Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, (; 16 April 1851 – 26 November 1930) was a

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka ** Demographics of Sri Lanka * Sri Lankan people, or of Sri Lankan descent; this includes: ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan T ...

lawyer and politician who served as

Solicitor-General of Ceylon The solicitor general of Sri Lanka is a post subordinate to the attorney general of Sri Lanka. The solicitor general of Sri Lanka assists the attorney general, and is assisted by four additional solicitors general. Note that the post was solicit ...

Early life and family

Ramanathan was born on 16 April 1851 at the home of his maternal grandfather A. Coomaraswamy on Sea Street,

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

in south western

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. He was the son of

Gate Mudaliyar Mudaliyar (or Mudali) was a Ceylon, Ceylonese colonial title during Portuguese Ceylon, Portuguese and British Ceylon, British rule of the island. Stemming from the Native headmen of Ceylon, native headman system, the title was usually hereditary, ...

A. Ponnambalam, a leading government functionary, and Sellachi Ammai. He was the brother of P. Coomaraswamy and P. Arunachalam. Ramanathan had his early education at home before joining

Colombo Academy Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...

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, also known as Agamudi Mudaliar or Arcot Mudaliars, is a caste found in northern Tamil Nadu, southern Andhra Pradesh and southern Karnataka. They were an elite and dominant land-owning community. Etymology The earliest occu ...

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 Tirumati Leelawathy Ramanathan (née R. L. Harrison in 1870) was the Australia-born wife of Ponnambalam Ramanathan of the Ponnambalam-Coomaraswamy family. Lady Ramanathan was an Englishwoman who was born in Australia where her father was involved ...

(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 (; 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 on 23 January 1834 in Amaittodam, Mutwal in south western ...

Ramanathan became a law apprentice under Richard Morgan,

Queen's Advocate of Ceylon The attorney general of Sri Lanka is the Sri Lankan government's chief law, legal adviser, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The attorney general is usually a highly respected senior advocate, and is appointed by the ruli ...

. Ramanathan became an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

of the Colombo

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1874. He was responsible for editing

law report A or is a compilation of Legal opinion, judicial opinions from a selection of case law decided by courts. These reports serve as published records of judicial decisions that are cited by lawyers and judges for their use as precedent in subsequ ...

s 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 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 form of represe ...

in 1879 as the unofficial member representing

Tamils The Tamils ( ), also known by their endonym Tamilar, are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. The Tamil language is o ...

, 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 his 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 January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, and he 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 association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

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

in 1892. In 1903 he became one of the first Ceylonese to be appointed

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

. 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 Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

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 S ...

. Ramanathan was responsible for the release of the Sinhalese leaders who had been arrested following the

1915 Ceylonese riots The 1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots (also known as the anti-Muslim riots of 1915 or the 1915 Buddhist Mohammedan riots or the 1915 Ceylonese riots) was a widespread and prolonged ethnic riot in the island of British Ceylon, Ceylon between Sinhalese ...

, 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, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

in the

1889 Birthday Honours The 1889 Birthday Honours were appointments by Queen Victoria to Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to ...

. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1921. Ramanathan founded two schools in northern Ceylon –

Parameshwara College, Jaffna Parameshwara College ( ''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 a university. It began as a teacher training school and ...

and

Ramanathan College Ramanathan College ( ''Irāmanātaṉ Kallūri'') is a provincial school in Maruthanarmadam near Chunnakam, Sri Lanka. The singer Maharajapuram Santhanam was once its principal. See also * List of schools in Northern Province, Sri Lanka The f ...

. 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, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

. Ramanathan and other leading figures founded '' The Ceylonese'', an

English-language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

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 group of Caste system in India, castes in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and northeastern parts of Sri Lanka. The Vellalar are members of several endogamous castes such as the numerically strong Arunattu Vellalar, Chozhi ...

caste. Ramanathan died on 26 November 1930 at his home Sukhastan on Ward Place, Colombo. Future

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

D. S. Senanayake Don Stephen Senanayake (; ; 20 October 1884 – 22 March 1952) was a Ceylonese statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of Ceylon, having emerged as the leader of the Sri Lankan independence movement that led to the establishment ...

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 Lawyers from Colombo Politicians from Colombo People from British Ceylon Presidency College, Chennai alumni 20th-century King's Counsel Solicitors general of Ceylon Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan Tamil people Tamil politicians Sri Lankan Tamil writers