribution to i ikra�ure and th� arts . The conlrihutors in r.h i;.; fel ic .! rar ion \le l.w.He h ;J.v.-o wri Uen Ofl various "ub.iXis n�!i;Vc\Ot to Sarachchandra ' s works. III th,.: E:c.; 'or);.d i'·Joh·o , ">/en . Kerarnin.iye J in.ca.llanua Ther" regrets there not beinr, aft article clr,swing Ji:tent:on Ie

Sarachchandra" s mastery of ph i losophy , : 3'1 vllh l k he g i ves some hiogr:-\rh; '�:aj information about Sar<:.chchand r(l, in his art icle included in ti1e ',/ohJITI;: . / 15 In h i s :·oni"fiba i" iofi i.u �his ·'v·V�\il·i.tt.. ) P:tf,Jcil i Bandaril Sunnasga J a (If";.:;c !. "ibl:;s ;";:-J ! ";.lC1.".I.chr) .fj(\ \-a �I.�� \".ie saUl him i n his student days at the U niversity . 1 J6 The volume contains a photograph of a youthful but contemplat ive Sarachchandra. No hibliography of h is pub\ ishecl \vri t. i ngs is g iven in this fel icitation vol u me.

Sarachchandra' s role as one of t w o major figures in the New Cri ticism in modem Sinhalese l i terature , the other bemg Machn Wickr'arnaSi\lghB, h;l.S b�en anktlytical ly slud ied by Ranj i lli Obeysekere in her book , Sinhata w�-iting and the New Crilics publ ished in 1 974 , 1 37 while this and other (l.spects of h i s contribution in !nClny fields are assessed in a second col lect ion of articles i n Sinhala In a spt'/cial i�slJe of th� J ournal Vimmllsa pubJI.shed in h iS honour m 1 987 . I jh A volume of article;; in Engli ��h ) 1he Ediriwira Sarachchal/dra Fe.l'ISchr{ft 1 988, was published bv th/". Sri Lanka N<ttiomd Commission for UNESC01w to fel ici tate Sarachchandra on his 7 5 th birthday , J une 3 , 1 989. There is only a very brief biographical sketch fac ing a photograph of (he honoranJ in this festschrift , but <l0 Ashley Ha Ire says in h i s introductory es�,ay , gl impses of a

J )3

! 34

! )5

Cmntlw vicam 1 5 , 1 965) Snmchchandra Amkfl)'a h l i toj ::'<l.ndi t,l. K�(8)Tti n ; iyl'< J mananua Sthavira . Colombo . Ramo Por Praknslliwvo .

ibid p. iv

ihid pp. 9- 1 8

1 )(; ibid pr. 67-72

1 )7

1 3�

I )Y

Colomho, M . D . Gunas�na and Co. Ltd ,

Vimams(/ ( 1 987) o p . c i t

Ediriwira Sarachchalldrn Festschrift ( 1 988) edi ted h y A , R , B . A merasinghe, S . L Sumanasekera Band a . A contribution to the World Decade for Cult u ral

Development 1 988-97 Colombo

· . , , .-: ... . .'\0 )' ' ..; : . ' �), . ': "

\ ,-i

distindive per::;onality are scattered throughout the volume. " KJ

(�ontribv tj.ng �.n a:rticle to tb.is \/o h .�rne cnii-db:L " J,(.l.) .[�·.(:'::}.l ,J�}F T(�·ar.�i' C . H . B . Reyno)ds refers to one of Sarachchandra's publications 8S :l n 1) I)f,H:l\\tohiog;'",phy " which nevertheless gives " an apparent ly complete coverage of hi�; l ife te, date (old with a remarkable frankness. " 1 4 1 The ,,;vork Reynold�J refp,fs w i s (he Sinhala pubE,:a.twn: .pin AJi Sara:;a ,;j Vm'(;/ii,.lk Dno'w , W'hicil Saracbchandra say!' is DOl. a smccwiu:pndanti , thai. is an autobi ography. 1 42 In the course of her contribution to this volume ' Ediriwira Sarachchl1fldra. All Asian Wrirer and his Milieu, ,141 Yasmine Gooneratne nutes that. it was on the stage and more speci fically , the open air theatr� at PecMJeniy? , th!:) .. d1i;:';

. University community as a whoie "encountered " Sarachchandra. Both town and gown continue to "encounter" Sarachchandra and also other dramat ists at lhi�; venue, popularly called " vala" , the pi t , which was appropriatdy namt'Jd the Sm'ach ch[f(ldn�< eliflwhan Fanga !lIadala, the Sarachchanclfa Open Air Theatre, at a dram!). festival held to fel icitaie Sarachchandra in 1 9 83 . 1 44 Introducing a bibl iography of Sarachcnandra ' s 'Nriti ngs covering the years 1942- 1987 included in the Festschrift. L�R.lan£i Wa,:,c)sE!'.�ler:, says: " Aithough well j(J1QWn as a dramatist and for his contribution to the developmc:nt of the Sinhala theatre, E . R . Sarachchandra ' 1; creative works include other l iteracy [onm; such

as novels and short stories, while his scho larl y works range from Buddhist phi losophy

and psychology to li terary criticism and history, sociology , culture and <.:ontempOf:lf;' society . ,, 1 45 The titles Wanasunder3 l isls in her b ibl iography show the bfeadth of Sarachchandra's interest:;, while his own cont ribu t ion to the volume: ' F,'C'!'I Fa::; Llb,:�,";d/; i.i to Santaraksiw. ;I criffen[ exal1linariuJi of somt! Buddhisi thearies of the external

'vor'ld , 1 46 showc; tl'A (i"'nth f)f Lt' C " chr " I "'TL j' ... " . .., • 1 J' . L".� _" " '. . ,�, . • :, .") • �l 1.�1 v i ' tJ.

---_.-----,--_._._--_.

1 40 ibid p . i i i

1 4 1 ihid. p . l

1 42 Edirh-virn Sarnchchandra ( 1 985): Colombo. Dayawamsa Jayakody and Co.

1 43

1 44

1 4 5

1 46

Ediriwira Sarachchmu/rn Fesrsch rift ( 1 9 8 8 ) Op. cif pp . 5-8

Vide Programme of the Drama Fest ival (Sarachcliandro Upaham Narya Ufsa vaya) held from February 28th to March 6th in 1 983

EdiriH.'ira Sarachchandra Fesrschrift ( 1 988) op. cit p . I O }

ibid pp . 80- 100

RATN A H A N D U R U K A N D E ------.,-----... -----.-----.. ---�----- _. __ . __ _ _ _ _ . __ _ _ ___ . . 195

The appointment {,r Senarat Paral1avitmli!, Ph . D . Leideil , as R,""se<.tn-;h Froft��;,;or

in Archaeology from hnuary 1 1 957 to fi l l a newly created chair cf Ardl<;.I:�O!ogy ie; <[

Hc,tab!e ev(�,nt i n the history cof ; hE. U ni'lo:;[�; i tv . " i ' Paranav itan<: had [din:-�.l j .(>.(\\ ' he

office of A rchaeological Cornmissioner or; Decemher 26 1 956 ,( f,.�' ·/ (hy� bdcJ(p. In:" professorial appoinUHenL , <Ill The Univers i. ty of Ceylon had hOfioUft'.A'l F'aninCiv dfmil

earl ier by conferring the degree of D . Lilt . HOfloris Causa at a special C0)1VOCHti00 beld

lr: the l. in.iversity theatre, peralleniya 1ft i'l ovemt)ej 1 9YL ' ''' '':: '' i " ..• ,J. l i t'J., :>:, :, achievements had a lso been fe.-Cogn ised by the aw;.wl of the Si lver Meda l for 1 950 hy the Royal Soc iety of Arts , London and the Gold M edal for 1 955 by the Ceylon B ranch of the Royal Asiat i(; Society . The Brit ish Government had honoured Paranav itana by making

h i m an Officer of the Most Excel lent Order of the British E mpire in 1 95 1 and Commander of the Most Excel lent Order of the Brit ish empire in 1 952, 150

Born in 1 896 in the Southern Provi nce of S ri Lanka, Paranav ita!!a had his t:ady English education at Buona Vista H i gh School in Gal le. At. the same time he gaine<l rf()i�ciency in oriental languages at Ranvalagoda Vidyavardhana Pi rivena 10 the same

city , Selected for the post of Epigr3pb ical Assistant in 1 922 by the then Archaeolog ical

COlHil1issioncl', A . . M . HOC(-l:rt , p;Jranav i ta!lil was sent to India for tra ining in epigraphy , Besides acq uir ing a thorough knowledge of the methods and techniques of epigraphy during his stay in India, Parana Ji tana gained proficiency in Tami l , Prakr: f , numismat ics , .art and museology , 'rhi� wide train ing is refl("A�teJ in his publications which deal not only wi. th epigraphy hut also other branch es of learning such as hi story , iJ.rt, rel igIOn , languages and l i terature , , .� : H i s ltwg!lutn opus, the two volumes on ::)lgi i'j ;.�nJfiti : being Sin hala verses of lbe ..:;ighth , i1inth and tenth cc:nturi es s,:ribh!ed (��l I.he M i rfof 'NaI ! at

i 48

1 49

' 50

1 5 /

AlIllual Report 1 956, p, 5 ; 1 957 pr , 5 , 59

ParanavitallCl Felicitation Volume ( 96 5 ) . Ed i ted hy N , A . hyawick rama , Colo mbo , M , D . G u nasena and Co, Unnu mbered page l i st ing even ts in Paranav i tana's career.

A nnual Report 1 952 p . 22

Paralla vitalla F eIiei tntioll Volume ( 1 956) op . ci t . ; Senora{ Parana vitO/Ul

Commemoration VolulTie (/ 9 78) Ed I tors . Leel ananda Prematil leke, Karthigesu

lndrapal a , J , E . van Lohu izen de L�uw, Leiden . E J . B ri l l . p . x

ibid p . i x

,-

ORI ENTAUA I N THE U N IV ERSITY _____ . ___ 29§ ------_.

Sigiriya by ancient v isi tors to this rock fortress, 1 52 has earned high praise " as a model incursion i n to one of the most difficult of scholarly fields . . 1 1 5.1

As indicated by his designation, Resk'.-arch Professor of Archaeology , Paranavitana's main func ti('n at the U niversity was to undertake research i n his field. fn add ition to his research, Paranavi tana began his career lIt the Uni 'er�ity by ddiveriLg i:l course of lectures open to all students of the Univers i ty as wel l as members of the genera) puhlic on the art , architecture and inscripti ons of Ceylon y4 These lectures del ivered wi th seemingly half-c losed eyes and a touch of humour were listened to attentively by an audience of young and old scholars at the Arts Theatre, presently known as the D. E. Hettiaratchi Memorial Auditorium. The Univers i ty benefited greatly by Paranavitana's mature scholarship and devotion to work until the t ime of his resignation from his post in February 1 965 , owing to i l l -hea l th . 1 55 It is on record that Voiume One of the Uni versity of Ceylon HistOlY of Ceylon which Paranavi tana edited and t he Concise

History of Ceylon i n the edi tion of which he col laborated with C. W . N icholas owe their puhl i.;ation mainly to his untiri ng and sel f-sacrificing labours. , S f

A felicitat ion volume on Art , Archi tecture and Oriental Studies was presented to Professor Senarat Paranavitana, .. Archaeologist , Epigraphist and Histoi-ian " by hiS col leagues, friends and wel l-wishers" as a tribute to a l i fe-ti me spent in i n terpreting the cul ture of a comer of Asia " , in 1 965 , the year of his retirernent . ' 57There is no hiographical e-ssay i n this volume but important events in his l ife and career are l i sted .

Besides an article in S inhala by the scholar monk A . P . Buddhadatta Mahathera, th i � volume contains contribut ions o f twenty others, two of which are i n French and the rest in English. The bibliography of Paranavitana 's publ ications compiled by

H. A . l . Goonet i leke, former Librarian of the Uni versity, then Assistant Lihrarian, covers

1 52

153

1 'i4

1 55

1 56

1 57

ibid p . x i

The Tiffles Liferaty Supplelllenr of September 2 1 , 1 956 quoted by Wi l fred M . Gunasekara i n the Daily News Saturday Octoher 5 , 1 99 1

Anflual Report 1 95 7 . p.59

Anllual Reporl \ 965 . p . 4

ibid.

Parall{l vitallt1 Felicitation Volume ( 1 965) op.ci t .

RATNA HANDURUKAND� ___ ______ . _�__ ____ 297

the years 1 924- 1 963 . The t i t les l isted in this bibl iography are thm;e of Paranav itana's book� , articles and ;jditer:! works i n the Engl ish langua�e, exc J ; !rJ i ng newspaper ari i cles.

A commemoration volu me was planned as a mark of honour to Paranavi tana by

the Paranavitana Commemoration Organizing commit tee set up in the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya , three weeks after his death on 4th October 1 972. I t was publ ished In l Y / � jointly with (ite institute of South ASiaJ1 A chat,uL>g) of :ht- LJuiv rsi t)' ·A Amsterdam as Volume VII in the series , Srudies in South Asian Culture, an appropriate

joint venture in v iew of Paranavi tana ' s academic connections with the Un iversi ty of 'Lei den and his close assoc iat ion with the scholarly commun ity of the Netherlands . 1 58 This volume contains a biographical essay on Paranavi tana, brief but indicative of his wide interests which are also reflected in the articl es of the contributors. The

b ibliography gi ven in this volume inc ludes posthu mous publ icat ions of Paranavi tana ,

whom b ibl iographer Gooneti leke describes as " perhaps, the most remarkahly industrious , versatile and resourcefu l scholar who has graced the world of learning in Sri Lanka . " 1 59

The publications l isted in this bihliography are once aga in Paranav i tana ' s wri tin gs m English. Kalasuri W i l fred M . G unasekara clai ms to have in his possession -a hlhhography

of Paranavitana ' s writ ings in both Eng l ish and Sinhala and a catalogue of the holdings of his private l ibrary . l oo The U niversi ty of Peraden iya honoured Paranavitana in 1 990

when its Archaeological Museum of wh ich he was the founder was na med as " Senarath Paranavi tana Teaching and Research M useu m " . This occas ion also marked the celebration o f thirty-two years of teaching and research in archaeology at the University . I M

A n important proj ect i n which the pioneer Orientai ists o f the Un iversi ty were invoived was the Sinhalese Etymological Dic!ionary. \Ve have had occasion to note

already that Professors Hettiaratchi and Sarachchandra were assoL:ia ted with the dictionary before they joined the teach ing staft ot the Umvers i ty . The dictionary office was maintained at the Uni versity premises. The members of the Departmen t of Sanskri t , PaJ i and Sinhaiese assumed a delegated responsibil i ty for the work: of the dictIOnary which

1 58

159

1 00

1 6 1

Sella rat Parana vitalla Commemoration Volume ( 1 978) op. c i t . Editor' s Preface .

ibid p . 1

In an article en ti t led : ' Commemorating Professor Senarat Paranav i tana on h is

1 9th dea th anni versary , ' pri nted i n the DoiLy News Sat urday October 05 , 1 99 1

A nnual Reporr 1 990 . p. 1 4

1

I

; l

I \

ORI E NTALI A I N T H E U N I V ERSITY ______ . ______ ___ ___ 198

they regarded as part of their duties , a point stressed in the Anllual Report of 1 94 2 . 1 62 The Professors of Sanskrit , Pal i , Sinhalese and Tamil were members of a special Dictionary Committee establ ished by the Senate and Counc i l i n Septemher 1 943 . The committee on whose recommendat ions the dict ionary was begun had resolved on February 25 , 1 925 that an ad hoc commi t tee should supervise the work unti l the

University of Cey lon came into being . The management of the dictionary was transferred

to the P incipaI of the Ceylon Uni \ t;/"sl j Colleg;,:; on OCtUbei 1 , 1 9 4 i d 10 from i; 11 [ �

the Un i versi ty on J u ly 1 , 1 942. 1 63 Appendi x I I of the Annua l Report of 1 943 comprising pages 20-27 ent itled the SiJlhalese Etymolog ical Dicrionary gives a fiJ I i account of this project under the fol lowing sub-head ings : Introductory , Organization ,

Scheme of Work, Ex tra work undertaken, D ic tionary work completed so far, Apparent Delay , A comparison with other works and The University and the Dictionary .

With the resignation of M r . J u l ius Ut; Lanerolle from the post of the Editor of the

Sinhalese Etymological Dictiollmy in August 1 944, 164 (a pos i t ion which he took over

again in 1 950) 1 65 M . D. Ratnasuriya took over the editor�hip as part of his duties as Professor of Smhalese. 166

After the University had taken the d ict ionary under its con trol , it was considered

w ise to make plain that it was possible to produce a shoddy d ictionary quickly or a good d ictionary slowly. N oting that the dict ionary was begun by amateu rs who however gi fted had to learn their work by trial and error and giving due cred i t to the pIOneer work of S i r Baron Jayatilaka, Dr. Wil hel m Geiger and M r . J ul ius de Lanerolle for Its being organ ized on more professional l ines , it was stressed that its product ion was a di fficu l t and an ex tremely i mportant academic duty requiring exhaust i ve and co-operat ive research . 1 67

1 62 pp . 7 , 1 6

1 63 Annual Report 1 943 . pp. 7 , 27

1 64 Annual Report 1 944. p . 1 0

1 65 Anllual Report 1 950. pp . 4 , 3 5

1 66 Annual Report 1 944 . p . 1 0

1 67 Annual Report 1 945 . pp . 1 2 , 1 3

RATNA HANDVRU KAN DE

Conscious of the. need for a handy uict ionary su i table for stuJents and daily use hy the general publ ic, i t was de.cidtXl in 1 944 to begin the pre.paration of a concise Sinhala-Engl ish dictionary US 109 the material collected tor the Sinhala Etymolugical Dictiollary. l68 Malalasekera, who had proposed the publicat ion of such a Pra ctical

Sinhalese Dictionary in the 1 930s 1 69 was invi ted to act as editor. Later it was agreed that he and Ratnasuriya should act as joint editors of the Concise diCfiotl(lJY in order to co-ordinate the work i nvolved with that of the Etymological _,icrionmy. 1 70 i t "vas

reported in 1 947 that Volume I of the Shorter Dic{imzary, here referred to as the University Srandard Sillhaleu·-English dictiol1m)" should be ready for publ ication by May or June 194 8 . The work , expected to cover four vol umes of 500 pages each was to he compl eted by the end of 1 950. 1 71 However, there was an inevitable delay and the volume was sti ll i n proof at the end of 1 94 8 , when the staff of the dictionary o ffice agreed to postpone its usual Chri stmas holiday to complete th0 proof-reading. In

Consequently it appeared In 1 948, with onl y Ratnasuriya's name appearing as that of editor, under the University imprint puhl ished by the Ceylon U n iversity Press BoarJ . 1 73 This volume and a Students ' Guide fO Uni versiry Education in Ceylon , written by the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Ivor Jenn ings , with the hope that it would heip the Uni versi ty to

choose the best of the avai lable camlidates , 1 74 which appeared the same year, were the first publications of the University Press Board . 1 75 It was �he complet ion of Vol ume I of the Shorter Dictionmy and a proposal from the Sinhalese Department for the publicat i on of standard edi tions of Sinhalese texts of which four had already been completed by the department , which caused the Council of the Uni versity to examine the

1 68 ibid

! 69 Ce-ylon. Adminisrration Reporfs 1 9 3 8 . Part . IV B 5

! 70 Annual Report 1 94 5 . p . 1 3

1 7 1 Anllual Report 1947 . p. 1 5

172 Anllual Report 1 948. p. 1 6

1 73 Anl/ual Report 1 94 8 . p . 1 6

1 74 vide Preface wri tten in August 1 94 8

1 75 Annual Report 1948 . p . 1 6 .

l I I I

\

_______ _____ ORIENTALlA IN T H E U N I V ERSITY 300

question of set ting up a Univers ity Press Board . i 76

Soon a fter the publ ication of Volume I of the Shonel Ditf iotl(u),. the Council called for a report on the accelera tion of the work of the Er.vmulogical Dicrional),. The report when made disclosed a considerahle di fference of opin ion among ex perts. It was

urged by some but denied by others that the Shorter Dictionary 'would accelerate the production '.If the Ecymulogical Dictiollril)i. · The.. Co n�ii fel t hat it was d lee n G"l , laUel on which it could not express an opi nion . Therefore, it decided to invi te Professor R . L. Turner, then Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London , to visi t Ceylon to inspect the dictionary material and to report on the question, essentially a problem of lex icographical technique. Meanwhile the Council decided to suspend the preparation of the Shorrer Dicrioll(llY and to concentrate on the production of the Sinhalese Etymological Dictionary. l 77 Turner, who devoted his l i fe to Sanskrit ic and

Indo-European scholarship crowned final ly by the publ ication of his Comparati ve dicrionOlY of the Indo-A/yan Languages , 1 78 had a wealth of experience in lexicographical work . He visi ted Ceylon only in 1 952 on his return journey after attending the Commonweal th Universities conference heJel in India. I N In the meant ime , in 1 950, the Council decided to rearrange the dict ionary offi ce under a fu ll-time ed itor, and to separate it from the faculty of Oriental Studies so as to give i t a status si milar to that of the Library . Juli us de Lanerolle, who as noted earl ier had been associated with the dict ionary from its beginning under Sir Baron layatilaka until his resignat ion in 1945 , was appointed to the post of ed itor. The Dict ionary Commi ttee , wh ich had been the joint committee of the Senate and Council responsible for the management of the dictionary , was replaced by a technical committee adv isory to the Editor. The Professors of Sanskri t ,

1 76

177

17ll

1 79

Annual Report 1 947. p . 1 5

Anllual Report 1 949 . p. 30 ; 1 950 . p . 35

So stated in announcing the delivery of the S i r Ralph Turner M emorial Lecture by R. H . Robins, Professor of General Linguistics, University of London at the anniversary meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society of G reat Britain and Ireland held on 9th May 1 9 85 . A summary of this lecture was printed on pages 27 1 -2 of the Journal of this Society in its second issue of 1 985 . The full text of the lecture entitled : 'The Evolut ion of Historical Linguistics' was printed on pp . 5-20 of the first issue of the Journal of 1 9 86 . The d ict ionary referred to was published by the Oxford University Press in 1969 .

Annual Report 1 952. p.40

R ATN A H A N D U R U KA N DE 30 1

Pali , Sinhalese and Tamil among others were members of th is committee. IHO

Problems connected w ith the dictionary were discusseO with Turner during hi:; visit in 1 952. Invi ted to see the edi toria l work in progress , Turner v i sited the d i ctionary office on January 22nd and spent several hours examining how the plan operated . He expressed full sat isfaction at the result"- achieved and had no suggestions to make for

i mproving the method then in operati on . 1 8 ! His views, i f ailj ,ver.;;. expres::ied , relating to the Shorter Dictiollary are not stated in the Annual Report . This Shorter Dictionary

seems to have ceased publ icat ion since the appearance of volume I in 1 948 . A number of important dictionary problems was discussed with Ralph Turner once again in 1 95 3 -54 by P . B . F.Wijeratne of the Editorial Board who was i n Europe on long leave du ring these years. Helmer S mith, one of the first editors of the Critical Pali Dictionary published in Copenhagen, was also consu lted by Wijeratne during this visi t . Yet another consul tant

said to have given of his best to the D ict ionary was Jules B toch who d ied in October

1 953 . 1 82 The Counci l of the Universi ty decided in 1 955 that the d ictionary shou ld be

published by the University Press. I �) Part 6 of volume I of the dict ionary was published

by the Universi ty in 1 959 in accordance with this decision . Parts \ -5 had been puhl ished

earlier by the Ceylon Branch o f the Royal Asiatic society from the year 1 93 5 onwards . The Universi ty Press Board publ ished Parts 7 - 1 0 of Volume One and Parts 1 1 - 1 9 of Volume II unti l the t ime of the t ransfer of the dictionary o ffice and i ts employees to the M inistry of Cultural A ffa i rs with effect from 1 972, which ministry publ ished issues of the d ict ionary beginning with Part 20 . 1 �4 The d ictionary pro.lect was completed in ] 992. An International Lexicographical Conference heid to mark the event was inaugurated on

1 i th December that year . The completed dic tiona ry consists of 27 volumes running into

over 1 3 ,000 pages, as reported in the Daily News on December 4 , 1 992.

I SO

I H I

I H 2

18)

184

Senior scholars of the Universtty part icipated actively in other important projcx;ts

Annual Report 1 950. p . 35

Annual Report 1 952. pp . 40,4 )

Annual Report 1 954 . p . 8 1

Annual Report 1955 . p . 1 4 1

Sinhala Dictionary Part 2 1 . ( Vo lume f I l N o I ) 1 9 7 7 . Chief Editor. D . E . Het t iaratchi . Deputy Ed itor. P . B . Sannasgala. Introduction p . v ; Annual Report

197 2 . pp. 47, 1 67

p

ORI ENTALI A I N THE L!J'jI Y ER.S.ITY . _ __________ . ...J.02

as well . For instance, the fi rst two volumes of the Buddhist Congress Tripif(lka Series were published under the general eJitorship of M a l alasekera, the Professor of Pal i . This was the fi rst t ime, so far as was known , that an attempt had been made to translate tht;; whole of the Pal i Tripitaka into Sinhalese. The translations were hy well -known scholar� , chiefly from the pirivell(ls( monastic i nst itutions ot" learning), while explanatory notes were added by the general editor who also gave a full cri t ical edit ion of the Pali text .

Il l.'

Malalasekera was also the Editor-i n-Chief of the Encyclopaedia (?f Buddhism, the compi lat ion of which in the Engl ish language was one of the several undertakings of the Lanka Bauddha Malldai(lya ( Buddhist Counci l of Ceylon) which was set up by the government of Cey lon in 1 955 in connect ion with the celebration of Buddha jayallli, the 2500th ann iversary of the Buddhist era as tradi t ionally accepteJ i n countries of South Asia where the Theravada form of Buddh ism prevails . When the government of Ceylon created a M i nistry of Cultural Affairs i n 1956 , the adrn.inistrat ion of the Encyclopaedia

was transferred to t hat ministry. The editorial office fi rst set up in Colombo was moved to Peradeniya soon afterwards and accommodated in the University Park by courtesy of the Vice-Chancellor of the Univers ity of Ceylon . This transter provided a congemal academic environment and the advantage of being able to use the excellent uOl versity library . 186 A new block of rooms erected in 1 992 at the very spot where the Buddhist Encyclopaedia office was located has been cal led the Malalasekera Mandiraya . The ceremon ial opening of this mandiraya organ i sed by the Dean and the members of the F acui ty of Arts was held on Friday June 1 9, 1 992 in the presence of a select gathering which included members of the Malalasekera fami l y .

Professors O . H . de A . Wijesekera, Jotiya Dhirasekera and M L Bandula Jayawardhana, al l of whom have had cl ose con nect ions with the universi ty, served as Editors-in-Chief of the Buddhist Encyclopaedia in subsequent years . The present Editor­i n-Chief, Dr. W . G . Weeraratne, a pupil of M a lal asekera and a long-standi ng member of the Editorial Board , is h and l i ng the compi lation of the encyclopaedia with devotion and dedicat ion . The office of the encyclopaed ia is now in Colomho. Senior memhers of the University of Peradeniya serve as consu l tants and also continue to contr ibute art icles to this encyclopaedia.

185

186

A nother undertaking of the M i nistry of Cul tural Affairs in which members of

AIlIlU(li Report 1 948 . pp. 1 6 ,30

Encyciopaedi(l of Buddhism. Edi ted h y . G . P. M al alasekera . Fascicu le A-ACA

1 96 L _ Preface p_ i i i

_____ _________ RATNA H AN D U R U K=A�N�I=D=E ___ _____ __ )03

the university have col laborated and are col l aborat ing is the compil at ion of the Sinhalese Encyclopaedia. In' the fi ftic:s , Professor D. E. Hettiaratchi was requested to co mpile a

medium sized encyclopaedia in S inhalese in accordance with a scheme submi tted by the Faculty o f Orienta! Stud ies , at the request of the Honourable M inister of Home Aftilirs. The p reli mi nary work of the encyclopaedia was done in 1 955 in vvhich task Hettiaratchi had the co-operation of members of the various departments of the university . 1 87 The first volume of the encyclopaedia was publ ished in 1963 under the edi torship of Hettiaratchi . More volumes edited by him with the able assistance of the Deputy Editors, J . V . Fonseka and . D . P. Ponnamperuma appeared i n subsequent years. Volume 7 of this encyclopaedia appeared in 1 989 under the editorship of Harischandra Wij ayatunga. The office of the encyclopaedia which at one time was accommodated in the university premises at Peraden iya is now in Colomho. The present Edi tor-in-Chief of this encyclopaedia is K. N. O. Dharmadasa, Professor of Sinhala at the U ni versity of Peradeniya.

The involvement of the Si nhala Department of the university in the edition of Sinhala texts for publ ication was reterred to earl ier i n this paper. The greatest achievement . of this department during the year 1 954, according to the annual report for that year, was a critical edition of the Pallsiya Pallas lataka (the 550 birth stories) prepared by students reading for the Diploma in Sinhala under the teachers of the Depart menL IB8 A hand­written Sinhala ed it ion of this la/aka hook in the form of twelve dissertations submitted by these students for the Dipl oma in Sinhala in 1 955 is avai lahle in the university l ibrary . The Anll ual Report of 1 956 records the satisfactory progress of the critical edit ion of the Pallsiya Pallas laraka Po/a . This report states that six ola manuscri pts had been col lated by the former batch of students who read for the Diploma in Sinhala ; that a Research Assistant was engaged in the col lation of two more manuscripts; that doctors P . E . E. Fernando and Sri Rammandala and the Professor of Sinhalese, D . E. Hettiaratchi were engaged in the final preparation of the text in comparison with the Pal i version and that the first part of the laraka POia was to he ready for pri nt ing wi thin a few months. 1 89 However, neither this part nor subsequent parts ever appeared in print .

Edi torial work in connection with the preparation of a rev ised edi tion of the lataka Pota was begun afresh in 1 9 87-88 under the direction of Professor Ananda Salgado Kulasldriya . This work with which several members of the Sinhala Department were

1 87 Annual Report 1 955 . p . 5 7

188 Anllual Reporf 1 9 54. p . 83

189 Annual Report 1 956 . p . 60

___ O=:..,:.RI=E:..:...:NTALIA IN THE U N I V ERSITY ____________ 304

associated was completed in 1 989 . 1 90 Kulasuriya presented a paper on the theme Editing a Manuscript: A Review (!f Some Prohlems on December 4, 1 99 1 at the Seminar room of the Faculty of Arts of [he University of Peraden:ya. This paper was concerned with iden ti fying some of the problems arisin g from his preparat ion of the authoritative eJi t iOrl

of t h e lataka Pora from manuscript and printed sources . I t also sought to explain brietly the methods adopted by h i m and his team of workers to solve them. Kulasuriya descri bes

the work he edited as a vol uminous one running into nearl y 1 800 rages of uemi-quarlo (printed text) or 1 250- 1 300 fo l ios of pal m- leaf manuscripts . 1 9 1 The same information

was conveyed by Kulasuriya at a l ecture delivered by him in Sinhala on February 28, 1 992 at the John de Si lva Memorial theatre in Colombo at the invi tat i on of the Sri Lanka Sahitya Mandalaya . l 92

Students fol lowing Indo-Aryan courses at the University Col lege and researchers in relevant fields of study were fortunate i n the l ibrary resources available to them. The College l ibrary included a valuable bequest of books on Orielltalia from the l i bra ry of Professor T. W. Rhys-Davids presen ted by M rs. Rh ys- Davids . Another valuable col lect ion available in the library was that of A . Padmanahha , who died young , presented to the College by h is fat her Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam. ' 93 A much valued gi ft of books in Orielltalia made by Revd. Rambukwel le Siddhartha is acknowledged by the Principal of the Col lege in his report for the year 1 937-3 8 , 194 whi le M r. R . S . Enright, the Librarian reported the addit ion Revd. S iddhartha made to his generous donation the to l l owing year

1 90

19 1

1 92

193

1 94

Annual Report 1 989 . p . 1 6

Typescri pt of the paper circulated at the seminar. p . I

The text of thi s lecture on ' Edit ing A M anuscript: A review of some Prohlems '

was printed by the Sri Lanka Sah itya M andaJaya. On page 24 of th is puhlication which runs into 30 pages, Ku lasuriya states that he was unable 10 make use of

the edition prepared hy t he Universi ty students under the d i rez:lion of D . E. Hettiaratch i as he came to know of i t only after the completion of his own edj tion.

Prospectus 1 92 8-29 p. 1 8 ; Prospectus 1 944-46 p .69; For information about some col lections in the Library of the U n iwrs i ty of PeraJeni ya , see: Goonet ileke, H . A . I . ( 1 972) U ni versi ty of Ceylon, PeraJeniya Campus. Library Handbook p . 8

Ceylon. Administration Reports, 1 9 3 8 Part I V B 1 7

RATNA H A N D U R U KA N DE 305

by sending issues of the CaLcurta Review and seven other OOOkS. 195 Another donat ion made to the Orienta/hI sect ion of the l ibrary that year wa::; that of Volu mes 36 .. 40 of the Tripi taka publ ication by the Trustees of the Si mon H ev,Iavi tarana Beque:;L I%

By the t ime of the inception of the University in 1 942, the l i hrary contained some 32,000 volumes covering branches of leaming in the Facu l t ies of Oriental Studies, Arts and Science though noted as lacking in what may be called source-s. I<H Sev'eral uonat ions were made to the l ibrary during the subsequent years, The donors incl uded the Vice­Chancellor, Professors, Soc iet ies, prominent citizens , Trustees of Bequests, The Colo mho Apothecaries Co. Ltd . . Princ ipals of Schools, members of the clergy and former employees of the University , including a peon, James Appuhamy , the donor of 1 4 books. l98 Such gifts and acquisit ions made by purchase which are o f intere:;t to Orien tal ists, include the following : a set of the Madras University Tamil Lexicon gi ttt!d by M r. D . C . de Z. Wickramasinghe;l99 a co mplete set of the Indian Antiquary (72 volumes) and of the Joumal and Proceedi/;gs of the Royal Asiatic Sociery of Bengal (200 volumes) ; 200 a portrait of S i r Rabindranath Tagore presented by the . Calclltta Art

Society to the government of Ceylon for the benefit of tl:le U mversity , wh ich ha;; been hung in the library at Peradeniya as decided by the. University Counci l ; 201 , g collection

of Ceylon coins presented by Sir Thomas Vi l l iers;�2 a collection of approx imately 60 books including some rare Sanskr i t tex ts and hooks on Indian phi losophy , 30 pal m-leaf manuscripts and a copper-plate grant from the l ibrary of Gate Mudal iyar W . F .Gunawardhana, donated by his daughter, Mrs . A . F.Jayasuriya of the Wasala

195 Ceylon. Administrarion Reports , 1 939 Part IV B, I2

1 96 ibid B I I

1 97 Annual Report, 1 942. p. 8

1 98 Annual Report 1 943 . p . 8

199 Annual Report 1 942. p . 8

200 Annual Report 1 943 , p . 7

20 1 Anllual Report 1 944 , p . l S

;m ibid

•

ORI ENTALlA I N THE U N IV ERSITY 306

W alauwa, Mount Lavini a ; CO} around 2500 books on Cey l on History , Art and Archaeology , Travel etc. gifted by M r. Lesl ie de Saram in addit ion to a valuable and artistical ly i nteres t ing col lect ion of works of art to form the basis of a university museum ; 204 the important col lections of CeylolliaJla of Henry de Mel , W. A . de Si lva and Donald Ferguson donated to the l i brary ; 205 a much des ired set of the e(l.r1y volumes of the Epigmphia Illdiw , Vol s . I -XI X , the very rare Transactions ( 1 827- 1 8 3 5 ) and volumes I -X X ( 1 834-63) of the original series of the Journal of the RO,val Asiatic Society (�f Great Britain and Irel(llui, bought in London with the assistance of Dr. D . E . Hettiaratchi . w h o was there o n study leave at the t ime;:ID6 about 5 00 books on I ndian history purchased from the l i brary of Professor C.S . S i rinivasachari of A nnamalai University ;207 a collection of 1045 books on oriental subjects , some of them very rare , and o la leaf manuscripts which belonged to the li brary of Pandit Batuvantudave, gifteJ by his grandson M r U pali Batuvantudave;COt! volumes 29-42 of the Bulletin of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts , sent by Dr . Ananda K. Coomaraswa my ; 209 a number of valuable Arabic manuscripts. one of them considered unique, and a few printed books presented by Mr. Haj i Yusuf;2 10 some hooks and pamphlets from the l i brary of Professor E . H . Johnston gifted by the Indian Inst i tu te , Oxford;2 1 1 around 500 hooks and 200 journal s

203

204

207

208

210

::1 1

ibid p. 1 2 ; Allllual Reporl 1 949. p . 2 8

Afltlual Report 1 945 . p . 23 ; 1 947 . p. 1 6 ; 1 95 I . pp. 39 .54

G ooneti leke, H . A . I . ( 1 970) : A Bihl iography of Ceylon Vol . 1 . Swi tzerland . Inter Documentation Company . Preface. p. X l

Allllual Report 1 94 8 . p . 1 7

Al!nual Report 1 944 . p. l l ; 1 945 . p . 1 4

Annual Report 1 945 . p . 1 4

ibid

ibid

ibid

RATN A H A N DURUKANDE ____ _ ____ _ 307

and pamphlets from the l i brary of M rs. Rhys Davids donated by M i ss . Rhys Dav ids ; 2 1 2 approx i mate ly 600 hooks from Sir George Grierson 's own l ihrary and hooks purchased from the G �'iers()n fund, wh ich included a complete set of the puhl ications vf the Pal i Text Society , a set of the Journals of the Royal Asiatic Society of Crear Brirain and Ireland from 1 892- 1 940, a co mplete set of the Indian Atll iqumy and a set of the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal from the commencement;2 1 3

approximately 138 bound volumes and several co mmentaries on r.bhidhamma literature , which belonged to M rs . Helen Adeline D ias , later known as V ij i tha Upasika wa ,

presented hy her daughter M rs . Edmund Rod rigo;2 1 4a col lection of 1 99 ala leaf manuscripts purchased from Pand itha N . Dhammananda Thera of Wattegama ;2 1 5 3 ala leaf Sinhalese manuscrip ts donated by the Right Reverend Laksh man de Mel in memory

of Professor M . D . Ratnasuriya;2 1 6 a complete set of the available pub l ications of the Osmania Oriental Publ ications Bureau presented by Dr. A . C . M . SuJaiman of Colombo;2 1 7the books of Venerahle Polwatte Buddhadatta Maha Thera and M r. Martin Wickramasinghe presen ted by the authors ;2 18 the puhl ications of the Dharmapurfl

Adhinam (Tanjore) the Visvabharati (Santin iketan) and the Buddh ist Congress Tripitaka Trust /19a number of S inhalese books and periodicals presented hy Mr. S . D . de Lanerolle and also the Belydeflis Sillgaleasch Book: Katakhisma pOla , Colombo 1 7 3 8 ; 220a co\ lection of 655 books belonging to the late M r. W . M . Femando of M oratuwa consist ing of Sinhalese, Pal i and Sanskrit texts and works on Oriental History and

2 1 2 ihid

2 1 3 Annual Report 1 946 . p . 1 5

2 1 4 ihid

2 1 5 Annual Report 1 950. p . 3 3

2 1 6 Anllual Report 1 95 1 . p. 3 9

21 7 Annual Report 1 952 . p. 38

2 1 8 ibid p.39

2 1 9 ibid

220 ibid

___ __ ORIENTAUA IN T H E UNIV ERSITY 308

Li terature; 22 1 3 3 books of the Sallskrit Trivalldrum Series presented by M rs . S.

Mahesan ;222 tb� ent i re l ibrary of D r. EJ. Thomas , a former Head of the Depart ment of Oriental Languages of the Uni versiiJ oj' Cambridge and Li brarian of the Library of the Oriental Faculty, bequeathed by him to the University of Ceylon before his death i n 1 95 8 , 223 which, consisting of about 2300 books, mostly critical works on Buddhism, Sanskrit and Paii Literature and Phi lology amI several volumes of Thomas's note-books, was shi pped to Ceylon by his lawyer, the completion of a catalogue of the co/ II:'.-Ction having been undertaken by Dr. W . S . Karunaratne of the Department of Pali , who was then on study leave in England;m the Dr. Andreas Nel l Col lection of 260 volumes and 22 ala manuscri pts;225 and the personal l i brary of over 1 0 ,000 books of M uhandiram D . P . E . Hettiarachchi , a former Additional Assistant Registrar General of Ceylon, purchased in 1 968 for Rs. 35,000, which collection is currently being catalogued . n6

A rrangements were also made to acquire special kinds of material for the l ibrary from time to t ime. For i nstance, in the early fi ft ies, advantage was taken of the presence in England of Dr . P . E . E . Fernando of the Department of Sinhala to enlist h is help to seleCt tor photocopying i mportant Sinhala and Pal j Manuscripts i n the British M useum and to obtain lantern sl ides of all important Tnd ian antiquities in the India Office Library and in the Victoria and Albert M useum.m It was noted 10 1 945 that the l i brary was rapidly losi ng its status as a mere col lect ion of secondary works and that it was acquiring

221

222

223

224

225

226

Anl/ual Report 1954. p. 79

ibid p . 80

' Obi tuary Notice of E . J . Thomas' by S . C . Blok, Librarian . Published in the University of Ceyloll Review XVI II I -2 1 959 . pp.55-57

Allnual Report 1 956 . p .57

ibid p . 5 8

Gooneti leke, H . A . L ( 1 970) op. cit . p . x i ; Ceyloll. Administr(l{ion Reports 1948 Part I L5 . Also personal communicat ion by Ms. Daisy Seneviratne, presently of the Library Staff, who i s cataloguing the collection, and Mr . A Senadeera, the present Li brarian .

227 Annual Report 1953 p .53

. . �� . - .� ." .� . '"

RATNA HAN D U R U KAN D E 309

valuable source material for original research in Oriental S tudies . ":ll! The iibrary which contained a few 400 volumes when R. S. Enright was appo in ted Librarian al the Ceylon Un iversity College in 1 925 contaio,xl 80,000 books at the time of his death in N ovember 1 952 , when the process of removal of the col lection from College H ouse in Colombo to Peradeniya was almost complete . 229 Enr ight whose services were characterised by extreme conscientiousness has been described as a Librarian whose l i fe was in his work . :no The l ibrary continuoo to become a valuable reposl iory oJ' learning 111 the subsequent decades under the professional care of his successors: M r. S . c . Blok, Librarian from J 953 to 1 96 3 , whose father i ncidental ly was a Sinhala pundi t who wrote a small book on the grammar of the S inhala language early this century ; 2J I Mr. K . D . Somadasa, Librarian from 1 964 t o 1 970, whose catalogue of ola leaf manuscripts available in temple l ihraries in Sri Lanka232 has been of much profit to researchers and also has more i mportantly drawn the attention of the relevant authori t ies to the DcP, .. d of conserv ing them; and Mr. H . A . l . Gooneti leke, Librarian from i 97 1 to 1 979 whose magnum opus: A Bibliogr(Jphy of Ceylon, five volumes of which have been publ ished so far , is an indispensable tool for researchers concerned with a ll aspect of Sri Lankan stud!es. 233Gooneti leke ranked as one of .. the greatest Oriental ist hibliographers of al l

22B

229

2 3 1

233

Annual Report 1 945 p. 1 5

AnnuaL Report 1 952 pp. 5 , 3 8

Annual Report 1 952 p . 5

UnIversIty of Ceylon. Peradeniya Campus. Library HandbooK . 1 972 p.23 Information about Blok ' s fat her is from H . A . I . Gooneti leke. Persona l communication dated June 1 6 , 1 992 .

Somadasa. K . D .edited. Lallkm'e Puskola pot Itamavaliya (a publicat ion in

Sinhala) . Colombo . Department of Cultural Affairs . Part 1 . 1 9 5 9 ; Parts II and TI l . 1 964. Part I I I i ncludes information on Sri Lankan manuscripts kept in the B ritish M useum. For the years of M r . Somadasa' s service as Librarian see p . 23 of the Universi ty of Ceylon Lihrary Handbook . 1 972.

Goonet i leke, H . A . I . A B i hl iography of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). A systematic Guide to the Li terature on the Land, People, History and Culture. Volumes I-II 1 970 , 2nd edition 1 97 3 ; Vol. I I 1 1 976; Vo 1s . IV-V 1 983 Switzerland . Inter Documentati on Company . I n formation about M r . Goonet i leke's years of serv ice as Librarian was gi ven by M r. Senadeera, the present Librarian .

_------=O"-"RIENTALIA IN TH E U N I V ERSITY 3 lQ

t imes" by J . D . Pearson , Professor of Oriental Bihl iography in the Un iversity of

London , 234 WilS honoured by the U n iversity of Peradeniya by the conferment of the degree of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) at a General Convocation held on December 2 1 , 1 99 1 .

Mr. N . T . S . A . Senadeera , U n i versi ty Librarian si nce 1 982, stated recently that the collection of books available at the University Library ' Per<t.deniya surpasses even

that of the National A rchi ves of Sri Lanka. 235 He further noted that this was largely due to contri bu tions of books donated , gi fted and h�ueathed to the U n iversi ty by large­hearted indiv iduals from ti me to t ime , a statement amply substan tiated by the account of parts of the collection given earl ier in th is paper. Recognising the value of the col lect ion handed down by past generations, Mr Senadeera has ensured its preservation by having all valuable materials micro-filmed. He has also in i t iated plans for the construction of a

building so that more space i s avai lable for new acquisi t ions. One cannot rest content, however, with the present posi t ion relating to new acqui si t ions to the l ihrary , namely the

pauci ty of such acquisitions. Senadeera h imsel f notes the dearth of scholarly period i ca ls

in the l ibrary. Reviews , notices and articles publ i shed : n these period icals kept scholars informed at l east about the progress heing made in various branches of learning , even if the desired puhlications were not at hand. The lack of funds to meet the ever i ncreasing cost of books has adversely affected all departments of study in the Uni versity . The

allocation of the meagre funds made avai lahle for books on a pro rala basis, the cri terion hei ng the number of students read ing a part icular subject and the staff teach i ng or

researchi ng in it, a dec i sion recorded in the minutes of the 20th meet ing of the Arts Faculty Library Commi ttee held on 1 9 . 1 1 . 9 1 , wi l l have further di sast rous effects on Oriental S tud ies , iron ical ly an area in which the ex ist ing co l lec t ion is rich and copious .

The rapid advancement of knowledge in the field of Oriental leam i ng, as i n other areas of study , i s seen by a large number of publ ications brought ou t in India, Japan, Europe and U. S. A. One cannot over-emphasise the nee<..! to have access to at least some of these pUbl icat ions to update what is be ing taught and to ensure that ones own researches are not outdated . Three large-sca le pf(�iects undertaken hy oriental scholars in recent times

could relevantly be mentioned here. They are: A new His/Oly oj Indian Literature being

234 Goonet i leke, B . A . I . A B i bl iography of Ceylon. op. cit. VoL ! . Foreword .

235 In format ion at a press briefing reported by the Galagedara S pecial Corresponden t in the Dnily Nnvs of M onday Marc h , 30, 1 992.

RATNA H A N DUR U KANDE 3 1 1

publ ished in Europe under the general editorship of Jan Gonda wh ich supersedes the HistOJY of II/dian Literature hy M. Wintem itz; the new Sanskrir Dictiollary of His{orical Principles being compileJ at Poona which wil l surpass and r�plilce the Sansk rit Dictionary by Bohtl ingk IRoth ; and the New C(l{alogus Catalogorum begun unuer the direction of Dr. V. Raghavan which will take the place o f the good but outdated Catalogus CatalogorulIl by Th. Aufrecht .236 It is mandatory that a good l ihrary l ike that of Peradeniya should acquire puhlications arising out o f these projects as and when they appear. In this context, a strong plea has to he made for the setting up of a special Lihrary Fund in this Juhilee year and giving max i mum pUblicity to i t with the fervent hope that hibliophiles the world over and benefactors of the University would subscrihe to it in generous fash ion .

The excel lent resources of the lihrary were made use of by memhers of the

Facul t y of Oriental Studies and Arts of the University from the t ime o f its i nception . Permission was obtained in the early forties for a UnivC1'sity of Ceylon Review to be s tarted , to give an opportunity for the publ ication of their papers and to make avai lable to the people of the i sland a l i terary periodical of h igh standard .237 The first issue of volume I of th is journal appeared In April 1 943 unut:r the eui torship o f G . P. Malalasekera , fol lowed by the second issue of the volume in Novemher o f the same year. It was fel t that the list of publications appended to the Annual Report of 1 943 was due partly to the encouragement g iven hy the puhl icatiOri of the University of Ceyloll Review. 238 Issued as a quarterl y beginning in October 1 947, the Review , the annual subscription for wh ich was five rupees and the publication of which was the responsibil itj of the library , gave special emphasis to oriental cul ture. �9 Besides providing a meam of publication of smaller pieces of research undertaken hy the staff, the Review, alon� with the Ceyloll journal of Science enah leJ a large number of exchanges to he made. :W In spite of the movement of the University to Peradeniya which necessarily disruptec

216

237

Hahn , M ichael ( 1 977) : Haribhatta aJld Gopadatta . Studia Philologica Buddh ica . Occasional Paper Series 1 . Tokyo. The Reiyukai Librar� p. I

Annual Report 1 942 p. 7.

238 Annual Report 1 943 . p .7

239 Annual Report 1 947 p . 1 5 ; 1 94 8 p . 1 6 ; 1 949 p . 29

240 Annual Report 1 949 p . 29

OR I E NTA LIA I N THE U N I V ERSITY 3 1 2

many activi t ies for a short period , the ReI/jew con t i nued publ ication .2<l' The last issue of the Review appears to be that of vol ume XXV of 1 967 . The edi tors of this vo lume

were P . E . E . Fernando, W.J . F . Labrooy , and K . W . Goonewardena . Malalasekera was the

sale editor of volumes J and II two parts of each of wh ich were p rin ted in 1 943 and 1 944 . Volume III and subsequent volumes were edited by two or more edi tors represen ting the

two facul ties , Arts and Oriental S tud ies. Ed i tors who represented the Oriental Facul ty were O. H . de A. W ijesekera ( Vols . I I 1 -XII of 1 945-54) E. R . Sarachchand ra (Vol . V I I I of

1 950) , K. Kanapathipil lai and N . A. layaw ickrama (Vo ls . XlIJ - X V IU nos. 1 & 2 of 1955-

1960) , and P . E . E . Fernando (Vol . X V I I I nos. 3 & 4 - XXV of 1 960-67) . Only two issues

comprised a volume beg inning wi th Vol . XIX of 1 96 1 .

The Ceyloll Journal of the Humanil ies ) the first i ssue of wh ich appeared in January 1 970 under the ed i torsh ip of Kamal de Abrew of the Departmen t of Eng l ish ,

together w i th a journal devoted to the Soc ia l Sciences , superseded the University oj Ceylon Review. Only two volumes of this new journal appeared in print in 1 970-7 1 . It was succeeded by the Sri Lanka Journal of the Humal/ilies (SU H) Vol . J N o I of which,ed i ted by Professor R . A . L. H . Gunawardana of the Department of History , was puhl ished in

1 97 5 . Five volumes of this journal , wh ich is a bi -annual issue, were publ ished under

Gunawardana ' s edi torship. Professor Sirima Kiribamune, also of the Department of H istory , was the ed i tor of volu mes VJ-V I I I of this journal . Professor Merlin Peris of the

Department of Classical Languages , the present Editor of the Journal , has been respons ib le for i ts publication from vo l ume IX onwards . Volume X V I of the journa l is a

spec ial issue publ ished to commemora te Pro fessor D . E. H et t iara tchi , the guest-edi tors of th is issue being P rofessors K . N . O. D harmadasa and P . B . Meegask umbura .

Bes ides atknd ing to the task of advancing and Jis�emi nating knowledge through

thei r researches , the teachers of the un ivers ity addressed their minds to the educat ion of i ts undergraduate students by formu lating new courses and rev ising others from t i me to time . Trans i t i onal arrangements were made during the in i t ia l years of the un ivers i ty ' S ex istence. Undergraduates transferred from the University Co llege and those new ly admit ted in 1942 were to study for Cey lon degrees on London sy l labuses with mod ificati ons made by the Senate of the Un ivers ity . New courses of s tudy prescrihed for the Univers ity of Ceylon were to he fol lowed hy undergraduates ad mitted in 1 943 and

therea fter . 242

241 Annual Report 1 955 p. 55

Pro.�pectus 1 942-44 p A l

RATN A H A N D U R U KA N D E 3 J 3

The subj ects grouped under oriental languages prov ided for the University

Entrance Examination in 1 943 were Sanskri t , Pal i , Sinhalese, Tamil and Arabic . c43

Teaching of the first four languages i n th is l i st at the U ni versity Col lege and the reorganisation of the Department of Sanskri t , Pali and S i nha lese came up for discussion in this paper earl ier. Though there is no evidence of an interest or demand for the study of Arabic in the Uni versity College , a new Department of Arabic was thought to be necessary in the proposed Facul ty of Oriental Studies at the university. Plans were made to begin a course in Arabic , if there were students seeking i t , in July 1 943 .244 By 1 945 ,

Arabic was one of the ti ve departments in the faculty , the other fou r being Sinhala, PaE

Sanskrit and Tamil . Dr. S . A . lmam, M . A . (Al i garh) Ph . D . (Germany) was appoint ed to a lectureship i n 1 945 i n order to arrange Arabic studies at the university ?45 The University Court rat i fied the B . A . Degree (Arabic and Persian) at i ts meeting in November

1 946 . 246 Imam resigned his post in 1950 in orde� to joi n the Pakistan Foreign Service.

The demand for Arabic studies being much smaller than was anticipated , the prov ision

to be made for Arabic Studies was under considerat ion of the Senate and the Council i n 1 95 0 . 247 Syed Muhammed Yusuf M . A. Ph . D . (Al igarh) assu med duties a s Lecturer i n Arabic i n June 1 9 5 3 . An at tempt was made at this time to teach Arabic not only as a means to rel i gious knowledge but as a l iv ing language with due emphasis on its l i terary aspects and practical use i n speech and writ ing. It was noted that the Arabic section of the l ibrary at the time was quite inadequate for any kind of advanced study . 2411

An M. A Course i n Arabic was started for the first time i n 1 956.249 The lecturer in charge of the department left the service i n November 1959 .250 Imam, who was appointed Lecturer in Arabic once again in September 1 960, found on ly one student

243 ibid .p .�5

244 Anllual Report 1 942 pp . 3 . 1 7

145 A nllual Report 1 950 p.2; compare also A nn ual Report 1 960 pp. 7 . 7 6

246 Annual Report 1 946. p. 1 8

247 Annual Report 1 950 p . 2

248 Allllual Report 1 952 . p . 9 ; 1 95 3 . p . 5 5 ; 1 95 5 . p . 56

249 Allllual Reporl 1 956 . p . 5 8

250 An nual Report 1 959 . p . 7 5

!

I I I I

r I i

\

r

I

I i ,

i I

I \

________ O=-R"-'-'-=I E=..;...N.-,-,T--,-A-=-=L=I A:....:...-;..l l'l T H E U N I V E R S ITY 3 1 4

preparing for the Special Arts Degree in Arabic with Persian as the subsidiary subject . He opened Arabic and Persian c lasses for beginners that year. The nu mber of students who joined the cl asses were twel ve for Arabic and ten for Pers ial l . Besides teaching, Imam was engaged in research on Arabs in Ceylon .251 Lectures in Arabic were conducted either in English or in Arabic upto 1 96 5 , when the need was felt for providing courses through the Tamil medi um . Classes for first year students through the Tami} medium were started in the Colombo Campus of the University that year. c52 Howevtf, a:.; courses in blamic Civili zation were to be started shortly after\vards, it was considered desirable that the entire department should be housed in one place instead of distri but ing sections of it between Peradeniya and Colombo. 253 In 1 967-68, Mr. M . A . M . Shuk ri , who was teaching Arabic in Colombo , joined the department at Peradeniya and prov iuet! courses through the Tamil medium . 254 Dr.lmam went on leave the fol lowi ng year. 2.�5 With the declaration of the universit ies of Sr i Lanka as units or campuses of a single university under the University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1 972, arrangements for teach ing Arabic and Islamic Civil ization for first year students were made at the Vidyalankara Campus in October of that year. 25� Campuses of the Universi ty of Sri Lanka were converted to autonomous universit ies under the Uni versi t ies Act . No. 1 6 of 1 978. Not too long after thi� conversion , in October 1 9 80 to be precise , the Department of Arabic and Islamic Civ il i zat ion was transferred to the Dumbara Campus from the U niversity of Kelaniya. The

staff of the department at this t i me consisted of Dr. Shukri and three junior teachers . The few students transferred were following General Degree Courses in Arabic and Genera l and Special Degree Courses in Is lamic Civil ization. Due to the shortage of s taff, depletetl further by the resigna t ion of Dr. Shukri , registration for the Special Degrees was suspended from the academic year 1 98 1 . m The Dean of the Facu l ty of Arts took over

25 l

252

25)

254

255

256

257

Annual Report 1 960 pp. 7 , 76

Anllual Report 1 965 p . 76

Annual Report 1 966-67 p. 82

Anllual Reporl 1 967-68 p . 84

Annual Report 1 968-69 p . 1 02

Annual Report 1 972 p. l 7 8

Anllual Report 1 980. p.46 ; 1 9 8 J . p . 39 ; Dr . Imam had retired i n 1 97 5 (Personal

communication through M r. S . M . L. Marikkar, Visiting Lecturer, Department of Classical Languages , 1 99 2 . )

RATN A H A N DU R U K A N D E 3 1 5

the headship of the department , wh i le three probationary assistant lecturers cont inued to provide undergraduate courS(;t> in Arabic �nd Islamic Cu l ture . Over hund red students belonging to di fferen t years of study were following courses at this time.258 The staff situation remained the same in subsequen t years . I t cou ld not be said that the numbers taking Islamic C i vi l i zat ion were being adequately taught due to the inab i l i ty to recruit qualified staff, this being the result of the lack of qual i fied staff in the country itse lf. An attempt to get the serv ices o f a Professor from Banglauesh faileJ because the salaries paid at the time were · far too low even by Bangladesh standards. 259 The department functioned under the Dean of the facu l ty until Dr . Kamil Asad was appointed Head of the department in September 1 990.2(() Kamil Asad was one of the Assistant lecturers who came from Kelan iya to the Dumbara campus at the t ime of the trans fer of the department in 1 9 80 . 261 Unl ike in the early years , Arabic and Islamic Civi l iz..ation have become very popular subjects in recent t imes . The number fol lowing courses in these two d iscip l i nes in 1990-9 1 was 456 .262 However, there has been no correspond i ng increase of teachers . The re-establish ment of the department, which had the status of a sub­department,as a full-fledged department was approveJ by the Universi ty G rants Commission in 1 99 1 . 263

Instruct ion at the Oriental Faculty was not l i miteJ to General and Special Degree courses i n each subject . A certi ficate course cal led Vidya Visharada was inst i tuted in 1 94 1 a s a three year course using the meJium o f Sinhalese. 2M This course enahled erudite monks who otherwise would have had no opportunity of coming into contact with the univers i ty to gain a useful orientation in the modem approach to the .sul�iects of their

258 Anllual Report 1 982 p .40

259 Annual Report 1 986 p. 1 6

260 Annual Report 1 990 p. 1 4

261 Antlual Report 1 9 80.p.46

262 Annual Report 1990. p. 1 4

263 M inutes of the 1 39th meet ing of the Senate held on M ay 1 5 , 1 99 1 . Section 1 39 . 3 . 1 0

264 AIII/ual ReporE 1 942. Appendix 1 . p. 1 7

_------.:::O::..!..R!.!-I E=N�T!....!A--,-,L=I�A I N T H E U N I Y ERSITY

st udy . 265 I t was reported in 1942 that th� courSe which achieved i ts l i mi ted ai ms had

shown the possibi l i ty of a general cu l tural course through the medium of Sinhalese . The Senate considered the po:::sihil i ty of r�pJac i ng it i n 1 944 hy a fu l l degree cou rse to be known in Eng l i sh as that of the Bachelor of Oriental Studies ( B . O . S . ) and in S inha lese as the degree of Vidya Visharnda . ,"M Efforts were made in 1 94 1 to ins t i tute a course in Tamil simi lar to the Vid)'a Vishamda course i n S i nhalese hut th.ere were n n appi icants . The Senate fel t however that a degree cou rse in Tam i l for the degree of B . O . S . shou ld he insti tuted. 267 The Faculty of Oriental Studies and the Senate gave much attention in 1945 to proposa l s for a new Vidya Visharada Course in Sinhalese and to a Vidwan Course in Tam i l , using Sinhalese and Tamil respec tively as med ia. The necessary Acts were

approved by the Counc i l .268 These courses leading to d iplomas were siarted in 1946 .269

. .

A two-year course leading to a cert i ficate in Sanskri t wa:s ir'ist i tuted on the reconunendat ion of the Faculty of Orien tal Studies in 1 963 , for wh ich on ly one student enrolled that yearYo

The Facu l ty of Oriental Stud i es wel comed scholars of repu te who visi ted the university from t i me to t i me and invi ted them to de l iver lectur� on relevant theme� . Among those who gave such lectures in the fi fties were Professors H . W . Bailey , R . N . Dandekar, Guiseppe Tucc i and Raplh Turn�r yJ The members of the Oriental Facu l ty were ex tra busy during th� period of the change of the meJium of instruction from English to S i nhala and Tami l . They wro t� grammars anJ hi stories of l i terature In these two languages anJ compiled readers for use in their own departments. The Sinhala department conducted weekly classes at this t ime for those members of the un i versi ty staff who were keen on acquiring a knowledge of Sinhalese. Member� o f the staff helped the Departmen ts of Swabhasha and of Ofticial Languages in coinmg and rev ising techn ica l

265 M u tukumara , N ems i ri ( 1 98 1 ) op. cir. 1' . 22

266 Annual Report 1 942 Append i x l . p. 1 7

267 ibid

268 Anllual Repor[ 1 945 p . 7

2{f} Annual Reporl 1 946 p .7

270 Annual Report 1963 p . 1 7

271 Allllual Report 1 957 . p . 1 6 ; 1 958 . p . 1 7 and personal recol lect ion.

RATN A H A N D U R U K A N D� 3 1 7

terms needed for teach ing various subject.s at the university level . Pro fessor P . E . E . Fernando of the Sinhala Department U';iiS the On' cer-i r -charge of the Swabhasha office. 272

There were a number of scho larsh ips and pri zes available for award at the university to students who excel led in their studies. The number of endowed prizes available at the beginning of the year 1 949 was twenty-five.273 The:;e incl uded the Muua liyar Waidyasekara Prize for Pali founded at University ColJege in 1 928 by M r . W . Daniel Fernando Waidyasekara. Veda M lJdal iyar , the Don Phi l i p Wijewardena Prize for S inhalese founded in 1 9 4 1 by M r . D . R . Wijewardena in memory of his father Mr. Don Phi l ip Wij ewardena and the Ponnambalam Mudal iyar Prize founded under the will of Sir P. Arunachalam for a thesi s in the Tamil Language, its Li terature and its Philosophy presented for the degree of M . A . , Ph . D . or D . Litt . 274 To these were added the Murugaser Tambyah Memorial Pri ze for Sanskrit established by Mrs. S . Tambyah in memory of her husband to be awarded from 1 95 1 onwards,:m the Dr. C . A . Hewavi tharane M emor ial Prize in Sanskrit founded by M rs . Hewavi thanme i n 1 95 1 , i n memory ot her husband. D r . C . A . Hewav ltarane FRCS . Eng. LR C P . London , and the Woodward Prize for Pal i276 made poss ible from an endowment establ ished by the M ahinda college Old Boys' Union to commemorate the services in Cey lon of M r. F . L . Woodward , a Pali scholar, who was the Pr incipa l of the Col lege from 1 903 to 1 9 1 9 .:m

The benefactors of the un iversi ty were also conscious of the need to provide

accommodation to Buddhist monks who i n eariy t imes invariably be\onge.J to the Facu lty of Oriental Studies. The Ceylon Universi ty Sangharama and Vihara Trust was created by M r . D . R . Wijewardene for put t ing up a s(1ngh(1rama, res idence t(>r Buddhist monks, amI

272 Anllual Report 1 955 . p . 57 ; 1 960 .p . 79; 1 96 3 . p .64; 1 965 . p . 7 8

273 Annual Report 1 949 . pp. 19 ,20

274 Prospectus 1 944-46 pp. 66-67

275 Anllual Report 1 949 . pp.20 , 3 6

276 Anllual Report 1 95 1 . p . 52

277 Pandita Gunewardene D . H . (No.date) F. L. Woodward. OUI of his life and thought Colombo . Wesley Press. pp. 1 4 ,33 ,62 , ff

ORIENTA LJ A IN TH E U N J V ERSITY 3 1 8

a vihara (temple) in Peradeniya. 2 78 Among the students who moved to Peraden i ya i n 1 952 were 2 7 monks. Si nce they could not be req ui red to live with other students i n hal l s o f residence , they were given exempt ion from residence . On representations bei ng made that most of these students were unable to find accomodation in neighbouring temples , i t was agreed that a house be prov ided under the management of a committee of Buddhist members of the staff. This arrangement was meant to be temporary , awai ting the erection of the sangharama . 279

Besides readi ng for their degrees, the undergraduates of the un iversi ty engaged themselves in extra-curricular activi ties as members of one or more societies. The number of societies known to have been act ive had r�portedly i ncreased from 20 in 1947 to 25 in 1948. The act ivity of a part icular society in any part icular year depended on the quality of leadership displayed by the senior students and the stimulus prov ided by the members of the staff. 2W Lectures delivered by invi ted guests, reading of papers followed by

discussions, debates, staging of p lays , concerts and variety programmes, exh ibi tions of drawings and paintings, publ ication of magazines , excursions , soci al gatherings , social

work and sports were the activi ties of these f'o(' ietie� as recorded in the annual reports of

t he forties and the fifties .

In 1 946 , the Faculty of Oriental Studies Society was organised with the aim of

inducing the students of the Faculty to take a greater share in the activities of the unjversity . The Facul ty won the inter-faculty vol ley-ball contest that year, a matter that was considered \'v'orth men t ioning as i t used to win the booby pri ze in most sports activities . 281 Among other societies patroniz� by members of the Oriental Facu lty were the Sinhalese Society , the Tami l Society , the Indological Society , the Muslim Students' Maj lis, the Buddhist B rotherhood , the H indu Students Union and the Mela. It was noted earlier that students reading for the Indo-Aryan degree at the University Col lege, who

played a leading role in the activities of the Si nhalese Society , were concerned about

expanding the membership to include students of other departments. By 1 949 , this Society had 304 members among whom were people with names l ike Lock , Bock, Zareem, Lati ff,

278 Anllual Report 1 946 .p.22

27'1 Annual Report 1 952. p . 34

280 Annual Report 1948.p .20

28 1 Annual Report 1 946 . p . 30

________________ �R�A�T�N�A�H�A�N DURU==K�A�N=D=E ____ __ __� 3 1'?

Nadaraja and Sundaralingam, indicative of the mul ti-ethn ic character of the membership282. Likewise, the Tamil Society had a number of Sinhalese and Muslim members ,283 wh ile the membership of the Hmdu Students' Movement included Buddhists , Christians and Musli ms.284 In the year 1 958-59 , one of the office-bearers of the Buddhist B ro therhood was Mr. A . N . Singaravelu , a Tamil as the name suggests . 285 The Muslim Students ' Majlis carri.ed out an ambitious programme in 1 944 . Though these societies were concerned with thelr respective cuitures, they Were not racially e elusive in their social functions . 286 The Sinhala and Tamil Societies had annual socials which were assembl ies of Sinhalese and Tamil students, though guests of other communities were invited . The cost o f these socials were met by Sinhala and Tamil members of the staff respectivel y . The Board of Residence and Discipline (BRD) advised that monetary contribution by the staff on a communal basis was undesi rable. The staff accepted the advice of the BRD and both societ ies decided not to organise such socials.287

In 1 947, the Sinhala and Tamil Soc ieties and the Maj l is were granted authority by the BRD to produce magazines. The M aj hs brought out the first number of thei r

magazine devoted to Islamic culture, in English, 1ll the same year. The Tamii So-:,iety raised funds by producing a play in 1 947 to publish thei r magazine the following year. 288 The magazine in Sinhalese to be produced by the Sinhaiese Society was intended to give greater scope for original work in S inhalese. The fi rst number was to be issued in 1 948.289 In the 1 949/50 issue of this magazine called Piyavara (Step), the Secretary of the Society , T . L. C . Peiris , described the Sinhalese Society as a smaH association with a membership of about three hundred , an increase from the previous year's two hundred and forty . While noting that teachers of the S inhalese , Pali and Sanskrit departments gave

282 Annual Report 1 949 p . SO

283 Annual Report 1 948 p . 3 5 ; 1949 . p . 50

284 Annual Report 1 949 p.50

285 Jayasundara Daya . edited . University Buddhist Annual Vo1 . 9 . 1 95 8-59 p . 63

286 Annual Report 1944 p. l 3

2537 Annual Report 1 946 pp. 30,3 1 ; 1 947 . p . 33

288 Annual Report 1 947. p . 3 3

289 ibid

\

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ORIEN TA LIA IN TH E U N I VERSITY _______ 320

advice regarding all act ivities of the Society , M r. Peiris expressed his grati(ude to J . L. C. Rodrigo , Professor of West em Classics, who, as Senior Treasurer, helped the Society and encouraged the members in great measure.290 Among other teachers from outside the Oriental Faculty who w�re Senior Treasurers of the Society in subsequent years were Drs. H . N . C . Fonseka291 and Gerald Pieris,292 both geographers . In the 1950-5 1 i ssue of Piyavara, the fourth to be published , the Secretary, Sisil I lIangakoon. makes special mention of the interest taken in the activities of the Society by st uuell t� following tht) Vidya Visharada course. The number of members of the Society during the year was three hundred and eighty . 293 The magazine was popular among readers both in the uni versity

and outside according to the editor of the 1 95 1 -52 issue.294 Piyavara was published fai rly regularly in the fifties and the sixties, the 1 969-70 issue being the twenty- first . 111e editor of the twen ty-thi rd number published in 1 972-7 3 , Revd . Tammannave Somaloka, reported that the Society could not publi sh the magazine the previous year and predicted that perhaps the issue he edited might be the last , for the Sinhalese Departmen t which was largely responsible for the publicat ion was most adversely affected by the re-organi sation of courses in the un iversi ty being carried out at the t i me. The Sinhalese Society arranged a seminar at the Arts Theatre on August 29th 1 9 72 to protest against this re-orgaOlsation of higher education . The participants in this seminar i ncluded Professors E. R. Sarachchandra, P. E . E . Fernando and M . B . Ariyapala of the Sinhala Department , Professor Ashley Halpe of the Engl ish Department and Dr. P. D. Premasiri o f the Department of Pali and Buddhist S tudies . Revd . Somaloka also appealed to the students learning through the medium of Si nhala to 'protect' the Sinhalese Society . 295 That this appeal did not fall on deaf years at least for some t ime is proved by the appearance of the twenty-fifth number of the magazine in 1 976-77 . The Senior Treasurer of the Society this year was Dr. Udaya Meddegama of the Department of Sinhala. In 1992, the students of the Si nhala Department have shown an interest in reviving the S inhala Society 's magazine,

2ro pp. 9 1 , 92 of Piyavara 1949-50. The title page of the only copy of this issue kept in the Reserve Collection of the Peradeniya University Library is missing. But a note on p.56 indicates that it is the 1949-50 issue.

291 Piya vara 1 964 (Sixteenth issue) p.288

292 Piyavara 1967-68 (nineteenth issue) p . 20 1 ; 1968-69 (twe�tieth issue)p . 289

293 pp . 1 5 , 1 6 ,95

294 p . 7 4

295 Piya vara 1 972-73 pp .7 ,96

, 1 ....

RATNA HANDURU KANDE 3 2 1

which h a s not been published for some years. They arranged the staging of a play a t the Open Air Theatre in the month of April to raise funds for this purpose.

The maiden issue of the annual magazine of the Buddhist Brotherhood , edi ted by Ananda Guruge, was published as the number for 1 948-49 , under the name Patipada , Path or Way Guruge invited contributors to wri te their articles in Sinhalese, Tamil or English . The few articles in Sinhalese received in response were however no pr' nted due to l ack of space. No contributions in Tami l appear to have been received . Information about the Ceylon University Buddhist Brotherhood is contained in this issue of Patipada. Inaugurated on 4th November 1 940 as an academic society , i t expanded into one that takes part in social activities as wel l . In 1 943 , the Buddhist Brotherhood was reorganised, the number of office-bearers increased and the activities diversified . S teps were taken to see that the activities of the Society were not confined to the precincts of the University. Pali classes were conducted for those interested . Anniversary lectures were printed and made avai lable on the day the lectures were delivered. A l ibrary was founded with the g ift of a book-case hy Mr. Daya Hewavitarane. 2% Volume II ( 1 949-50) of the Patipada was edited by W , S . Karunaratne, who later became the first Professor of Buddhist Phi losophy at the University of Ceylon, while S . L . Kekulawala, a Sanskri tist , who at the t i me of his death was V ice-Chancellor of the V idyalankara University , now the UOlversity of Kelaniya, edited Volume III ( 1 95 1 -52) , The name Patipada was changed in volume I V , the 1952-53 i ssue o f the magazine, the new name given being Th e Uni versity Buddhist. Ridgeway Tillekaratne, the editor of this issue, another Sanskri tist who joined the Ceylon Civil Serv i ce, explaining the reason for the change of name, stated that the title pafipada , " though very grand and apt for a magazine,was largely unintelligible to the reading publ ic " . 297 Number 6 ( 1 955-56) of The University Buddhist ed ited by M . H . Gunatilaka , presen tly of the staff of the Univers ity of Kelaniya, was published as a Buddha Jayanti Souvenir . The membership of the Buddhist Brotherhood was over six hundred at the time of publication of volume 9( 195 8-59) of this magazine. The name Palipada was adopted agai n in No. 19 of the magazine published in Sinhala, in 1969, where the editor, L K. Weerasena , cal ls i t a meaningful title given by the founder-ed itor, Ananda Guruge,

Bharati was the title of the magazine of the Sanskrit Society , the inaugural meeting of which was addressed by Louis Renou of the University of Paris at the end of 1 94 8 . It was noted earlier that Professor Betty Heimann delIvered the first anniversary

296 Patipada VoL I . 1948-49 pp . 4 , l l , 1 2

297 Editorial Notes p .9

\ I

ORJ ENTALJ A I N TH E U N I V ERSITY . __ _ 322

lecture of this society , also known as the parisad (Assemhly) , in 1 949 . This societ y , alS0 called the Indological Society , had a new constitution approved in 1 95 1 . Membership of the society increased from thirty in 1 95 1 to sixty-seven i n 1 952, the year in which the society arranged for sect ions of the Sanskrit lyrical poem, the Gi tagovinda of JayaJeva, to be sung to a crowded house . � An unnumbered and undated issue of Sham/i, edited by Ridgeway Til lekaratne, stated to be the annual magazine of the Ceylon University Sanskrit Society , could be dated to the early fi fties jUdging hy the a mes of the f )ffce­bearers of the society given in i t . c<)9 The articles in this publication , all of which are in Sinhala, include an editorial on I ndo-Lanka Relations and a Sinhala version of an article by O. H. de A. Wijesekera , the patron of the society , on the teach ing of Sanskrit at the University . This appears to be a translation of W�jesekera 's inaugural address referred to earlier in this paper. Art icles in Sinhala , Tami l and Engl ish are included in the 1 957-5 8 issue o f Bhamti , which the Commi ttee of the lndological Society descrihes a s its " official journal which was long overdue. " In a message printed in this issue of the magazine, O . H . de A. Wijesekera, the patron , noted that the society had become far more active than i t was a few years earlier; that it had widened its range of activities and gained a larger circle o f members; that the membership was not restricted to one or two departments of study but had spread to every section of the faculty ; and that this was no cause for surprise considering the importance attached to the national languages and culture at the ti me . Malalasekera, who as we noted earlier hoped in 1 93 3 that women would play an important part in the " renaissance of Sinhalese culture" , must have heen happy to read the woman edi tor of this issue of Bhamti, Damayanthi Wijekoon , concluding her editorial on the theme: Our cul ture needs planning and research , with the " fervent hope and sanguine expectation that the men and women of the University of Ceylon will play their rightful part in hri nging about a genuine interest in the cultural renaissance of the country " . The national languages are represented by an article III each l anguage in the 1 958-59 issue of Bhamli , which the patron of the society described as a " learned " j ournal of excellence . The secretary of the society noted that the members took a keen interest in i ts act ivities. D . J . Kalllpahana, who subsequentlyjoinecl the teaching staff of the universi ty, was the president of the society at the t ime.

29t! Annual Report 1 948 p . 3 6 ; 1 95 1 p . 7 2 ; 1 952 p . 85

299 Colombo. M . D. Gunasena and Co. 65 pages. No date. A copy of this issue is i n my possesion. Only two issues of this magazine, those of 1 957-58 and 1958-59 are available at the University Library , Peradeniya .

. " - .�

, __ �R=A�T. NA HANDURUKANDE 323

The Mela, wh ich Sanskrit word means an assembly and also a musical scale,3()() referred to as the Oriental Arts Society by Siri Gunasinghe, OIIG-time office- bearer of the

association,3OJ was concerned with the fosteri ng of the arts. Its activit ies as reported in

1947 included classes in oriental music and dancing conducted by Mr. Ananda Samarakone , Sangi t Visarad Suni l Shanta and Sri Prema Kumar ; a song and dance recital including eighteen i tems of which four were by members of the Mela; and an art exhibi tion of 1 02 d rawings and paintings prov ided by ten members of the society . 302 Participat ion in various extra-curricular act ivi ties no doubt helped in the training of students to accept the responsibili ties of leadership in the public serv ice, the professions,

commerce and industry, and social l i fe generally> which the university considered was i ts primary responsi bil i ty .303

The University was also concerned with the promotion of post--graduate studies. The council noted an increase in the number of post-graduate students in 1 943 , a

continuat ion of which increase it hoped would provide a more balanced population , especially in the facul t.ies of Oriental Studies. Arts and Science, where the undergraduates had tended to predominate .304 However, it was noted in the following year that prospects of easy employment after graduation , the a ttraction of the Civil Serv'ice, and a number of students go ing overseas on Government Un iversi ty Scholarships . generally to study subjects for which faci l i ties were not available in Ceylon , caused the number of graduate students to fall . 305

By 1 95 1 , a l l the vacancies to the staff of the university were fi lled by persons whose tirst degrees were taken in Ceylon. The disadvantages of this arrangement were offset by the generous provision for study leave by the Council and the Court . Very exceptional cases apart , no person was appo inted to the permanent staff until he or she

300

30J

302

30)

304

305

Monier Monier-Wi lliams . A Sanskrit-English Dict;ollmy S .v . Mela

Gunasinghe,Siri . From Colombo wi th Jove to Peradeniya. Uni versity of

Ceylon/Uni versity of Peradeniya. Golden Jubilee Souvenir 1942-1992. p . 34

Annual Report 1 947 . p. 3 3

University of Ceylon. Report Oil fhe Premillary Examination. December 1 950. The Ceylon Universi ty Press. Introduction p. l

Annual Report 1 943. p . 5

Annual Report 1 944. p . 9

I r

[. i

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O R I E NTALIA I N T H E U N I VERSIT Y 324

gained experience in another university or insti tu tion of university status . . )()6 It was the. School of Oriental (later Or iental and African) Studies (SOAS) where most of the young

lecturers were trained. They and the senior scholar:; usually retumeJ to the same place to spend their sabbatical leave. There were priva te arrangements for the exchange of teachers

with the SOAS . For instance, arrangemen ts were made for Professor Ray to teach in London in 1 95 1 -52 and M r La Brooy in 1 952-53 while the un iversity was to receive Dr. AL Basham in 1 95 1 -52 and (possibly) a M r . Ti nker in 1952-53 in exchange . :l07 The close reiat ionship between the SOAS and the Facully of Oriental Studies of the University of Cey lon was favourably commented upon in a report of the I nter-departmental Conunission of Enquiry on Orienta l , Slavonic, East-European and African Stud ies published by the Foreign Office of the Uni ted K ingdom in the late forties . .lOO That the association between the Univers ity of London and the Un iversi ty of Cey lon , " and in particular between the School of Oriental Studies and the Oriental and H istory Facult ies "

of the Cey lon University was strong in the fifties was attested by Sir Ra lph Turner at the Convocation Address3O'> del ivered by him on November 1 5 , 195 8 at Peradeniya, the occasion on which he was made a Doctor of the lln iversi ty of Ceylon. " And now that

I return once more to Cey lon , " he said "what could a teacher \'iant !'Hore? For, here in the Oriental Faculty and in the Dic tionary Department , I find myself surrounded by my pupi ls , and my pupils' pupils, sisyas and prasisyas to use a Sanskrit term, instructing and inspiring younger generat ions " . More recently , the Dean of the FacuJty of Arts of the Universi ty of Peradeniya had the occasion to refer to the long and close association the U n iversity has had with the SOAS of London ) when he presented Dr. J . D . G .de Casparis ,

an authority on Asian h istory and cul ture, under whose supervision " most of the senior

teachers of pre-colonial hi story at Sri Lankan universi t ies completed their doctoral

research , " for t he conferment of the degree of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) at a convocation held on 22 December 1 990, at Peradeni ya .3 l O Professors K . W .Goonewardena , Leslie Gunawardana and Si ri ma Kiribamune, who nOOJi nat�1

306

307

.lOO

309

3 1 0

Annual Report 195 1 . p . 8

Annual Report 1 95 1 . p. 9

Annual Report 1947 . p . 5

Printed i n the University of Ceyloll Review VoI . X V I INos . 3 and 4 ( 1 958) pp. 65-69

Univers ity of Peradeniya.

Proceedings. pp. IV-VII

Genera l

. .

Convocation. 22 December 1 990

RATN A H A N D U R U KANDE __ 325

Professor de Casparis for the award of the honorary degree in the first instance ,) 1 1 have had their post-gradua te training at the SOAS and kept contact with the institut ion in subsequen t years. Casparis , l ike Turner. was surrounded by his sisyn:;, prasisY(ls and

associa tes during his vis i t to Sri Lanka to receive the honour in person.

Among those who had their post-graduate train ing i n oriental studies at the SOAS and other univerSI t ies In the U n i ted K ingdom, notably Oxford and Cambridge, were

Universi ty Government Scholars, some of whom were also attached to the universi ty . The at traction of the Ceylon Civil Service prevented a few men who won the prest igious award from making use of i t , while a few bri l l iant men and women placed in the fi rst class at the final examinat ions missed it on account of being over the age-l imi t , by a few months i n certain ins tances. Three women won the University Government Scholarship in Oriental Stud ies , i n successive years, in the fi ft ies: Ratna Handurukande in 1 955 ,

Dhammeswari Karunaratne (now W ickramasinghe) in 1 956 , and Maheswari Jesudasan (now Arulchelvam) in 1 95 7 . Quite unl ike Miss Supraman iam of the thi rties referred to

earlier in th i s paper, these three women with no affiliation to the university or any other insti tution, which made it ob l igatory for them to acqui re post-graduate qual ifications, made use of the opportun ity they had for furthering their stud ies , by joining the Universit ies of Cambridge , Oxford and London respectively. Two of them have returned to the groves of academe at Peraden iy a , after enriching experiences elsewhere, whi le the. th ird serves her alma mater, V isakha V idyalaya, as Vice-Principal , with a rare devotio!l deserved ly recogn ised . Chapters 9 and 10 of the dissertation submitted to the University of Cambridge by Yasmine Dias Bandaranal ke (now Gooneratne) , who won the Government University Scholarship of 1 95 8 for Arts, Engl ish being her subject , are of

i nterest to oriental scholars. m I t may he noted illfer alia that the fi rst woman to be placed in the first class in the history of the University Col lege was M iss E. H . G . La Brooy, who also read English. She was over the age-limit for the Arts Scholarsh ip , hut being awarded a special scholarsh ip by the government for further studies in the United Kingdom, she proposed to enter the Universi ty of Oxford .3 1 3 The dist inction of b�ing

3 1 1

)12

) 1 3

University of Peradeniya. Agenda o f the 1 34th Meeting o f the Senate held on 1 5 November, 1 990. pp . 5 8-59

English Literature ill Ceylon and the Development of all A ng lo-Ceylonese

Literature 1 8 1 5 - 1 87 8 . J une 1 962. Chapter 9: Translat ions ; Chapter 1 0 : James

de A lw is 1 823 - 1 878. Emerging in part from th is dissertat ion is Gooneratne's

publ ication: English Litemtute ill Ceylon 1815-1878. The Ceylon HislOrical

Journal Volume [ 4 . Ceylon Deh iwala . Tisara Pmkasakayo. First Ed it ion 1 968

Ceylon. Administration Reports 1 93 5 . Part I V B 4, 1 4

_______ -=O�R=IE=N_'_'T'_'_A�L='_'_'IA I N TH E U NIV E R S I TY 326 -----

the fi rst woman to be awarded the Govern ment U n i vers i ty Scholarship was gained by M iss. P . T. Dickman , a h istorian who graduated in 1 937-3 8 . .1 1 4

The associat ion that the Oriental Facul ty of the Ceylon Univers i ty Col lege and the Univers i ty has had w i th the Pal i Tex t Society ( PTS) is as c lose as that It had wi th the SOAS. We noted earl ier that Revd. Suriyagoda Sumangala had his edi tion of the Dhmnmapada pub! i �;hed hy the PTS in 1 9 1 4 , long befere the ;:;�J" h l i shmC'nt o f the University Col lege. Sri Lankans, bot h memhers of the clergy and laymen , had connections with the PTS fro m the t i me of its incept ion i n 1 88 1 for the purpose of

promoting the study of Pal i . 3 1 5 The Founder Presiden t of the Society was T. W. Rhys Davids ( 1 843 - 1 922) , a Bri t ish Civi l Servant in Sri Lanka from J 866 to 1 874, whose

relationship to Sri lankan Buddhism and Pali has been described as broadly analogous to that of Max Muller to India and Sanskri t . 3 1 6 Writing to the monthl y j ournal , the

Orielltalist, i n 1 884 , 3 1 7 L . c . W ijesinha says that the idea of printing and publ ishing the canonical books of the Buddhist Scriptures, the chief object of the society , originated with M r . Davids when he was at Gal le, employed i n the C i v i l Service of Cey l on . Wij esinha wa:s pka:seJ 10 note the names of about 7 3 Buddb i st monks and 25 layrnen , chief1y [rull1 the Southern and Western provinces , among the subscri bers to the society . This he

attri buted to the i nterest taken in promot ing the object of the Society by M r. Edmund G ooneratne, " Atapattu M udal iyar of Galle. a S inhalese gentleman of h i gh culture and attainments . " G ate M udal i yar Gooneratne. was for many years the h)Ca l Secretary of the

J I 4

3 1 5

3 1 6

3 1 7

Ceylon. Administration RepoJi's . 1 93 8 Part I V B7

For Information ahout this Society see the Journal (if the ?ali Text Sociery (J PTS) Vol . I X 1 98 1 . ed . K . R . Norman. London . Foreword by L B . Homer; J PTS 1 920-3 , pp . 1 -2 1 : The Pass ing of the Founuer. ( i . e. T. W . Rhys Davids) ; Saddhat issa , H . 'The Pali Tex t Society 's Centenary ' . 1 98 1 . Mahahodhi 87 . 1 979 . pp. 1 73 -4 ; Norman , K . R . ' The Pal i Text Soc iety 1 9 8 1 -86 . Jagajjyoli 1 9 86 pp. 4-8

Wickremaratne, Ananda ( 1 9 84 ) . The Genesis of all Oricll/a/isl. Thomas Wi lli{/m

Rhys Davids and Buddhism ill Sri Lanka. Delhi . M oti lal Banarsidass . 1 st ed i t ion 1 9 84 . Cover page. Preface. Introduct ion . page 1 3

Wijesinha , L. C . ( I 8 84) . The Oriclllalist . A monthly Journal o f Oriental

Literature, Arts and Sciences , Fol kl ore etc . edi ted hy Will iam Goonet i l l eke.

Kandy , Cey lon . Vo l . I Bomhay 1 88 4 . pp . 1 2- 1 7

RATNA H A N D U R U K A N D E ____ . ___ 327

PTS . 3 18 Gooneratne ' s editions of the Tela-kt1!aha-gatha and the Pajjamadhu were publ ished in the lournal ':/ the Pali Tex.t Sociery (1 PTS) in 1 884 and 1 8 87 respec tiveiy . 3 19 The Society a i se published his '?di tion of the VimanG vatthu in 1 8 86 , and that of the Dhatukatha with the commentary in 1 892., a revised reprint of which appeared

in 1 963 . Gooneratne is also credited with a translat ion into English of the fi rst book of the Anguttara Nikaya in 1 9 1 3 , which contained a rendering of i t s stanzas into Eng l ish

blank v�r s by . L. Woodward, the"then Fnnclpe . of lvI ahinda Col lege. Galie, who also

happened to be an active member of the Universi ty Movemen t . 320 A translation made

by Woodward of the Manual of a Mystic ( Yog a vacara 's Maf/ual) publ ished by the PTS in 1 9 1 6 contained an append i x by D . B . Jayatilaka. Woodward along with others listed the Pali Tipitaka Concordance which was arranged and ed i ted later by a Board of six scholars , one of whom was the Sri Lankan monk , Ven Dr. Hammalava Sacldhatissa.

The work of Sri Lankan Buddh i st monks puhlished by the PTS include Ven. N . Saddhananda's ed it ion of Saddhammasangaha JPTS 1 890; Veo . p, Dhammarama 's editions of Namarupasassa JPTS 1 9 1 5 - 1 6 , amI Sacc(lsankhepa JPTS . 1 9 17 - 1 9 ; Veo . A. P(olwatte) B uddhadhatta's edi tions of Nmnarupapariccheda JPTS . 1 9 1 3 - 1 4, Buddhadatta 's Manuals 2 vok 1 9 1 5 , t 928 printed as one vol ume in .1 980, the Vibha.nga Commentary 1923 , the Niddesa Commenfaty Yols. I- I I i 1 93 1 , 1 939 and 1 940, reprinted as one volume in 1 980, the Moha vicchedalli wi th A . K . Warder 196 1 , the lit/akalamah 1 962 and the English-Pali DictiolllllY 1 955 ; Y en H . Saddhatissa' s ed ition of the

Upasakajanalamkara 1 965 , his ed i ti on and translation of the Dasaoodhi.mrtuppattikatha 1 975 and Yen . Walpola Rahula's contri bu tion to the al ternate translation to K. R. Norman ' 5 Suttanipata translation 1 9 84. Venerable Drs. Hammala.va Saddhatissa and Walpola Rahula have also had the d istinction of being members of the PTS Counci l and the Commi ttee of Management of the PTS . It might be noted that Yen . Polwatte Buddhadatta, who , as not<>Al earlier, was a Visiting Lec tu rer at the Uni versity Col lege , has had several ar ticles

publ ished in the Uni versity of Ceylon Review , wh i le Yen. Rahula was a cont ribu tor to

its maiden issue . Ven . Saddhatissa had the degree of D . Li t t . (honoris cau.w) con ferred on

3 1 8

3 1 9

320

Pandita Gunewardene . D . H . (Date?) . F. L. Woo(ilvard. Our (if his life and Thoughr. Colombo. Wesley Press . No.date. p . 44

Information about the publications etc . of Gooneratne and others given below

is from: Pali Text Society. Lis! of Issues . 1 9 85

Panc1ita Gunewardene , D . H . op. cit. p.44

ORlENTAUA IN THE U N I V E RSITY 328

.. h i m by the University of Peradeni ya i n 1 9 8 1 . '21

The contribution made by lay scholars to the PTS is also noteworthy . Malalasekera' s e<:l it ion of the Mahavmnsrr-rika in 2 vols . publ ishe.cl In 1 935 , 1 936 was

described by Isaline B. Homer , President of the Soc iety from 1 959 to 1 98 1 as a fine cri t ical edition , a las t ing contribution to Pal i l iterature and a . . demanding undertak ing scrupulously carried out , with a long , learned and i l luminating . nt oJUC(iOll . " 1'� A valuable reference work l i sted among PTS i ssues is the DictiotlalY of Pali Proper Names compi led by Malalasekera , pub l ished i n 2 vols. in 1 937 and 1 93 8 , reprinted by the PTS in 1960. The 1 980 reprin t of the translation of Mahavamsa by W i l he l m Geiger assi sted

by Mabel H . Bode ( I 9 1 2) has an addendum by G . C . Mendis , a historian of the U n i versity

of Ceylon . Another Sri Lankan , P . O . Ratnatunga, col laborated with S . S . Dav idson in preparing an Index Volume to the Journals of the PTS which was publi shed in 1973 . C . E. Godakumbure, who at one time was a teacher in the Department of Sinhalese at the U n i versity of Ceylon prior to joi n ing the staff of SOAS , London , n 3 had his ed it ions of

the Apadafla Commentary, Hallha vallagallavihara vamsa and the Samantakuravallllafla

puhl ished by the PTS in 1 954, 1 956 anu 1 9 5 8 respect ively . N . A . Jayaw!ckrema, executive comm.i t tee member of the PTS from 1 965-74 , has been its representat ive in Sri Lanka since 1 974. 324 H i s studies publ ished by the PTS as at 1 985 are : Samalltapasadika, Bahirallidana ed . and tf . 1 962; linakalamali: tf. 1 968 repri ntcJ 1 97 8 ; Thupa mmsa ed . and t f . 1 97 1 ; Buddha vamm and Cariyapirako ed . 1 974; MillO/' AllIhologies of the Pali Catloll Part I V . Srories of the Mansiolls (in col laboration With 1. B .

Horner) 1 974 ; VifiU11WI'atth u and PefaWltlhu ed . 1 977 ; Kathavaflhu COn/mental)' ed . 1 979 . T h e d ist inction of being the ed i tor of the fi rst sub-commentary (rika) o n a canonical tex t

publ ished by the PTS was gained by a Sri Lankan woman scholar, Lily de Si lva, wh/J�/'; work on the Dighanikaya- atthakatha-tika runn ing in to 3 volumes was published Il1 1 970.

321

322

324

Gatare Dhammapala , Richard Gombnch , K . R . N orman . Edi ted ( 1 984) .Buddhisf Studies ill Honour of Hammala \'ll Saddhatissa. Sri Lanka. N ugegoda. U n iversity of Sri JayawarJenepura. p . 3

Mutuku mara , Nemsiri ( l 98 1 ) . op. cit p . 2 1 8 i n a speech made by Horner (>n A pril

24, 1977 at a Malalasekera Commemoration meet ing at the London Buddhist

V ihara .

Annual Report 1 943 p . 6 ; 1 947 . p. 4

Essays ill Hal/our of N. A. }ayawickrmw . Buddhist Philosophy alld Culture.

Edi tors . Dav id J . Kalupahana and W . G . Weeraratne. Kelan iya Sri Lanka.

1 98 7 . s. v . N . A . Jayawickrema. A Portrait .

. ..-. .

RATN A H A N D U R U KA N =-D.=E __ _ __________ 32.2

Selected Buddhi t texts in Sansk rit and Buddhist H y bri d Sansk ri t or t ranslat ions o f them h�ve also been pUhl isheJ by the PTS. Raina H anJt.:rukande 's edition and translat ion of the

Ma!licuda vadallo was publ ished in 1 967 in the S(/(Ted Books of (he Buddh ists series , in which series t ranslations of the Jofakamaia and Maha "m{u had al ready appeared . The tentative text of a Ti betan t ranslation of the Sanskrit d rama Lokmwndn , appended to

, ' ndu mkande 's study , which has suhsequently been su perseded by M ichael Hahn '� excel lent eclition of i t , 32� prompted a reviewer t o express the hope that the I- ' I i 'T' ,xt Society would increasingly become a Buddhist Text Society . 3]6

The Cey lon U n iv ersi ty graduates who had their post -graduate t rai n ing at the S OAS or elsewhere in Europe or in India in some instances may he called the second generation of teachers at the University. K . N . J ayatil leke ( 1 920- 1 970) , Professor of Ph ilosophy at t he t i me of his death , was a br i l l iant scholar of th i s generat ion. 327 He is best known to the world of scholarsh ip as the author of the Early Buddhist 77leory of Knowledge publ i shed in London in 1 96 3 , where he sought to evaluate the thought o f the Pali Canon from � new point of view and attemp ted to uncover t he epistemological foundation of Pali canonical thought . Another book "consti tuted o f the manuscripts of lectures and talks gi ven hy K . N. Jayat i l leke in 1 969 (mainly) on the rad io and el sewhere" , ed i ted by Ninian Smart , was also publ ished in London in 1 9 75 . The publ icat ion of a col lection of his schol a rly articles and a commemoration volume document ing his

ach ievements is long overdue . W.S. Karunaratne ( 1 929 - 1 986) , who showed promist� in the early y ears of his academic career. became the fi rst Professor of Buddhist Phi losophy at the University of Ceylon, Peraden iya, in 1 964, and later the Dean of the Faculty of Oriental S tudies. He was the Professor of Buddhist Stud ies at the Un iversi ty o f Kelaniya

325

326

127

Asiatische Forschullgen . Band 39 W iesbaden. Otto H arrassowi tz . i 974

J . W . de long in t he Indo-Irat/ ian Journal_ Vol . X I I I . N o . 2 . ( 1 97 1 ) p . 1 40

For information about K . N . J ayati l leke see the M inutes of the 5 1 st meet ing o t

the Senate held on 7th Apri l 1 97 1 , at which a vote o f condolence o n h i s death

was passed ; a pamphlet issued on 23 . 7 . 7 1 , the first anniversary of his death, hy

the Jayat i l leke Gunanusmarana Committee of the Universi ty of Cey lon, Peradeni ya; Art ic le by W . G . Weeraratne in the daily newspaper 771e Is/nlld o f

2 3 rd July 1 99 1 , o n wh ich day a commemoration meeting was held a t 5 . p. m. at the Sri Lanka Foundat ion Inst i tute, Colo mbo ; article by R . D . G u naratne in the Daily News of Ju ly 24 , 1 99 1 .

O R r ENT ALI A I N T H E U N I V ERSITY 330

at the t ime of his death in 1 9 86.P� Karunaratne ' s doctoral dissertat ion was published in

1 9 8 8 under the ti tle, The Theory of Causality it! Early Buddhism , 329 while a collection of articles wri tten by him in S i nh<1la \-,/as puhl ished the previolls year. })()

Among Oriental scholars of the University who have retired in recent years are the Sanskri tists : Jayadeva Tilakasiri , Emeritus Professor of the Un i versity of Peraden i y a,

whose achievements are documented in a fel i c i tation volume presented to h i m on January 9 , 1 992;33 1 M . H . F . ]ayasuriya , whose researches focussed on the B rahmanas earned for h i m a doctoral degree at the Un ivers i ty of Sorborme in Paris ,m and whose last appointment was that of Professor of Sanskri t at the University of Kelaniya; S iri Gunasinghe, who also holds a doctorate from the Sorbonne conferred on h i m for his work on the technique of Indian Paint ing and was a Professor in the Department of the History of Art in the Uni vers ity of V ictoria, Canada, from 1 972 onwards333 from which posi tion he retired recent l y ; Kailasanatha Kurukkal , wel l -versed i n t rad it ional Sanskrit learning , who worked for his doctorate at the University of Poona under the gu idance of R . N . Dandekar and was Professor of H indu Studies at the U n ivers ity of laffna/14 scholars of Pah and Buddhist Studies: N . A . Jayawickrema, Professor Emeritus, University of Peradeniya , Professor of Pal i and Buddhist Stud ies in the University of Kel aniya at retirement in 1 9 85 , whose dist inctions are recordeJ i n a fel iCi tation volu me presented to

328

329

330

33 1

332

334

For information about W.S . Karunaratne s� the Minutes of the 66th meeting of the Senate held on 20th March 1 9 86 at which a vote of condo lence on his death was passed ; A S inhala pamphlet : Kel(ll/iye sarnsa viyen Ill viglya minipah(lll(l " ed ited hy M . M . J . M arasinghe and publ ished by the Kelaniya U nivers i ty in 1 986; and the obituary notice in the Buddhisf Studies Review 3 1 1 1 986 p . 47

N ugegoda , Sri Lanka. Deepani Printers and Publ ishers .

Bauddha D(lYS(lfl(lya sah(l C(lraflaY(l , Colombo , God(lge saha sahodarayo. 1 9 87.

Abhinarulalla Papers on Indology B uddhism and Fine A rts , Edi ted by M. Palihawadana , S Weeratunga . M . H . Goonati l lake. Colomho, 1 99 1 .

Annual Report 195 1 p . 6

Anllual Report 1955 . p . l O ; 1 956 . p . 59 ; 1 972. p . 1 79

Annual Reporl 1 954 . p , 1 4 ; 1 956 . p . 5 9 ; 1 960. p . 7 8

R ATNA HAN D U RU KA�N�D�E� ________ __

3 3 1

h i m in 1 98 7 ,315 J . Dhirasekera , teacht:::r at the U nivers i t ies of Ceylon and of Toronto, Canada, a former ed i tor iu-chiefof the Buddhist Encyclopaedia clnJ Director of the Post­graduate Insti tute of Buddhist Studies , who, as Revd . Dhammavihari now fol lows the nIles of monastic d iscipl ine on which he once wrote a doctoral ui ssert ation , IJ\\ W . Pa�how, B .A.(Shanghai), M . A . (Yisva-bharat i ) , Ph. D. (Bombay) , Head o f Chi nese Studies in the University of Al lahabad before jo in ng the Universi ty of Cey lon in 1 95 3 , where h e taught Mahayana BuddhisM)7 unt i l he left Sri Lanka t o accept a Proressorshij) at the U niversity of Iowa in the Uni ted States; the Sinhala scholars: Ananda Salgado Kulasuriya, an alumnus of the Sorhonne, Professor Emeritus of the University ' of Peradeniya, who was conferred the state honou r of Kalakirti in 1992 and who is sti l l a familiar figure at scholarly gatherings at the Univers i ty of Peradeniya , P . E . E . fernando, President of the Peradeni ya Campus of t he Un iversi ty of Ceylon 1 9 74-75 ,338 who was Professor and Head of the Department of Sinhala at Peradeniya at ret irement in 1979, M . B . A riyapaJa , who rdi red as Professor of S i nhala at the University of Colombo, informiltion about whom is given in a fel ic i tati on volume presented to h i m in September

1 99 1 , 339 and D . J . Wijayaratne, Prore��or of Sinhala at the Univers ity of Kelaniya from 1 967 onw ard s, 340 in whose honour a fel icitation volume is be ing prepared under the edi torship of Bandu Gunasekara of the Universi ty of Kelaniya. Recai ling h is memories of a four-year stay at the University . J . B. Disanayaka of the University of Colombo g ives interesting information about the teachers of S inhala l is ted above and others l ike M . Sri

.)35

336

337

338

339

Essays ill HOllour of N. A. jayawickrema. op. cit .

Buddh ist Monastic Discipline. A s tudy of its origin and development !n relation to the Sutta and Y inaya Pi takas A thesis submitted to the University of Ceylon for the Degree of Doctor of Phi losophy. 1 964. Publ ished in Colombo i 9 8 1 .

Ullive':�ity of Ceyloll1 Un i versity ofPeradeniya. Goldell juhilee Sou venir 1 942-92; Annual report 1 95 3 . p . 56 ; 1 95 4 . p . l l ; for int()rmation about an earl ier visi t

of Pachow to Sri Lanka and his stay at Shanti n iketan, fnd i a , see. : Sarachchandra, Edi riwira ( 1 985) Pim ari sarasavi varalllak delllle. Colomho . Dayawamsa Jayakody and Co . pp . 9 3 , 1 09- 1 1 2 .

Uni versity qf Ceylon I University of Peradeniya. Golden Jubilee Souvenir op. cit . p . 1 3 8

M. B. Ariyapala Upahara Alllkaya Ed i tors . G . Hemapala Wijayawardh<llla et . al . Colombo. Un ivers i ty of Colombo. Department of Sinhala , 1 99 J .

Annual Report 1 966-67 p . 6

ORI ENTALIA I N TH E U N I Y E . ..:;...R=.S:....;IT'-'Y'--_ ___ . 33?

Rammandala , M . H . Peter de Silva and M . W. Sugatapa!a de SIlva .341 P . L . PrcmatiI Jeke, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Peradeniya, who ret ired in 1 989 and was

fel icitated for three decades of service to the department and the uni versity with a

festschrift tWed Perspecrives ill Archaeology, J4� made a notahle contribution in areas of i nterest to orientalists.

That Beven:) scholars named ab' ve were .erv i ng other universi t ies i n Sri . nka at the time of thei r retirement is indicative of the fact that staff in other higher cUucationaI insti tu tions in the i sland were drawn from among members of the Un ivers i ty of

Ceylon(Peradeniya) . However , some among them and several others left the U n iversi ty , not hy choice , but as a resul t of change in the organi sation and admin i st ration of the univers i t ies in Sri Lanka made under the University of Ceylon Act . No. I of 1 972. This act conv erted the universi t ies of Sri Lanka then functioning under the Higher Education

Act No. 20 of 1 966 into campuses of a si ngle university, the al leged main purpose of the

establishment of which was " the greater and more meaningful uti l i zation of the l imited resources available for higher education , " the most i mportant step that had to be taken to

achieve which was the: "rationali zation" of CQurses - {)f stuuyY3 How this "rationalization n affected the study of human i ties in general and oriental studies in part icular at the Un iversity of Peraden i ya could be best expressed by citing the annual

report of 1 972. which states that the fi rst step taken in rat ional izing courses of study " was the selection of students of the Peraden iya Campus in such a manner so as to preven t st udents offering suhj ects l i ke Pal i , Sanskri t , English , Buddhist Civi l ization , Western

C lassical Culture and simi lar humanit ies subjects being sent to Peradeniya" . The new policy of rat iona l izat ion was thus a disastrous blow to these stud ies . The Dean 'df the Faculty of Oriental Stud ies reported that the numher of students offering subjects tn the Department of Pali and Buddhist Civ i l ization at the Peraden iya campus in the year 1972 had dropped to the lowest poi nt on recoru since the founding of the former Url iversity of Ceylon. No students were admitted to read Buddhist Ph ilosophy that year consequen t to

' - . .. . .

341

342

343

D issanayake , J . B . ( 1 99 1 ) . Artic le in S inhala: Sa/"{/s(lI'i sevonf! si v vasarak. The

Sri Lankan dai ly newspaper Divayi//([. U n iversity of Pera<.len iya Golden Jubi l le Supplement July I , 1 99 1 p . 1 3 . Reprint in the U n i versi ty of Ceylooi Un ivers ity of Peradeniya Golden Juhi lee Souven i r pu blished in 1 992.

Anllual Report 1989. p . 1 5 ; 1 990. pp . 1 3 . 1 4; Leefal/al/da Premmilieke Festschrift

1 990. Edited Sudarshan Seneviratne , M oira Tampoe et. a l . U n ivers i ty of Peradeniya, Departmen t of Archaeology.

Annual Reporr 1 972 pp. 1 66, 1 67

!P'P.

-...

1M ...

""

l

R ATN A H A N D U R U K A N D E

the new policy o f rationalisation o f courses . J44 Humanities, Languages, Fine Arts and Buddhist Studies were assigned to the Vi dyalankara Campus desp ite Peradeniya having wel l -qua l i fied teachers and the best l i b rary resources for the study of these subJ'�c (S.

The academic communities of all the campuses protested vehement ly and voc iieroul;iy against the undamental changes introd uced in the University structure by the Universi ty of Ceylon Act No . 1 of 1972 . But no concessions were grantct.l . t. Dse i :l power. A number of teachers of the Oriental Facu l ty among others were transferred to the

Vidyal ankara campus which was declared to be the cen tre of exeel lence in Oriental Studies . Some teachers resigned their posts to accept un iversity posi t ions abroad . Oth t;rs "adj usted themselves to the si tuation by join ing departmen ts l ike those CJ.f Mass Communicat ion , Lingu istics or Sociology " as noted by Sarachchandra a decade later , 145 referring to the frustration experienced by teachers when su�ieds l i ke Sinhala , Pal i , Sanskrit and Buddhist Studies were "subiecteo to devaluation ,not a s a retlect ion of . � devaluation in society but art ificially " and were pronounced as not being social ly relevant . The few teachers who survived at Peraden iya were assigned to the Department o f Languages and Cultural Stud ies , which along wi th a department of Si nnaia pl0vid ing cou rses for the General Degree on ly , replaced a once flourish ing faculty of Oriental Stuoies with a long-stand ing reputation , " to provide supporting courses with sub­departments of Engl ish and Tamil " . Wi This department was however starved o f students not on ly by the procedure of al locat ion during in take in to un i versi t ies but also by a written th reat issued by the V ice-Chancel lor hi mself to the effect that the s tuden ts opting for courses �uch as Sinhala and Oriental Stud ies wou ld have to face the prospec t of bei ng left unemp loyed . Consequen t ly even the very few students who chose these cou rses abandoned them for others i n fearY7 The adverse effects of this most unfortunate period in the history of Oriental Studies at the Uni versity of Ceylon , were and are fel t strongly . Re­intro ducing the study of these suhjec ts remai ns a formi dable task , due to lack of trained staff and the unavai labi l ity of suitable candidates with the necessary background and motivat ion for recrui tmen t to be trained , even in the few instances where cadre positions exist, and also due to the number of students opt ing to read the cou rses be ing few , these

)<14

.145

]47

Annual Report 1 972 p. 1 7 8

Sarachchandra Ediriwi ra ( 1 982) Convocat ion Address. Cri sis i n the U n iversi t ies. Prill/ed ill the University of Ceylon / Uni l'ersity of Pemdelliya. Coldell Juhilee Souvellir 1 942- 1 992 pp. 1 25- 1 30

Allllual Report 1 972 p.20

Universiry of Pemdelliya. Council Paper CI l9 4 : 2 dated 1 5 . l 0 . 1 980 p . 4

>

ORI ENTA Ll A I N TH E U N I VERSITY __________ . __ ._�34

subjects being not yet joh-oriented .

Some �al! ltary changes beneficia l for Oriental SturJ ies fol lowed the enHct m<:>.nt of the Universi ties Act No. 16 of 1 918 which converted the campuses 01 the U m versity of Sri Lanka establ ished under the Act of 1 972 into autonomous universities. The estahl ishment of the Department of Pal i and Buddhist Stud ies and that of Classical

Languages in 1 980 W<lS an even t of importance in this respect An undergrau1 late course in F'ali was started and a Chai r in BudJhist S tud ies was establ i shtd the fol lowing year. 348

Lil y de S i lva , a First Class Honours graduate of the University of Cey lon and winner of the Woodward Prize for Pal i in 1 955 , whose many publ icat ions mclude a historical and rel igious study of the Buddhist ceremony of Paritta349 besides her doctoral dissertat ion ,

the Dighaniknya-atthakarha-tika , publ ished by the Pali Text Society in London , as noted earl ier, was appointed the first Professor and Head of the departmen t of Pali and Buddhist Studies . �so This department progressed steadi ly under her care over the years. The present Head of the Department, C. Witanachchi , whose keen interest and persi stent efforts i n the re-introduct ion and reten t ion of B uddhist Studies at the University of

Peradeniya have been largely successfu l , is at present fac ing the unen v i ah!e task of mai n taining standards while popularis ing the suhjec t .

I n h is report for 1 98 1 , the Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the U niversi ty o f Peraden iya noted a change i n govern ment pol icy which placed more emphasis and gave greater encouragement to the teach ing of Classical Languag�s . '-" The developments which made h i m come to this conclusion were the establ ishment of a Department of

Classical Languages in 1 9 80, as noted earl ier; the transfer of Dr. M erl i n Peris, a class icist

of repute from the Universi ty of Vidyalankara back to the Untvers ity of Peraden i ya ; the strengthen ing of the departmen t hy the addi tion to i t of Dr. D. P. M . V/eerakkody , a teacher and a keen researcher o f Western Classics, from the U ni vers i ty " f Kdaniya anu a Sanskritist wi th research interests in H indu Studies , Dr. M aheswari Arulchelvam, from

the University of Jaffna; the dec ision of the Sena te to retain the Chai r of Sanskrit vacated by Professor J . Ti lakasi ri i n 1 9 80 on reti rement from service after .(1 long and

348

349

J.'iO

351

Annual Report 1 98 1 . p . 40

De Silva. Li ly ( 1 98 1 ) Pm·illa . Spolia Zeyiallica. Bullefill of the Natiollal

Museums of Sri Lalliw. Vol . 36 . Part i Colomho

Allllual Report 1 98 \ . p . 3 8 ; 1 982. p . 228

Anl/ual Report 1 9 8 1 . p . 3 8

·4ik!.

RATN A H A N DU R U KA N D E ___ ---"3 35

distinguished career, and to restore the Chair in Western Classics, 1.12 which chai rs were . fi l led subsequently by the appoin tment of Ratna Hanuurukande and Merl in Peris

respectively . Merlin Peris , Head of the Department of Classical Languages since 1 9 80,353 has t ime and again drawn attention to the necess ity of hearing in mind that h i s department deals with "two completely distinct d i sciplines , one that of Western Classics

and the other Sanskrit, the two yoked together by a fiat under a sing le atlmi nistration but academically kaching their programmes independen t ly of each 0 1er" .,54 This fc.ct , however , is often overlooked in considering ma t ters re lat i ng to staff al locatIOn , staff

student ratios etc . The teachers of the two discipli nes, four in nu mher at presen t as at ! 98 1 , co-ex ist in perfect harmony , conscious of the neet! to foster each other ' s d isc ip l i ne .

Sanskrit, which fo rms the Oriental Class ics component o f the department , required to teach in three med ia, has only two teachers, one for Sinhala/English and the other for Tami l /Engl ish . Consequently , the department has reg rettah ly been forced to tUITl away

students requesting to read for a Special Degree Course in Sanskri t , 355 reques ts that are nevertheless made each year .

The Departmen t teaches Sanskri t to students readmg tor the Generai Degree i n Arts, besi des prov i d ing courses for hoth Genera l and Specia l Deg ree studen ts from

other departments. This has heen possihle largely on account of the hel p of Ven . Pahamune Sumangala of the Malwatta V iharaya , Visiting Lecturer over several years and presen t ly a Temporary Assistant Lecturer, and the aSSIstance of Dr. Walter M arasinghe given voluntari ly , until he gave up his post at the Universi ty Library at Peradeni ya in

1 99 1 to accep t an appointmen t as a teacher of Sanskrit at the U n i versi ty of Sri Jayawardenepura. A comment made ahout General Degree Courses i n 1 949 viz . that they

have never been popu lar among studen ts and that most of t hose who fol lowed them did so because they could not secure ad mission to the Honours Cou rses356 stI l i holds true, certainly in the case of those opt ing to or are tc)rced hy circu mstances to read Sanskri t . Consequent ly, i t i s seldom that thei r teachers have the joy o f he i ng inspired to u n fold thei r

skil ls on accou n t of "worthy recipIents" as did teachers described in the l i terature taught

352

153

354

155

3S6

Annual Reporl 1 9 80 . p . 48 ; 1 9 8 I . p. 4 l ; Senate Minutes Nos . 2 ! (3 1 . 3 . 8 1 ) ; 27(27 . 1 0 . 8 1 ) ; 2 8(20. 0 1 . 82)

Ann u{/l Report 1 9 80 . p . 4 8

e . g .Annual Rl'porl 1 9 8 3 . p . 54; 1 982. p . 42

Compare A nf/ual Reporl 1 9 84 . p . 7 1 ; 1 9 86 . p . 20

Anllual Reporl 1 949 . p . 1 0

ORI ENTA LiA I N T H E U N i V ERSITY 336

to them. 3.17 Teaching Honours students from oth\�r departments is most wdcome in this contex t . The Sinhala department of the U n i versi ty , wh ich has a nu mber of competent teachers , researchers and writers.; one of wh.om, Piyaseel i Wijemanne. focusses atten tion on women ' s issues in her wri tings, has recognised the importance of Sanskrit for i ,s Honours students and has prescrihed two courses in i t for the degree programrne in Sinha la . The Tamil Department has yet to fol low sui t , though i t has inv i ted the Sanskri t is t ,

Dr. Arulchelvam, to hel p in the H i nuu Studies cou rses. Dr. Arulche!vam also teaches

Indian Philosophy to both graduate anu undergraduate students of the Phi losophy department . S tudents read ing for an Honours degree in Pali are required to s i t two papers

in Sanskrit, wh i le those qual i fying for Honours in Buddhist Studies are being encouraged by t hei r teachers to offer papers in Sanskr i t . This provides an opportunity to thes� students to acquaint themselves with Buddh ist l i terature wri tten in Sanskri t helonging to H inayana sects other than the Theravada anu to the M ahayana schoo l . Teachers of Pal i anu Buddhism at the universi ty have b�n conscious of the netXI to expose the i r students to Mahayana thought from early t imes . Yen Fa- Fang (Wuching) was appointed lecturer in M ahayana Buddh ism i n 1950Y8 Descri bed as one of the greatest of Chinese Buddhist scholars , he was in Singapore when the N ationa l i <;t Government evacuated the mai n l and of China. The university was ab le to ind uce him to come to Sri Lanka, where he had studied at the Y idyalankara Pirivena some years earl ier. Though his spec ia l field was

Mahayana Buddh ism, Yen. Fa-Fang was also leamed in Theravada Buddhism and in Pal i ,

so that h is courses were found to he special ly usefu l to students at the un i vers i ty . However,

Yen . Fa-Fang 's assoc iation with the university was brief, for he uied after a short i l l ness in June 1 95 1 . 359 An ob i tuary o f Ven . Fa-Fang wri tten by one of his pupi ls , Bhikkhu A S i laratana , where he is described as eas i l y accessihle to all stuuents , amiable, k ind anu humble , was printed in Palipada the magazine of the Cey lon U n i versi ty Buddhist Brotherhood . 360 This il l memoriam not ice is accompan ied hy a photograph of Yen . Fa ..

Fan g . Another Ch inese scho l ar , Dr. W . Pachow . WhOll1 we re fernxl to earl ier, wa�; appoin ted Lectu rer in Mahayana Buddh ism in January 1 954 .:161 He serve<.! the univers i ty until he left for the Unit�Al States i n the late s ix t ies , to accept a Professorial appo intment

357

.158

359

360

361

yalhas vamatmakausalmn praka!ayadbh ih patmvasad upaja!o/sahair aC{lf),air (Cal/dmpidacarita/n Revised eighth ed it ion S. lnuia. 1 969 . p . 3)

Anl/ual Report 1 950. p. 3

Anllual Report 1 95 J . p . 3

VoI . 3 . 1 95 t . -52

Annual Report 1 954. p. I I

RATNA H A N DU R U KAN DE 337

at the Uni vers i ty of Iowa. The History Department u n t i l recently sent some of i ts Honours students to the Department of Classical Languages for i nstruction i n Sanskrit . Efforts were made to introduce these stu'dents to tex ts rei evant to their discipl ine depending o n the i nterest and apt i tude of I.he students concemeu . I t is a pleasure to note that a student of promise at whose request tex ts related to i mage making anu caitya

worship were read has now j oined t he Department of History and is special i si ng in art history. Sanskritists of the Department of Classical L.angua ges certa in ly miss contact with young students of history in this age when inter-uiscipl i nary studies are emphasi sed . The di scovery of seven gold plates containing the Sanskri t tex t of sections of the Pal/cavill/Saf i­

sahasrika Prajllaparamita at the Jetavanarama s i te in Anuraelhapura in December 1982,362 which have received the scholarly attention of Oskar von Hi nuber,J63 Tsutomu Yamaguchi , 364 and M . H . F . J ayasuriya,365 has been of use in demonstrat ing to st udents of archaeology the relevance of learni ng Sanskrit which forms part of their curriculu m i n associat ion with epigraph ical studies . Piyat issa Senanayake, a young teacher of archaeology, has requested the hel p of the Department of Classical Languages i n acqui r ing a sound knowledge o f Sanskrit before proceeding to I ndia for postgraduate studies , as advised by his prospective supervisor, Dr. K. V. Ra mesh , the Ch ief Erigraph i�t of the Central Government of I nel ia . J66 A teacher of the Department of Pol i t ical Science has begun the study of Sanskrit with a view to being able to read such tex ts as Kaut i fya's Arthasastra and the M(llIa vadharmas(lsrm, while a stuuent of Agriculture who showed i nterest i n Sanskrit has heen informed of the relevant Sanskri t tex ts such as the Kasyapiyakrsisukti and the Krsiparnsarn .

362

363

364

365

366

Annouced i n : Publicarioll No f f Ed ited hy Hema Ratnayaka , M . H . S i risoma , and S i ri Heenpella. Central Cul tural Fund . M i nistry of Cu ltural Affairs. Sri Lanka. 1 9 83 .

Siebell Goldbl(ltf{'/' eiller Patl('(lvims{Z{isahasrika PrajnapoJ'{lmita (IUS

Anuradhapura. N(lchrichrcn der Akadewie de!' Wiss{'/lschajiell ill Go"ill!;('fl.

Philologisch-hi storische Klasse 1 983 . No. 7 . Gottingen 1 984.

" On the Pancavimsatisah(lsrika Prajllaparamit(l discoverecl i n Sri Lanka. " Bukkyogaku 1 8 ( 1 9 84) , pp . I -25 vide J . W .de Jong, ' Budd h ist Stutlies ( 1 984-1 990) ' . Bulletin oj rhe Chuo Gakujur.l'u Kellkyujo. Decemher 1 99 \ . J apan . Offpri nt No 20. p . 42.

M . H . F . Jayasuriya, Jef{l\'{l/Wrmna Gold PI(/fes . The U n i ver� ity of Kelaniya . 1 9 88.

Personal communication by M r. Piyati ssa Senanayake.

. .��"z:IR.''1t]', : ,:: ' : " " ������ . h ' ._ .

" T

_____________ O�R .�I E�N�l�' A�L=I A�I�N. 1�·H=E�U�N�I�Y=E�R=S J�T�Y ____________ �3�3 8

The seal or crest of the University of Cey l on , des igned by S . San muganathan ,367 conta ined the motto of the University, a quotation from the Sanskrit �ext, H;topadesa , vi.<.. Snrv(!,\fl 1()('(!fIO:,li ,ms!ram , which means that learn ing is an eye unto all . This motto was deletc{.\ from the crest, apparen t l y in the sevent ies . }'*' The decision made by the Council of the Un i ven; i ty of Peradeniya in May J 99 1 to re-introduce

the Sanskrit motto369 is perhaps symbolic of a reawakened interest in the language, wh i le. a more concrete example of concern in perpetuati ng i t s study is a m..:ommendation made in the Report of the National Workshop on Increasing t he Efficiency of M anagement of Hi gher Education Resources, organised hy the Uni versi ty Grants Commiss i on and hel d

in January 1 987 . The final report of this workshop states that "on account of the i mportance of the suhj ect for Sri Lankan culture. a Chai r in a su�iect such as Sansk ri t shou ld continue to he supported even if a t the moment t here were nD students offering i t and that in such cases student enrolmen t or staff-student rat ios were not relevant cri teria. , ,370 Even more assuring is the deci sion of the Dean and the Heads of Departments of Study of the Faculty of Arts to give priority for a cadre position i n Sanskrit i n the year 1 992,371 a l l the more significant i n view o f the fad that repeated requests for such a pos ition have been "cri�s in the wdJerness " as rcport� by the Head of the Department . 372 It is antic i pated that a suitable canuiJate with post-graduate

367

369

370

37 1

372

As stated in : Sanmuganathan , S . Ed i ted . Pageant of Lanka. Souvenir pri nted on

the occasi on of the pageant at Ladies' Gol f Links on i 6t h , 1 7t h , 1 9th and 2 1 st February 1948. p . 3 7 . Mr. Sanmuganathan was an archi tect. See Ferguson 's Ceylon D i rectory for 1 948. Part \ J I p . 1 65 . For more information about Sanmuganathan , see A Ragavan . Tamil NalfLlI Tiruvilakkukal New Century Book House Pri vate Ltd . M ad ras (This reference was suppl ied by Pro fessor S T i l lainathan. )

The seal printed on the A nJlual Report 1 979 for instance uoes not contain the Sanskrit motto. However a Sanskri t quotati on from the Sanskri t tex t Hitopades{l , viz. V;dya dadati vinayalll is printed heneath the seal .

Reported in the M inutes of the 1 3 8 th meet ing of the Senate held on March 1 3 , 1 991 ( M t. No. 1 3 8 . 4 . 5 )

Final report. Edited b y A . D . Y . d e S. l ndraratna p .30

Minutes of the 1 3th meet i ng of Heads of Departments of the Faculty of Arts held on 2 3 . 0 3 . 92 . M L No. J 3 . 05

Annual Report 1 983 . p . 54

________ . ________ �R�A�T��N�A��H A N D U R U K A N D E 3 39

qual i ficat ions would fi l l th is posi t ion so t hat the l ong-awa i ted Honours course in Sanskri t

could be started .

Despite these inc idences noted wi th opt imism, it must be staled that a seriou::; study of Sanskrit and also Pali is at a low ebb at Peraden iya . An excerpt from a report

ci ted in 1 933 ,considered as shedding l ight on the problems of the study of languages at

the t ime, which seems rekvant in the present as wel l io: as fol luws. " Languages are learnt

for necessity or profit or i n tel lectual sat isfact ion . Our necess ity was not apparen t ; our

profi t was suffi c ient ; the most part of us found in other ways such modest intel lectual satisfact ion as we craved . m " Changes in government pol icy relating to the s tudy of Oriental languages even dur i ng years of co lonial ru le resul ted in their rev ival short ly after

1933 as noted earl ier. 374

Addressing the 90th anniversary and the 1 9 86- 1 99 1 convocat ion of the Sri Lanka

Oriental S tudies Soc iety held on J u l y 24 , 1 992 His Excel lency The Pres ident of Sri Lanka ,

who is also the Minister for Educat ion and Hig her Education , stated that languages were

" not only a means of co mmunication anJ a medium of ex pression , hut also vehic les of rel igious and h uman values relevant to a l l t i mes . " Endors ing what the Cul tural Affai rs and

Information M i nister , M r . W . J . M . Lok uhandara had stateJ earl ier, the PresiJent rt:! terateJ that " Oriental Languages had been veh ic les of rel ig ion and were c losel y l i nked to Buddhism. ,, 375 Such declarat ions are welcome i nd icat ions of a change of government attitude towards the study of these languages. One fervent ly hopes that the s tate patronage ex tended to the Orien tal Stud ies Soc iety w i l l resu l t in the rev ival of i t s v a l uahle act i v ities, part iculary in t he fie ld o f trad i t ional oriental learn i ng . I t is also most des i rable that such

patronage should be extended to the un i vers i ties , where oriental languages could profi tably

be taugh t , with due at ten t ion paid to comparative, crit ical and h is torica l methods of modern scho larship , thus compl emen t i ng the conven t ional methods of teach i ng fol lowed at the tradit ional cen tres of learning.

The quest ions at i ssue are whether there will be a change of educa t ional pol icy

resu l ting i n a certa in number of studen ts , albei t sma l l as has alway� been the case , tak ing

up the study of oriental languages at school level , because they have the wi l l , ta l en t and

aptitude for s tudy ing them; whether some of them wi l l opt to read these su�jects at the

universit ies encouraged hy the i r paren ts who recognise. thei r value and fi nu that they are

373 Ceylon . Admillistratioll Reports . 1 933 . ParL I V B . 7

37� Compare references g iven in notes 7 1 and 72 ahove .

3"15 Daily Nelvs , J u ly 28 , 1 992. p . 1 6

I I

I

, i �

I I t

OR I E NTA UA I N TH E U N I V ERSITY 340

no hi ndrance in be ing usefu l ly empl oyeJ after graJuation , the state having ensu red such a position; whether they will thus replace students ad mined at present under special provision s , efforts at teaching whom convinces one that noth ing is more d i sheartening than an impossi ble task; and whether some of these " students of the future "wi l l excel in thei r fields and serve the nation from posi tions of eminence as thei r predecessors once did . The

wheel must turn . It is t ime for i t . Kalo 'yam.