{"id":103320,"date":"2020-06-08T16:46:32","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T23:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=103320"},"modified":"2020-06-08T16:46:32","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T23:46:32","slug":"ven-rambukwelle-siddhartha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/06\/08\/ven-rambukwelle-siddhartha\/","title":{"rendered":"VEN. RAMBUKWELLE SIDDHARTHA"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Revised 7.6.20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Rambukwelle Siddhartha has played a significant\nrole in the preservation of indigenous culture in Sri Lanka. But his contribution\nhas not been recognized and not much is known about him. I searched the\nliterature for references to Ven. Siddhartha, and also asked a friend in Kandy,\nto find out something about Ven. Siddhartha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My friend, who has a distant kinship\nconnection to this family, had gone to Rambukwelle temple, situated in the old\nTeldeniya area. She was shown the grave of Ven. Siddhartha containing his ashes\nand giving his years of birth and death. \nShe has also met descendants of Ven., Siddhartha in Rambukwelle village.\nShe was told that that a nephew of Ven. Siddhartha, the son of Siddhartha’s\nbrother, (name with held) had manuscript material on the Ven. Siddhartha. She\nconveyed this information to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Rambukwelle Siddhartha\nwas born on 12th December 1889 and died on 8th November 1941. Nothing is known\npublicly of his childhood, youth or his ordination. The family may be having\nthis information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we do know is that he had studied at a pirivena,    and then had gone to Calcutta with Anagarika\nDharmapala where he came under the influence of Tagore.He\nobtained a degree in Calcutta, specializing in Sanskrit, returned home and\njoined the University College in Colombo. He lived in Anderson Road when\nteaching at University.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 K.N.O.Dharmadasa, writing on the origins of\nthe Department of Sinhala of the University of Ceylon, observed, that there was\na high standard of written Sinhala in Sri Lanka in the first half of the 20th<\/sup>\ncentury. That is because bhikkhus such as Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala and Ratmalane\nDhammarama and lay scholars such as W.F .Gunawardhana had set high standards\nfor Sinhala. There was also an active Pirivena education system at the time,\nled by Vidyodaya (1873) and Vidyalankara (1875) which   insisted on good Sinhala. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This tradition of Sinhala scholarship,\nnurtured in the Pirivena was transferred to the Sinhala Department of the University,\nsaid Dharmadasa. The first two lecturers in Sinhala in University College in\nthe 1940s were Ven. Suriyagoda Sumangala and Ven. Rambukwelle Siddhartha, both\nfrom the Pirivena tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first lecturer to be appointed to the\nDepartment of Sanskrit, Pali, and Sinhala was Rev. Suriyagoda Sumangala who\nheld an MA from the University of Calcutta, continued Dharmadasa. His career\nwhich started with much promise ended suddenly with his resignation during the\nmid-1920s. The next noteworthy lecturer who joined the department was Rev.\nRambukwelle Siddhartha who also held an MA from Calcutta. Unfortunately, his\ncareer too ended with his sudden demise before the University came into being,\nconcluded Dharmadasa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have\ninformation on Ven. Siddhartha\u2019s  teaching\nfrom Ediriweera Sarachchandra who had \nstudied Sanskrit under   Ven.\nSiddhartha in the University .Ven. Siddhartha\u2019s\u2019 knowledge of Sanskrit, Pali\nand Prakrit was far superior to that of G.P. Malalasekera, said Sarachchandra. \u2018All\nthree of us, who were specializing in Sanskrit thought so\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarachchandra said Ven. Siddhartha taught Sanskrit\nas a living language. He did not teach Mega Dhuta, by translating it word for\nword into English. He made us respond to the poetry of the Megha Dhuta, not\nsimply the content. Ven. Siddhartha recited each sloka. He did not recite in\nthe dull manner in which Sanskrit is recited in Sri Lanka, but in the grand\nmanner in which it is recited in India. He had a very fine voice, with a wide\nvocal range and a volume which resonated inside the lecture rom. I can still recall his voice reciting these\nslokas, said Sarachchandra., <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Siddhartha has composed poetry. Here is\ninformation on one of his effort. Sarachchandra recalls, Ven. Siddhartha   had a servant called Kira. Kira was very lazy, Ven. Siddhartha wrote\n\u2018Kira budida ban\u2019 kavi based on him.   After\ncomposing this poem, Ven. Siddhartha had read it out to us, his three Sanskrit\nstudents, with great relish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are other\nscattered references which indicate that Ven. Siddhartha was influential in the\nUniversity. \u2018Some academics serving at the university led\nby Ven. Rambukwelle Siddhartha and Prof. G. P. Malalasekara succeeded in\ninspiring a feeling for the indigenous culture among university students\u2019 said\none analyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 An appreciation of Ven. Narada of\nVajiraramaya, Colombo,   said that Narada\nstudied ethics and philosophy at the University College, Colombo, as an\nexternal student, where he was able to associate closely with Ven. Rambukwelle\nSiddhartha , an oriental scholar monk of repute\u201d.  Olcott Gunasekera confirms this. He stated\nthat Narada had studied ethics and philosophy at University College, Colombo\nand met Rambukwelle Siddhartha, an oriental scholar monk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An appreciation\nof Prof. O.H.de A Wijesekera included a reference to Ven. Siddhartha. Venerable\nRambukwelle Siddhartha, Senior Lecturer in the Department of   Sanskrit,\nPali and Sinhalese was inculcating in his pupils a love for indigenous\nliterature and the culture of the land, said the writer of this appreciation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Ven. Siddhartha did not escape criticism. The\nSinhala standard at the University College was heavily criticized by Sinhala\nscholars outside the University, said Dharmadasa. Hela Havula group carried on a relentless\ncampaign against the teachers and teaching of Sinhala in University College. Hela Havula attacked them, especially Rev\nRambukwelle Siddhartha who was lecturing there. \nWhen Ven. Siddhartha passed away, they criticized the grammar in the\nobituary poem published on Ven. Siddhartha, as well.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a formal\nphotograph of the teaching staff of the University College. The date is not\ngiven but it can be easily obtained from University records. It is probably\nearly 1930s. Ven. Siddhartha is in\nthe second row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Sinhala literary society was started in University College in\n1923. It appears to have been a shaky organisation. In 1932, there weren\u2019t even five students to make up the quorum\nand the meetings were cancelled, recalled Tissa Kariyawasam. However, in the\n1930s, the University College Sinhala Society was interested in Kandyan dancing\ndue to the teaching of Rambukwelle Siddhartha there, continued Kariyawasam.\nMalalasekera watching the activities of this society wanted to initiate\npractical classes in Kandyan dancing but this never materialised, concluded\nKariyawasam. The biographer of Pani Bharatha, Anura Priyalal Sirisena added\nthat Ven. Siddhartha had tried to link Udarata dance and Indian dance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarachchandra\nprovides better information. He says Ven. Siddhartha   had attended the meetings of the Gandharva\nsabha once or twice and sang vannam. But Ven. Siddhartha\u2019s greatest contribution\nwas the introduction of Urapola Kiribanda, to the Sabha. Kiribanda was an\nUdarata dancer from a traditional dance parampara. He started a dance class in\nthe University on Sunday mornings. Sarachchandra had also gone for these, not because\nhe wished to become a dancer but because he wanted to learn the moves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Oriental\nFaculty of University College had held an annual Mela which showcased\nindigenous culture. This was intended as a corrective to the Eurocentric\napproach favoured by the University .My recall is that Ven. Siddhartha\u2019s name\nwas mentioned in connection with the Mela too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven.\nSiddhartha\u2019s family in Teldeniya had told my friend that Ven. Siddhartha had\nknown nine languages. This is possible. He would have known Sanskrit, Pali,\nSinhala, probably Bengali. He definitely knew English.  There is evidence of this. Ven. Rambukwella\nhas edited and translated the <\/strong>Letters of J. D’Oyly.\nThis was published by the Historical Manuscripts Commission in 1937.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Siddhartha, unlike most Bhikkhus of the\ntime, was well travelled. He has spent several years in each of the two\ninternational centers, to which the intelligentsia of the time flocked, Calcutta\nin India and London in the UK. In addition to Calcutta, Ven. Rambukwelle has\nalso lived in London. He was he was the incumbent bhikkhu at London Buddhist\nVihara from 1933-1937. G.Uswatte arachchi says Ven. Siddhartha was at the   School of African and Asian studies (SOAS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This writer, Kamalika Pieris, writing on\nindigenous dance stated \u2018Ven. Rambukwelle Siddhartha knew to dance, sing vannam\nand play the udekki. He composed a new Gajaga vannama.\u2019 This was based   on a statement by Tissa Kariyawasam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rambukwelle Siddhartha, with the assistance of\nUrapola Kiribanda used to sing vannamas playing the udekki, recalled Tissa\nKariyawasam. Siddhartha thera was a clever singer and dancer too. He was the\ncomposer of the new Gajaga vannama, added Kariyawasam.  Uswatte arachchi supported this view.\nRambukwelle Siddhartha was reputed to be able to sing Vannam beautifully, said G.Uswatte\narachchi.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarachchandra said he had gone to Ven. Siddhartha\u2019s\nhouse to learn Vannam. Ven. Siddhartha recited\nvannam and taught them to me, Sarachchandra recalled.Ven. Siddhartha not only knew vannam but had a critical knowledge\nand deep appreciation of Udarata dance, said Sarachchandra.  Vinaya rules were somewhat slack at the time and\nSangha were able to take an interest in the performing arts. Udarata dance\nsurvived during British rule because of the support it got from the Udarata\nelite, including its Sangha said Sarachchandra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Revised 7.6.20 Ven. Rambukwelle Siddhartha has played a significant role in the preservation of indigenous culture in Sri Lanka. But his contribution has not been recognized and not much is known about him. I searched the literature for references to Ven. Siddhartha, and also asked a friend in Kandy, to find out something […]<\/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-103320","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\/103320","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=103320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}