Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan,
CMG,
KC ( ta, பொன்னம்பலம் இராமநாதன், translit=Poṉṉampalam Irāmanātaṉ; 16 April 1851 – 26 November 1930) was a
Ceylon Tamil
Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...
lawyer, politician and
Solicitor-General of Ceylon.
Early life and family
Ramanathan was born on 16 April 1851 at the home of his maternal grandfather
A. Coomaraswamy
Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy ( ta, ஆறுமுகம்பிள்ளை குமாரசுவாமி; 1783 – 7 November 1836) was a Ceylon Tamil member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.
Early life and family
Coomaraswamy was ...
on Sea Street,
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
in south western
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
He was the son of
Gate Mudaliyar
Mudali (or Mudaliyar) was a colonial title and office in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) which was part of the native headman system. The Portuguese colonials created the Mudaliyar class in the 17th century by enlisting natives of different castes from ...
A. Ponnambalam, a leading government functionary, and Sellachi Ammai.
He was the brother of
P. Coomaraswamy
Ponnambalam Coomaraswamy (7 December 1849 – 7 June 1906) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.
Early life and family
Coomaraswamy was born on 7 December 1849. He was the son of Gate Mudaliyar A. Ponnamb ...
and
P. Arunachalam
Ponnambalam Arunachalam ( ta, பொன்னம்பலம் அருணாசலம், translit=Poṉṉampalam Aruṇācalam; 14 September 1853 – 9 January 1924) was a Ceylonese civil servant and a member of the Executive Council of Ceyl ...
. Ramanathan had his early
education at home before joining
Royal Academy, Colombo
Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janu ...
in 1861.
Ramanathan and his brother Coomaraswamy entered
Presidency College, Madras
Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...
in 1865.
The brothers completed the Intermediate in Arts and started the degree course but, following "youthful excesses" by Coomaraswamy, both were recalled to Ceylon without completing the course.
Ramanathan married Sellachchi Ammal, daughter of
Mudaliyar
Thuluva Vellalar (Thondamandala Tuluva Vellalar), also known as Agamudaya Mudaliars and Arcot Mudaliars, is a caste found in northern Tamil Nadu, southern Andhra Pradesh and southern Karnataka, India. They were originally significant lando ...
E. Nannithamby, in 1874 at Ward Place, Colombo. They had three sons (Mahesan, Rajendra and Vamadeven) and three daughters (Sivakolunthu, Rukmini). After being widowed Ramanathan married Australian
R. L. Harrison (later known as Leelawathy). They had a daughter, Sivagamisundhari.
Career
Returning to Ceylon, with the help of his maternal uncle
Muthu Coomaraswamy
Sir Muthu Coomaraswamy ( ta, முத்து குமாரசுவாமி; 23 January 1834 – 4 May 1879) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, writer and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.
Early life and family
Coomaraswamy was born ...
Ramanathan became a law apprentice under
Richard Morgan,
Queen's Advocate of Ceylon. Ramanathan became an
advocate
An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...
of the Colombo
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
in 1874.
He was responsible for editing
law reports for the previous 36 years and later served as editor of the official law reports (the Supreme Court Circular and the New Law Reports) for ten years.
Ramanathan stopped
practising law in 1886 to concentrate on politics and his interest religious studies and philosophy.
Ramanathan was appointed to the
Legislative Council of Ceylon
The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of British Ceylon, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first f ...
in 1879 as the unofficial member representing
Tamils
The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...
, replacing his maternal uncle Muthu Coomaraswamy.
In 1880 he founded the Ceylon National Association, of which he was president, to campaign for constitutional reform Whilst on a tour of Europe Ramanathan, his wife and daughter were presented to
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
and was
called to the bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
at the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...
in 1886.
Allan Bennett
Charles Henry Allan Bennett (8 December 1872 – 9 March 1923) was an English Buddhist and former member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. He was an early friend and influential teacher of occultist Aleister Crowley.
Bennett received ...
served as a tutor to the younger sons of the yogi and Ramanathan went on to be Bennett's teacher in yogic practices. Ramanathan wrote a book during this period, published under his Shaivite holy name of Sri Parananda and titled An Eastern Exposition of the Gospel of Jesus according to St. John (1902), in which he argued that the teachings of Christ could be understood as instructions in yoga. He was appointed
Solicitor-General of Ceylon in 1892.
In 1903 he became one of the first Ceylonese to be appointed
King's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
.
In 1905, prior to his retirement in 1906, he went on a tour of the US, where he gave lectures on
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
and Hindu philosophy.
Ramanathan founded the National Reform Association in 1907. He contested the
1911 legislative council election as a candidate for the Educated Ceylonese seat and was elected to the Legislative Council, defeating physician
Marcus Fernando
Sir Hilarion Marcus Fernando, FRCP (21 October 1864 – 18 December 1936) was a pre-independence Ceylonese statesman, physician and banker. He was a member of both the executive council and legislative council as well as the chairman of the Stat ...
.
Ramanathan was responsible for the release of the Sinhalese leaders who had been arrested following the
1915 Ceylonese riots
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
*January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction".
*January 1
* ...
, travelling to the UK to make their case.
He was re-elected at the 1916 legislative council election, defeating Justus Sextus Wijesinghe Jayewardene.
Ramanathan was appointed as an unofficial member of the Legislative Council in 1921.
He contested the
1924 legislative council election as a candidate for the Northern Province North (Valikamam North) seat and was re-elected to the Legislative Council.
Ramanathan was made a
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III.
...
in the
1889 Birthday Honours.
He was made a
Knight Bachelor
The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...
in 1921.
Ramanathan founded two schools in northern Ceylon –
Parameshwara College, Jaffna
Parameshwara College ( ta, பரமேஸ்வரா கல்லூரி ''Paramēsvarā Kallūri'') was one of the leading Hindu schools in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). It was founded by Sir P. Ramanathan in 1921. His idea was to make the school ...
and
Ramanathan College
Ramanathan College ( ta, இராமநாதன் கல்லூரி ''Irāmanātaṉ Kallūri'') is a provincial school in Maruthanarmadam near Chunnakam, Sri Lanka.
The singer Maharajapuram Santhanam was once its principal.
See also
* Li ...
.
In 1907 Ramanathan rebuilt the Sri Ponnambala Vaneswara Temple at Sea Street in Kochchikade, founded by his father.
He helped establish the Hindu Education Board in 1923 and served as its president and manager of schools. He was also president of the Thiruvalluvar Maha Sabai in
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. Ramanathan and other leading figures founded ''
The Ceylonese'', an
English-language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
newspaper, in 1913. He was president of the
Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club
Tamil Union Cricket & Athletic Club is a first-class cricket team based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They play their home games at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.
History
The club can trace its roots back to the final years of the 19th century in which t ...
from 1917 to 1930. Ramanathan opposed extending voting rights to the people and urged reservation of franchise only to men of the
Vellalar
Vellalar is a generic Tamil term used primarily to refer to various castes who traditionally pursued agriculture as a profession in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and northeastern parts of Sri Lanka. The Vellalar are members of several ...
caste.
Ramanathan died on 26 November 1930 at his home Sukhastan on Ward Place, Colombo.
Future
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
D. S. Senanayake
Don Stephen Senanayake ( si, දොන් ස්ටීවන් සේනානායක,; ta, டி. எஸ். சேனநாயக்கா; 21 October 1884 – 22 March 1952) was a Ceylonese statesman. He was the first Prime Mi ...
described Ramanathan as "the greatest Ceylonese of all times".
Works
* ''On Faith or Love of God'' (1897)
* ''An Eastern Exposition of the Gospel of Jesus According to St. Matthew'' (1898)
* ''An Eastern Exposition of the Gospel of Jesus According to St. John'' (1902)
* ''The Spirit of the East Contrasted with the Spirit of the West'' (1905)
* ''Culture of the Soul Among Western Nationals'' (1907)
* 'The Miscarriage of Life in the West' in'' The Hibbert Journal'', vol. vii, no. 1 (London: Williams & Norgate, 1909)
* ''Tamil translation of Bhagavat Gheetha'' (1914)
Electoral history
Footnotes
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramanathan, Ponnambalam
1851 births
1930 deaths
20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers
20th-century Sri Lankan politicians
Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
Ceylonese advocates
Ceylonese Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
Ceylonese Knights Bachelor
Ceylonese Queen's Counsel
Coomaraswamy family
Members of the Inner Temple
Members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon
National Heroes of Sri Lanka
People from Colombo
People of British Ceylon
Presidency College, Chennai alumni
20th-century King's Counsel
Solicitors General of Ceylon
Sri Lankan Hindus
Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers
Sri Lankan Tamil politicians
Sri Lankan Tamil writers