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| Monday, 1 March 2004 |
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Cumaratunga Munidasa - 'a great poet of Ruhuna' by Dahlan Salahudeen The 60th death anniversary of the great poet, Cumaratunga Munidasa falls on March 2. Cumaratunga was born in the village of Dikhena in Dickwella on July 25, 1887. His father was a respected physician of Ruhuna. Cumaratunga was the twelfth of his thirteen children.
He was a patriot, a humanist, a translator, a thinker, a philosopher, a linguist, a poet, a dramatist, a composer, an educationist, an editor, an author, a school inspector, a teacher, a principal and so on. Throughout his remarkable literary career Cumaratunga never accepted anything without close examination and critical analysis. Always he spoke the truth though it seemed bitter to others. Cumaratunga was very outspoken. He always loved and respected his own language - 'Helabasa' - more than anything else and gave the rightful place to it. He emphasised the importance of learning a foreign language but under no circumstances did he become a slave to an alien culture. Cumaratunga always honoured our national traditions and culture. Among his original works both in prose and verse, 'Piyasamara', 'Vrith Vakiya', 'Kumara-gee', 'Heen-saraya', 'Magul-kema', 'Helamiyasiya', occupy a very prominent place. This gifted scholar set a guideline for the formation of new words and thereby enriched the 'Helabasa' introducing numerous new terms. The most popular words such as 'Rohala' for hospital, 'hediya' for nurse, 'Sarasaviya' for university, 'Kamituwa' for committee, 'Vidhuhala' for school, 'Rajaya' for state, 'Agamathi' for premier, are being freely and widely used today. This celebrated poet has produced a series of works in children's literature which are considered marvellous creations. Through his beautiful poetry he forms mental pictures for children. Cumaratunga's aim was to see mentally, emotionally and environmentally healthy and cultured children. 'Daru Nelavilla', 'Haava', 'Lenaa', 'Velendee', 'Kirillakage Vilapaya' and 'Daru Surathal' are some of his marvellous poetic creations of universal appeal. These poems are artistically picturesque. Cumaratunga strongly hated and condemned hypocrisy and hypocrites. He was a national asset belong to all races irrespective of caste, creed and colour. Cumaratunga emphasised the importance of producing of our goods in our land. He vehemently condemned the begging mentality of our nation. He was the publisher of the popular newspaper, 'Lakmini Pahana' and the periodical 'Subasa'. It is our profound and paramount duty to pay our tribute to this great son of Sri Lanka at a critical and crucial time like this. |
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Cumaratunga showed extraordinary skills and interest in Sinhala
Langauge and Literature since his youth. He received his early education
at St. Thomas College, Matara. After a distinguished academic career he
diverted his whole attention to the critical study of Sinhala Language and
Literature. Cumaratunga was a multi-faceted personality.
