{"id":102307,"date":"2020-05-14T16:50:07","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T23:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=102307"},"modified":"2020-07-01T17:17:56","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T00:17:56","slug":"ven-ellawala-medhananda-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/05\/14\/ven-ellawala-medhananda-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"VEN. ELLAWALA MEDHANANDA Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Revised\n27.6.20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Ellawala Medhananda was born on\n28th<\/sup> January 1937. He was\nnamed Piyaratne. His father was Ellawala Imiyahami Punchi Mahatthaya and his\nmother was Hapurugama Kiri Ethana. Father was a person of some standing in the\nvillage. He owned considerable land.   He\nwas a building contractor and had 12 or so workers under him.   He  \nalso engaged in gemming. He was\nnot very religious, but would read the Pujavali or Jataka Pota before going to\nsleep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piyaratne was the sixth of eight\nchildren, 5 girls and 2 boys.  He first attended a school in Ellawala. On\npassing the Grade 5 exam, he attended Ruwanwella Madhya Maha Vidyalaya. According to his biographer, young Piyaratne\nmet a bhikkhu on the road and decided, then and there, to become one\nhimself.  His mother welcomed the idea.\nHis father did not, but advised him not to back out halfway, now that he had\ntaken the decision to be a monk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At thirteen he went to Napawala\nSumangalaramaya, in Getahatta, hoping to be ordained as a samanera. Instead he\nwas made to work all day long at household tasks including cooking and washing\nup. He did not like it. He left the temple and went home, walking all the way,\nnot once but thrice.  Each time Loku\nHamuduruwo, Ven. Soratha, came to his house and persuaded him to return.  Piyaratne returned for the fourth time and was   ordained a samanera in 1950. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1955 he was sent to Ratmalane\nParama Dhamma chetiya for his education. He\nrecalled that at the time, the Pirivena was not developed unlike now. The food was inadequate. He got lunu kanda\nfor breakfast every day. Loku\nHamudurowo gave him five Rupees a month and his mother gave another ten, but\nthis was not enough for his needs. However, he got pens and copy books as\npirikara. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Parama Dhamma he moved to\nVidyodaya Pirivena. He stayed at Hunupitiya Gangarama while attending\nVidyodaya. His subjects were Sinhala, history, Sanskrit.  Medhananda was at Vidyodaya when it was elevated\nto a University.  He obtained an honors\ndegree in Sanskrit, with a class, from there. Then he obtained a second honors degree\nfrom University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, specializing in Sinhala. He also\nobtained a Masters degree from University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He started on\na Ph.D thesis but could not complete it,  \ndue, he said, to his teaching commitments.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On graduating, in 1962, Ven.\nMedhananda went headlong into secondary school teaching.  He taught in several schools in the   Uva-Sabaragamuwa\nprovinces.  They were, in sequence,\nBadulla Dharmaduta Vidyalaya, Karandana Maha Vidyalaya,   Kuruwita Maha Vidyalaya,   Uduvaka Siddhartha Vidyalaya, Ellepola Maha\nVidyalaya and Anura Maha Vidyalaya, Getahetta.   (Dates\nnot provided)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

W.J.M. Lokubandara , when he became\nMinister of Education decided that Ven. Medhananda should be in the Education\nDepartment, not puttering about in secondary schools. He appointed him  as assistant director in the Education Department,\nwhere his first task was inspection of schools. Medhananda was also in the\nreligious education section.. Ven. Medhananda \nworked in several zonal and provincial  education divisions in Sabaragamuwa  and retired from the Eheliyagoda division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda\u2018s first appointment was to\nBadulla Dharmaduta Vidyalaya.  He stayed\nat Kailagoda Vihara while teaching there. Dharmaduta was a leading school in\nthe district, it had 3000 to 4000 students. It was trilingual. Medhananda  taught history, Sinhala and Buddhist\ncivilization. Medhananda introduced Advanced\nlevel classes to Dharmaduta,  with\nhistory as one of  the A level subjects. Students\nwere eager to take up History at A level, Medhananda said. He\n also started a sil movement  in the school.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karandana Maha Vidyalaya had\nexcellent students, recalled Medhananda. They came from good homes and were\nwell brought up. He taught Buddhist civilization and history at A level. When\nMedhananda transferred to Kuruwita these students had no one to teach  these two subjects. There was just 8 months\nleft before the exam. Medhananda got them down to his temple every evening and\ntaught them.\u2019They did well in the exam.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda\u2019s longest period of teaching\nwas at Kuruwita. At Kuruwita he started\na school magazine \u2018Gaveshana\u2019 to encourage pupils to write creatively. Kuruwita\nwas a large school and the principal was too old to manage the school. MP Nanda\nEllawala asked Medhananda to find a good principal for Kuruwita. Medhananda scouted\naround and found a suitable person, the principal of Weligepola Maha Vidyalaya.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda was next  asked to accept the post of principal at\nUduvaka Siddhartha Maha Vidyalaya for one year. it was a neglected school. No\nprincipal ever stayed long  .Medhananda\nwas asked   to turn it round.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uduwaka was in a bad state,  recalled Medhananda . The school had just three\nclassrooms, the lavatory had no door, the access road was so bad that not even\na tractor could go on it. Medhananda obtained donations from well wishers   and provided the school with class rooms, an open\nair theatre, library, playground and \nBudu medura .He also built  class\nrooms for \u2018industrial training.\u2019 He spoke to the owner and obtained the\nadjoining land for the school, when others had failed to do so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school had no water, Medhananda obtained\nwater from a stream one kilometer away on a hill. His team  did all the work .The wood needed for  building was obtained from nearby Danagala\nKanda. Medhananda obtained a permit, cut down trees and   with the help of pupils,  the logs were carried downhill and loaded to\nlorries below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda said he too participated in the\nphysical labor involved.  He said he had\ncarried bricks and  sand, dragged wood,\ncut drains, and dug the soil when necessary. He was Principal and labourer,\nboth.     He arrived in school early. He returned after\nschool had closed and stayed there till 7 or 8 pm. Sometimes he slept there, on\na bench, especially when  building was in\nprogress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Medhananda found that discipline was very\nlax in the school. students came and went as they wished, were absorbed in love\naffairs and spent school time in the nearby boutiques. Medhananda   put\nstop to this. No pupil could leave school once he came in, except with\npermission. Parents could not hang around in the school either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, some pupils   left the school premises during school hours\nwithout permission. Medhananda   caned\nthem  before the whole school. Parents protested. Medhananda did not\ngive in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda  \ncreated a prefect  committee of 15\ngirls and 15 boys   and gave them much\nresponsibility; They were entrusted with looking after classes when  teachers were not  available. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Medhananda\ninsisted that the staff must be punctual and  should take less leave. They must go to class\non time. Teachers must move from one class to another quickly, without wasting\ntime chatting. he was very strict about this. \nThe staff resented all this for about a month, then  settled down said Medhananda .  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of pupils increased from the\ninitial 300 to 1500 during Medhananda\u2019s time. they came from Hanwella,\nDehiovita, Eheliyagoda   and Karandana. There\nwere only 5 in the A level class when he arrived. He coached them  and all\nfive entered University  to study in the Arts\n faculty.  The numbers in the  A level class then rose to 150.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the arts stream, Medhananda\nintroduced commerce. He wanted to start science as well and began to build a\nlaboratory. Vasudeva Nanayakkara, MP helped with money from the Decentralized Fund. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then in 1977 the government changed . UNP\ncame to power. UNP supporters in Uduwaka were opposed to Medhananda . They\nwanted Medhananda removed.  but the MP of\nthe area, resisted. He   said it was\nMedhananda  who  had developed the school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A meeting to decide  on the  building needs of the schools in the area,  took place in the Education Department . Medhananda\nparticipated and said that his science building needed to be completed. The MP for the\narea, who was also present, said that Uduwaka \ndid not need a science lab. Medhananda pointed out that  pupils from ten miles away attended Uduwaka.\nThe school served about 10 villages,  \u2018These\nare poor  people. Please approve the\nremaining money.\u2019 No said  the  MP, \nUduwaka  does not need a science\nlab.  Education   must be done the way I want it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was an argument between\nMedhananda and MP.  A few days later\nMedhananda  got a letter transferring him\nto Ellepola  Maha Vidyalaya in\nBalangoda  as \u2018upa guruverayek\u2019.  Medhananda \nwent to  Nissanka Wijeyeratne,\nthen Minister of Education , and got the transfer cancelled, he then returned\nto Uduwaka, signed in as principal, and then asked for a transfer.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

M.L.M. Aboosally was MP for Balangoda\nat the time. He intervened. He personally  visited Medhananda   and asked Medhananda to name any school he\nwanted. Medhananda  had no preference.\nAboosally  then appointed  Ven. Medhananda as principal of Ellepola Maha\nVidyalaya  since the principal   there was going on transfer. Medhananda   observed that it was a Muslim politician who\nhad come to his aid, not the Sinhalese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellepola Maha Vidyalaya  gave him a welcome when he arrived. Ellepola\nhad sufficient buildings  but otherwise,\nEllepola was a bad as Uduwaka, Medhananda recalled.  Medhananda  \nstarted A level classes and gave the school an open air stage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wimal Wickremasinghe, MP for\nEheliyagoda, then asked Ven. Medhananda to take over Anura Maha Vidyalaya, Getahatta  . Medhananda  improved that school too. The access road was\nimproved and  buildings renovated.  Medhananda \nadded new buildings, including a \nlibrary and  shrine room. Pupil\ncount rose from 364 to 2000. There were only 3 pupils in A level class\ninitially.  Under Medhananda ,  Anura Vidyalaya’s  Arts and Commerce results for \u2018O\u2019 and \u2018A\u2019\nlevels  improved so much, that Anura ended\nup as one of the five schools with the best results in Sabaragamuwa.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda taught Sinhala, History\nand Buddhist civilization in the schools he went to.  He encouraged students to study these\nsubjects.  He also encouraged them to\nexplore the historical sites in their area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Dharmaduta, he told the pupils to\ngo and look at historical places in Badulla. \nThey first went to Matigahatenna pansala, where Medhananda found an\ninscription. Pupils then went to Alupota and  other archaeological sites in Moneragala. Karandana students were taken on exploration\nto Valaellugoda kanda.  Advanced level\nstudents from Uduwaka   joined Medhananda\nin his exploration of the \u2018whole of the Sitawaka kingdom.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When history was removed from the school\nsyllabus, in 1972, Medhananda tried to compensate. He wrote many essays to the\nmass media on history and archaeology and also arranged for an all island\nseries of talks. There was a good\nresponse, said Medhananda to his biographer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda has been among the group who had\nagitated for the return of history to the school syllabus. He had very\nunflattering things to say about its removal. When\nHistoyr was brought back to schools, Medhananda, then in the Ministry of\nEducation, was on the board responsible for Grade 9 History textbook. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Medhananda  has also had a successful,  though \nbrief, career as a University teacher. After his spell at Kuruwita Maha\nVidyalaya , he was asked to join  the University\nof Sri Jayewardenepura, his University , as a lecturer. Ven.  Kaluachchimulle Mahanama had left for\npostgraduate studies abroad and Medhananda was asked to fill in. He was given a room in the Vice Chancellor\u2019s\nquarters to live in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He taught Sanskrit at both undergraduate\nand postgraduate level. Medhananda\nrecalled that   some lectures were attended by more than 400\nstudents. University teachers had also attended his lectures. My view (\nKamalika Pieris) is that he would have lectured on history and Buddhist\ncivilization  in addition to Sanskrit  and the increased audiences would have been\nfor these, not Sanskrit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\n1971 the teaching at Sri Jayewardenepura \nwas hampered by the fact that  the\nJVP was giving the lectures inside the University .  The University  closed. Medhananda and some other s decided\nto use the time to  translate   Sanskrit works to Sinhala. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While teaching at Sri Jayewardenepura,\nMedhananda accepted a request to take over Uduwaka Anura Vidyalaya. When the undergraduates\ngo to know of this, they signed a petition asking that  Ven. Medhananda be persuaded to  stay on in the University. The petition was\nsigned by undergraduates of  Colombo,\nPeradeniya and Sri Jayewardenepura . Medhananda observed that as far as he  knew, this was the first time that such a request\nhad been made.  Medhananda said he still\nhad a copy of this petition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda insisted that he must go\nto Anura Vidyalaya as he had accepted the position. The University  was  \ndetermined not to lose his services. Sri Jayewardenepura  asked Medhananda  to teach on weekends, as a substitute could\nnot be found. Medhananda  readily  agreed. He taught in the University during\nweekends, for two years, without pay. But the University eventually   found a way to pay him, and he got paid for\nhis full period of work, including arrears. University had kept a complete\nrecord of the lectures he had given. Medhananda\ntravelled to Nugegoda from \nGetahatta   in his own car. He owned\na Vauxhall car,  \u2018in rather poor\ncondition,\u2019  bought for 3000 rupees.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Medhananda is a prolific\nwriter.  That is well known. He has\nwritten many books on Sri Lanka history and on Buddhism. Medhanand. also\ncomposed many kavi. His biographer, Kahatapitiya says, Medhananda had learnt\nhow to write Kavi from \u2018Sirisena Maitipe pavat va gena yanu labu Arunaloka\ngrantha vidyalayen\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/em>Medhananda  has contributed  poems and prose writings to Ambavanaya\u201d  and \u2018Sinhala Bauddhaya\u2019. His first published book of poems was\nAthvasi hasna\u2019( date not available). In 1956 he wrote  Abhinava swarna mayura sandesaya.\u2019   This was a sandesa  sent from Napawala to Natha devale, Kandy,\nasking Vishnu to protect  rata, jatiya,\nagama. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1958 he published  \u2018Sokaye geethaya\u2019  which was based on a story written in English.   A relative gave him the money to print this\nwork and Medhananda had  sold a\nconsiderable number of copies, each \npriced at fifty cents, which was a big sum those days.   His next composition, influenced by the\nSanskrit <\/strong>work on the subject, was  Buddha charita maha kavya. ( continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Revised 27.6.20 Ven. Ellawala Medhananda was born on 28th January 1937. He was named Piyaratne. His father was Ellawala Imiyahami Punchi Mahatthaya and his mother was Hapurugama Kiri Ethana. Father was a person of some standing in the village. He owned considerable land.   He was a building contractor and had 12 or so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}