Rejuvenating the Sinhala World at S. Thomas’ College

To document the achievements of the many politicians, public leaders, artists, intellectuals, journalists, judges, lawyers, businesspeople, and athletes who have emerged from S. Thomas’ over more than a century would be an enormous undertaking. This article, therefore, aims to provide a brief commentary on the Thomian contribution to Sinhala language and literature, while also attempting to trace the historical developments associated with the promotion of Sinhala at the college.s

S. Thomas’ College is a leading educational institution in Sri Lanka, renowned for its commitment to promoting English education and maintaining high standards in the teaching of English language and literature to children. However, it is a lesser-known fact that S. Thomas’ College also played a significant role in the promotion of Sinhala language and literature. At one point, the College boasted not only some of the finest English teachers in the country but also some of the best Sinhala teachers.

When examining the history of S. Thomas’ College, it is evident that the institution has contributed to Sinhala language, literature, and the arts since the 1920s, following its relocation to Mount Lavinia in 1918. According to the college Sinhala magazine Sastradvajaya,published in 1929, the teaching of Sinhala at S. Thomas’ College began around 1926 during the tenure of Warden Rev. K. C. Mcpherson, initiated by Mr. S. D. Rodrigo.

With the introduction of Sinhala teaching, a Sinhala Oratory Society (Sinhala Kathikodaya Samithiya) was established in 1927 to promote the language among students.In 1929, a quarterly Sinhala magazine titled Sastradvajaya was launched with the financial support of D. S. Senanayake, an alumnus of the College and a member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon at the time.

Cumaratunga Munidasa

Many scholars were invited to deliver lectures at society meetings, and a notable event was a speech delivered by Cumaratunga Munidasa (1887–1944), a leading Sinhala language scholar of the 20th century, at a meeting of the Sinhala Literary Association in 1938. His address reportedly sparked great interest in the Sinhala language among the students. These developments highlight the proactive efforts made by S. Thomas’ College to foster Sinhala language and literature, even under British colonial rule.

When examining prominent Thomian figures in Sinhala literary history, the first to stand out in the field of literature and the arts is Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra (1914–1996). Although Dr. Sarachchandra attended several schools during his school education, he also spent a period at S. Thomas’ College. He later enrolled at Ceylon University College, Colombo, where he earned his BA degree before pursuing further studies at Santiniketan in India. Upon his return to Sri Lanka in 1939, he taught Sinhala at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, for about two years. This opportunity was granted to him by Warden at the time, Rev. Canon R. S. de Saram. Dr. Sarachchandra’s autobiography shows his effort to cultivate an interest in Eastern culture among the students of S. Thomas’ College during the colonial period.

Thomians were also among the literary figures who contributed to the advancement of Sinhala language and literature in the early decades of the twentieth century. Aluthgamage Simon de Silva (1874–1920), an old Thomian with a strong command of both Sinhala and English, made a significant contribution to Sinhala fiction by writing the first Sinhala novel, titled Meena, in 1905.

Mudaliyar Simon de Silva (1840–1922), a pioneering figure in Sinhala language and literature, was a distinguished scholar educated at St. Thomas’ College. He authored a history book titled Lanka Kathava and a Sinhala grammar book titled Shabdanushasana, and also compiled a series of Sinhala readers for schools. During the colonial period, he served as the government’s chief translator.

Lake House

D. R. Wijewardene (1886–1950), the founder of Lake House and a key figure in the establishment of numerous newspapers that significantly contributed to the advancement of Sinhala literature and art, was an alumnus of S. Thomas’ College. Similarly, Ranjith Wijewardene, who fostered Sinhala literature by establishing the D. R. Wijewardene Prize for the best unpublished Sinhala novel and who currently serves as Chairman of Wijaya Newspapers, also received his education at S. Thomas’s. Their contributions to the development of the newspaper industry in Sri Lanka and their enduring support for Sinhala literary and artistic endeavors are widely recognised.

Another distinguished alumnus of S. Thomas’ College was Mr. Sepala Gunasena, the founder of the Independent Newspapers Ltd, which served the Sinhala-reading public through publications such as Davasa and Riviresa.

Not only the former students of the school but also the teachers who worked at S. Thomas’ College have contributed significantly to the development of Sinhala language and literature in Sri Lanka. During the 1950s and 60s, a revival of the Sinhala language in schools across the country was particularly evident at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia. This resurgence was largely due to a group of teachers who adhered to the Hela linguistic ideology of Cumaratunga Munidasa.

In the early 1950s, the revival of Sinhala language instruction at S. Thomas’ College was largely due to the efforts of Mr. W.D. Pinto-Jayawardana, who was in charge of teaching Sinhala at the institution and also helped Warden, Rev. Canon R.S. De Saramin his own study of Sinhala. A trained graduate teacher with extensive experience, Pinto-Jayawardana had the added distinction of being closely associated with Jayantha Weerasekera, the deputy leader of the Hela Havula movement. In response to the challenges of teaching Sinhala grammar in schools, he authored a comprehensive exposition titled Siyabas Vivaranaya (Grammar of the Mother Tongue) in 1949, with the support of the Warden, Rev. De Saram.

This was a period marked by the politicisation of Sinhala linguistic nationalism, and Warden De Saram was conscious of the linguistic policies that would soon be adopted—particularly the move to establish Sinhala as the official language of the country. In this context, Warden De Saram took the initiative to recruit a new generation of young teachers to S. Thomas’ to meet the growing demand.

Hela Havula

In 1951, the ‘centenary year’ of the College, Sandadas (Chandradasa) Coperahewa, an ardent follower of the Hela Havula movement from Matara, joined S. Thomas’ at the invitation of his old friend, Pinto-Jayawardana. The following year, Coperahewa’s friend, the young teacher and Hela poet Arisen Ahubudu (Aryasena Ashubodha), also joined the staff. As a result, the efforts made by teachers such as Sandadas Coperahewa, Arisen Ahubudu, Liyanage Jinadasa, Vinnie Vitharana, and Vajirasena Samarakoon to revive Sinhala at S. Thomas’ College during the 1950s and 60s are well known. Among them were teachers of science, art, and geography, who not only taught these subjects but also authored supplementary books for use in schools.Teachers such as Ashubodha, Jinadasa, and Coperahewa also supported Pinto–Jayawardana in compiling Sinhala syllabi and grammar books for use in schools.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Hela teachers and students popularised the use of pure Sinhala terms over other commonly used Sinhala expressions. The term Shuddha Vu Thomas , or Saint Thomas, as used in Sinhala, was adapted into the Hela language as Santha Thomosuva. In July 1952, a student society titled Santha Thomosu Hela Havula was formed to promote the status of the Hela language among college students. Students of the school also actively participated in Hela Havula activities, particularly on March 2nd, the commemoration day of Munidasa Cumaratunga. Some even changed their Sanskrit-derived names to pure Sinhala (Hela) forms and contributed poems to the college magazine, promoting the use of pure Sinhala usage.

It is also recorded that students addressed teachers as suruvo or suruvan instead of ‘Sir’ and used several other pure Sinhala terms such as petuma (lesson), potgula (library), vita (period), viduhala (college), and muluva (meeting), reflecting the influence of Hela ideology. Furthermore, new Sinhala terms such as thana thilla (pitch),kadulla (wicket) ,panduva (ball), and nilakunu ovaraya(maiden over) —coined by Sinhala teachers at S. Thomas’ College for cricket—came into usage during the Royal–Thomian cricket encounter.

Finally, it is worth noting that the author (Sandagomi Coperahewa) of this essay published his first articles in Sinhala in the College magazine during the late 1980s and was actively involved in Sinhala literary and debating activities, excelling in both prior to entering university for higher education. The College library, well-stocked with books in both English and Sinhala, provided a conducive environment for the development of this writer’s reading skills during his time at S. Thomas.’

The foregoing discussion has provided a brief commentary on the contribution of S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, to the field of Sinhala language and literature. Over the past 175 years, the College has pursued a mission of nurturing generations of talented students with a strong command not only of the English language but also of Sinhala literature, culture, and the arts—an achievement that merits further in-depth scholarly investigation.

The writer of this article is a Senior Professor (Chair) in the Department of Sinhala at the University of Colombo and an old boy of S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia.

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*&*  … The highlights in this version of the article have been imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi. Let me add that I have had the benefit of Mr Sandadas Coperahewa’s learning before getting to know Sandagomi. I also becsme friends with an assorted phalanx of Thomians at Peradeniya University in the 1950s-to-1970s; while my nephews Guy and Tony Sirmanne represented STC at rowing and rugger/cricket respectively. 

ALSO NOTE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandadas_Coperehewa

Sandadas Coperahewa’s Lifework

Vale: Two Appreciations of Sandadas Coperahewa