Swami Vipulananda
Encyclopedia
Swami Vipulanada (March 27, 1892 – July 19, 1947), also known as Vipulananda Adigal, was a Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu
social reformer, literary critic, author, poet, teacher and ascetic
from the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka
. Vipulanada was an early pioneer associated with the India
n-based Ramakrishna Mission
in Sri Lanka. Along with other reformers, Vipulanada was instrumental in the revival of the Hindu religion and native traditions in Sri Lanka after a long period of dormancy and decline during the previous 500 years of colonial
rule by various Europe
an powers.
in Sri Lanka. His father's name was Samithamby and mother's name was Kannammai. His birth name was Mylvaganam. Vipulanada had his early education in Christian mission-run schools in his native village, neighboring Kalmunai
and eventually in Batticaloa
city. After completing his high school education at the age of 16, Vipulanada became a teacher in various cities across the island nation. During his tenure as a teacher he completed his Bachelor of Science
degree
from the University of London
, and also became the first Sri Lankan Tamil
Pandithar, a degree awarded by the Tamil Nadu
-based Madurai Tamil Sangam
, a linguistics
academy created to promote the study of Tamil language. Vipulanada eventually became the head of operations of the Ramakrishna Mission
in Sri Lanka as well as a professor
of Tamil language in two universities.
he also knew English
, Greek
, Latin
, Sanskrit
and Sinhala.
After researching Tamil music
and other Indian musical forms and musical instrument
s for many years, Vipulanada produced the seminal book of scientific research in Tamil called the Yal Nool, or Book of Stringed Musical Instruments, which was published just before he died in 1947. The book was an effort by the author to understand and explain the intricacies and technicalities of genre of Tamil music in general, and the stringed musical instruments in particular, using modern techniques and tools of research and calculations based on mathematics
and physics
. Yal Nool is recognized as a unique work of its kind.
Using the literary traditions in Sanskrit, Greek and English he wrote Mathangaculamani, a translation of twelve of Shakespeare
's plays, as a treatise
on drama
with commentaries focusing on various aspects of drama such as the plot, structure, sequence of action, characterization, subjective experience and gestures. Professor Chelva Kanaganayagam, in a critical review of Mathangaculamani, concludes that
Vipulanada also served as editor of several publications including Ramakrishna Vijayam (Tamil), Vedanta Kesari (English), Vivekananda (Tamil) and Prabuddha Bharata (English). He also edited and helped publish literary works of several well-known scholars. His translations from English to Tamil include selected writings of Swami Vivekananda
, Bengali
Nobel Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore and historian
Kathiresan Chettiar. He also translated from Tamil to English selected poems from the Sangam literature
period, devotional songs from the Bhakti movement
period, and poems of Subramanya Bharathi and Navaneetha Krishna Bharathi.
Vipulanada authored six major Tamil publications: a collection of four Prabanthangal, Mathangaculamani, The Great Dance of Thillai, Umamageswaram (all related to Saiva traditions of the Hindu religion), Dictionary of Technical Terms on Chemistry and Yal Nool. A collection of 170 essays, written from 1914 to 1947, were published posthumously in four parts in 1995
. He also wrote many poems, and a collection of 32 of his poems was published in 1995. He was a good public speaker and most of his speeches, focusing mainly on history of the Tamils, Tamil literature
, Tamil music and musical instruments, and Vedanta
philosophy, were published in international journals and magazines.
, the disciple of Ramakrishna
, the Ramakrishna Mission is a unique order of ascetics and volunteers dedicated to service to community, irrespective of religious
, caste
, creed
or language
differences. The mission, while promoting spiritual development, does not believe in religious conversion. The mission's charitable and philanthropic activities focus mainly on the provision of educational and medical services to the weaker segment of the population through schools, hospitals and orphanages run by the mission. It became a counter weight to Christian missionary-run charitable organizations throughout South Asia
.
Vipulananda initially met the head of the Mylapore
Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Sarvananda, in Colombo
in 1916. This was followed up with another visit in Jaffna
in 1917. He entered the Mylapore Ramakrishna Math in 1922 for his monastic training. On completion of the training in 1924, he was given the name Vipulananda. After his ordination he dedicated his life to educational and spiritual pursuits and service to the community in Sri Lanka and India.
In 1925 Vipulanada became an administrator of Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) schools in Sri Lanka. He was instrumental in founding new RKM schools in Jaffna
, Batticalao and in many villages. He also founded orphanages – two for boys at Vaitheeswara Vidyalayam, Jaffna and Sivananda Vidyalayam in Batticaloa, and one for girls in Karativu. Thereafter, a number of RKM schools were opened in several remote villages in the North and East of Sri Lanka. This provided an alternative to the natives to go to schools and orphanages that were not associated with western Christian missionaries. He also helped his life-long friend A. M. A. Azeez
, a pioneering Sri Lankan Muslim
educator and civil servant, to establish charitable organizations to help poor Muslims in the east of the country.
to present its case for the establishment of a Tamil University to the special commission set up to investigate the proposal. On the recommendation of the commission, the Annamalai University
was opened in 1927. In 1931 he became its first Professor of Tamil language. Professor Vipulananda also received a second invitation to become the first Professor of Tamil soon after the University of Ceylon
was established in 1943, which he held until his death in 1947. Thus Professor Vipulananda enjoys the unique distinction of being the first scholar to be appointed the first professor of Tamil in two Universities in two different countries.
Vipulanada was a strong advocate of the mother tongue as the medium of education
, but stressed the importance of learning other languages. At Sivananda Vidyalayam, in addition to Tamil, Vipulanada facilitated the teaching of English, Sinhala and Latin. He also recognized and promoted the importance of learning sciences such as biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics, as well as job-related technical subjects. He facilitated the efforts of other Tamil scholars to translate science and technology publications into Tamil by providing suitable technical terms.
Based on his critical studies of some of Professor Vipulananda’s writings, Mr. K.S. Sivakumaran, one of the notable literary critics from Sri Lanka, has called him a pioneer of Tamil literary criticism and the first Sri Lankan Tamil literary critic.
As a social reformer, Vipulanada led the movement to recognize Subramanya Bharathi, a Brahmin
by birth, as the Maha Kavi (National Poet), and succeeded despite strong opposition from socially and politically powerful elites due to Bharathi's anti-castist views and his opposition to the perpetuation of the caste
system and the superstitious
Hindu practices and ritual
s. As a nationalist
, he hoisted the Indian flag on the occasion of the visit of Sir George Fredrick Stanley to the Annamalai University
for the 1937 convocation, while India was still a British possession.
There are number of institutions named after him in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka and Germany
have issued stamps honoring him. He died after a brief illness on July 19, 1947. Swami Vipulanada is buried close to the Sivananda Vidyalayam in Kalladi
, near Batticaloa city. (see picture here).
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
social reformer, literary critic, author, poet, teacher and ascetic
Asceticism
Asceticism describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals...
from the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. Vipulanada was an early pioneer associated with the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n-based Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are twin organizations which form the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as Ramakrishna Movement or Vedanta Movement. The Ramakrishna Mission is a philanthropic, volunteer organization founded by Ramakrishna's chief disciple Swami Vivekananda on...
in Sri Lanka. Along with other reformers, Vipulanada was instrumental in the revival of the Hindu religion and native traditions in Sri Lanka after a long period of dormancy and decline during the previous 500 years of colonial
Colonial India
Colonial India refers to areas of the Indian Subcontinent under the control of European colonial powers, through trade and conquest. The first European power to arrive in India was the army of Alexander the Great in 327–326 BC. The satraps he established in the north west of the subcontinent...
rule by various Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an powers.
Biography
Vipulanada was born in the village of Karativu, in the south of BatticaloaBatticaloa
Batticaloa is a city in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. It is the seat of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka. It is on the east coast, south by south east of Trincomalee, and is situated on an island.-Etymology:...
in Sri Lanka. His father's name was Samithamby and mother's name was Kannammai. His birth name was Mylvaganam. Vipulanada had his early education in Christian mission-run schools in his native village, neighboring Kalmunai
Kalmunai
Kalmunai is a municipality within the Ampara District of Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. It had a total population of 91,457 as of 2001. And It is the one and only Muslim majority municipality in the country. There were Sri Lankan Muslims, Sri Lankan Tamils, Sinhalese, and Burghers with the Moors...
and eventually in Batticaloa
Batticaloa
Batticaloa is a city in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. It is the seat of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka. It is on the east coast, south by south east of Trincomalee, and is situated on an island.-Etymology:...
city. After completing his high school education at the age of 16, Vipulanada became a teacher in various cities across the island nation. During his tenure as a teacher he completed his Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
from the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, and also became the first Sri Lankan Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
Pandithar, a degree awarded by the Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
-based Madurai Tamil Sangam
Madurai Tamil Sangam
Madurai Tamil Sangamalso known as 4th Tamil Sangam was a language academy founded by Prince Paandi Thurai Thevar and other Tamil language scholars to promote the use of Tamil language and Tamil culture in the late 19th century in British held India....
, a linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
academy created to promote the study of Tamil language. Vipulanada eventually became the head of operations of the Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are twin organizations which form the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as Ramakrishna Movement or Vedanta Movement. The Ramakrishna Mission is a philanthropic, volunteer organization founded by Ramakrishna's chief disciple Swami Vivekananda on...
in Sri Lanka as well as a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Tamil language in two universities.
Literary contributions
Apart from Vipulanada's knowledge of TamilTamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
he also knew English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and Sinhala.
After researching Tamil music
Ancient Tamil music
The ancient Tamil music is the historical predecessor of the music of Tamil Nadu during the Sangam period, which evolved into classical Carnatic music by the 16th century.Many poems of the classical Sangam literature were set to music...
and other Indian musical forms and musical instrument
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
s for many years, Vipulanada produced the seminal book of scientific research in Tamil called the Yal Nool, or Book of Stringed Musical Instruments, which was published just before he died in 1947. The book was an effort by the author to understand and explain the intricacies and technicalities of genre of Tamil music in general, and the stringed musical instruments in particular, using modern techniques and tools of research and calculations based on mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
. Yal Nool is recognized as a unique work of its kind.
Using the literary traditions in Sanskrit, Greek and English he wrote Mathangaculamani, a translation of twelve of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's plays, as a treatise
Treatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject.-Noteworthy treatises:...
on drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
with commentaries focusing on various aspects of drama such as the plot, structure, sequence of action, characterization, subjective experience and gestures. Professor Chelva Kanaganayagam, in a critical review of Mathangaculamani, concludes that
Vipulanada also served as editor of several publications including Ramakrishna Vijayam (Tamil), Vedanta Kesari (English), Vivekananda (Tamil) and Prabuddha Bharata (English). He also edited and helped publish literary works of several well-known scholars. His translations from English to Tamil include selected writings of Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
, Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
Nobel Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Kathiresan Chettiar. He also translated from Tamil to English selected poems from the Sangam literature
Sangam literature
Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...
period, devotional songs from the Bhakti movement
Bhakti movement
The Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice is loving devotion among the Shaivite and Vaishnava saints. The Bhakti movement originated in ancient Tamil Nadu and began to spread to the north during the late medieval ages when north India was under Islamic...
period, and poems of Subramanya Bharathi and Navaneetha Krishna Bharathi.
Vipulanada authored six major Tamil publications: a collection of four Prabanthangal, Mathangaculamani, The Great Dance of Thillai, Umamageswaram (all related to Saiva traditions of the Hindu religion), Dictionary of Technical Terms on Chemistry and Yal Nool. A collection of 170 essays, written from 1914 to 1947, were published posthumously in four parts in 1995
1995 in literature
The year 1995 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea is opened by Jimmy Carter....
. He also wrote many poems, and a collection of 32 of his poems was published in 1995. He was a good public speaker and most of his speeches, focusing mainly on history of the Tamils, Tamil literature
Tamil literature
Tamil literature refers to the literature in the Tamil language. Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution...
, Tamil music and musical instruments, and Vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
philosophy, were published in international journals and magazines.
Ramakrishna Mission
Founded in 1897 by Swami VivekanandaSwami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
, the disciple of Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
, the Ramakrishna Mission is a unique order of ascetics and volunteers dedicated to service to community, irrespective of religious
Religion in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka's population practices a variety of religions. 70% of Sri Lankans are Theravada Buddhists, 15% are Hindus, 7.5% are Muslims and 7.5% Christians...
, caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
, creed
Creed
A creed is a statement of belief—usually a statement of faith that describes the beliefs shared by a religious community—and is often recited as part of a religious service. When the statement of faith is longer and polemical, as well as didactic, it is not called a creed but a Confession of faith...
or language
Languages of Sri Lanka
Several languages are spoken in Sri Lanka within the Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and Austronesian families. Sri Lanka accords official status to Sinhala and Tamil. The languages spoken on the island nation are deeply influenced by the languages of neighbouring India, the Maldives and Malaysia...
differences. The mission, while promoting spiritual development, does not believe in religious conversion. The mission's charitable and philanthropic activities focus mainly on the provision of educational and medical services to the weaker segment of the population through schools, hospitals and orphanages run by the mission. It became a counter weight to Christian missionary-run charitable organizations throughout South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
.
Vipulananda initially met the head of the Mylapore
Mylapore
Mylapore is a cultural hub and neighborhood in the southern part of the city of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, India. Earlier, Mylapore used to be called Vedapuri....
Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Sarvananda, in Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
in 1916. This was followed up with another visit in Jaffna
Jaffna
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...
in 1917. He entered the Mylapore Ramakrishna Math in 1922 for his monastic training. On completion of the training in 1924, he was given the name Vipulananda. After his ordination he dedicated his life to educational and spiritual pursuits and service to the community in Sri Lanka and India.
In 1925 Vipulanada became an administrator of Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) schools in Sri Lanka. He was instrumental in founding new RKM schools in Jaffna
Jaffna
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...
, Batticalao and in many villages. He also founded orphanages – two for boys at Vaitheeswara Vidyalayam, Jaffna and Sivananda Vidyalayam in Batticaloa, and one for girls in Karativu. Thereafter, a number of RKM schools were opened in several remote villages in the North and East of Sri Lanka. This provided an alternative to the natives to go to schools and orphanages that were not associated with western Christian missionaries. He also helped his life-long friend A. M. A. Azeez
A. M. A. Azeez
A.M.A Azeez was a pioneering Sri Lankan Muslim civil servant and a educator. He was born in the city of Jaffna and had his education in institutions in that city...
, a pioneering Sri Lankan Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
educator and civil servant, to establish charitable organizations to help poor Muslims in the east of the country.
Professional career
As a noted educationist, scholar and community worker, Vipulanada was invited by the University of MadrasUniversity of Madras
The University of Madras is a public research university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the three oldest universities in India...
to present its case for the establishment of a Tamil University to the special commission set up to investigate the proposal. On the recommendation of the commission, the Annamalai University
Annamalai University
Annamalai University is a Public University located in Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. The university offers courses of higher education in arts, sciences and engineering.The university also provides around 380 courses under distance mode...
was opened in 1927. In 1931 he became its first Professor of Tamil language. Professor Vipulananda also received a second invitation to become the first Professor of Tamil soon after the University of Ceylon
University of Ceylon
The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the University of Sri Lanka which existed from 1973 to 1978. In 1978 it was...
was established in 1943, which he held until his death in 1947. Thus Professor Vipulananda enjoys the unique distinction of being the first scholar to be appointed the first professor of Tamil in two Universities in two different countries.
Vipulanada was a strong advocate of the mother tongue as the medium of education
Medium of instruction
Medium of instruction is a language used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the country or territory. Where the first language of students is different from the official language, it may be used as the medium of instruction for part or all of schooling. Bilingual or...
, but stressed the importance of learning other languages. At Sivananda Vidyalayam, in addition to Tamil, Vipulanada facilitated the teaching of English, Sinhala and Latin. He also recognized and promoted the importance of learning sciences such as biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics, as well as job-related technical subjects. He facilitated the efforts of other Tamil scholars to translate science and technology publications into Tamil by providing suitable technical terms.
Based on his critical studies of some of Professor Vipulananda’s writings, Mr. K.S. Sivakumaran, one of the notable literary critics from Sri Lanka, has called him a pioneer of Tamil literary criticism and the first Sri Lankan Tamil literary critic.
As a social reformer, Vipulanada led the movement to recognize Subramanya Bharathi, a Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
by birth, as the Maha Kavi (National Poet), and succeeded despite strong opposition from socially and politically powerful elites due to Bharathi's anti-castist views and his opposition to the perpetuation of the caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
system and the superstitious
Superstition
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
Hindu practices and ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
s. As a nationalist
Indian nationalism
Indian nationalism refers to the many underlying forces that molded the Indian independence movement, and strongly continue to influence the politics of India, as well as being the heart of many contrasting ideologies that have caused ethnic and religious conflict in Indian society...
, he hoisted the Indian flag on the occasion of the visit of Sir George Fredrick Stanley to the Annamalai University
Annamalai University
Annamalai University is a Public University located in Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. The university offers courses of higher education in arts, sciences and engineering.The university also provides around 380 courses under distance mode...
for the 1937 convocation, while India was still a British possession.
There are number of institutions named after him in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
have issued stamps honoring him. He died after a brief illness on July 19, 1947. Swami Vipulanada is buried close to the Sivananda Vidyalayam in Kalladi
Kalladi (Batticaloa)
Kallady is a village within the Batticaloa District of Eastern province of Sri Lanka. It lies north of Batticaloa city. As part of ongoing Sri Lankan civil war, the Kallady village has military installments. 2004 Tsunami affected the village resulting in major loss of life and property. It has the...
, near Batticaloa city. (see picture here).
See also
Other social reformers from Sri Lanka of the same period- Anagarika DharmapalaAnagarika DharmapalaAnagarika Dharmapala was a leading figure of Buddhism in the twentieth century. He was one of the founding contributors of Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalism and Protestant Buddhism...
- Arumuga Navalar
- Kumaraswamy PulavarKumaraswamy PulavarChunnakam Kumaraswamy Pulavar was a well known Sri Lankan Tamil scholar and poet from Maylani village in Chunnakam township in Jaffna peninsula in the British held Ceylon now known as Sri Lanka. He lived from 1854 to 1922...