|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 25 August 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Artscope | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Birth anniversary of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy fell on August 22: Portrait of a scholar by Andrew Scott Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy was born 127 years ago in Kollupitiya on 22 August, 1877 to an English mother and a distinguished Hindu Tamil father, Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy who was also the first Hindu to be called to the English Bar. Ananda Coomaraswamy's father died while Ananda was very young and he was brought up in England from where he ultimately graduated in Geology from the University of London. He served in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) as an active geologist and mineralogist and achieve recognition as a world renowned scientist by a series of very impressive discoveries. Later he became the curator of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and died in 1947 at the age of 70. As an energetic young man Ananda Coomaraswamy played a prominent role in the regeneration of the culture of this country at the turn of this century and he was an ardent nationalist who sometimes directed his attacks at the materialism of the West. He had an utter contempt to both europeanised Indians as well as europeanised Sri Lankans.
He also remarked that these europeaniszed Indians or Sri Lankans were Indian or Sri Lankan only by name. He remarked: "A single generation of English education suffices to break the threads of tradition and to create a nondescript and superficial being deprived of all roots - a sort of intellectual pariah who does not belong to the East or the West, the past or the future." What Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy commented about India and the decadent Indian culture is rightly applicable to present Sri Lanka. He was one of those who always pointed out that schools and churches hastened the decay of eastern culture. Not only that his views on politics too were as much varied as his noble ideas about art. Though he was a nationalist in outlook he always pointed out the great danger to which nationalism would eventually lead to. He elaborated on his warnings in one of his early essays of genius, "Young India" and advocated that nationalism should positively contribute to the solution of problems that face the entire world, and no longer as a single race or continent. Sharp intellect Ananda Coomaraswamy's sharp intellect ranged over a variety of subjects such as petrology, philosophy, metaphysics, music, inenography, philology and art. His wide knowledge of the indigenous arts and crafts was unexcelled and he was even called "the greatest orientalist of all time. In him was harmoniously blended both eastern and western culture and whether he wrote on politics, or on pottery, on myths or on metaphysics, he wrote with erudition. Whether it was Plato or the Upanishads, the Bible or the Baghavad Gita the Koranor the Tripitaka, he wrote with the true spirit of their noble teachings. So taken in the broadest sense of the words he was a spiritual minded man. Ananda Coomaraswamy, who as mentioned earlier began life as a scientist and attained its giddy heights, was also highly interested in and equally competent to stress the importance of literacy. In all his studies he was greatly inspired by philosophers such as Plato. He was also one of the rare Sri Lankans who emphasised that literacy is an essential commodity for the cultural resurgence of a nation. One of his essays, "Borrowed plumes", first printed at Kandy in 1905, was his maiden literary effort. It reflects the deep thoughts of a youthful genius. In this essay Ananda Coomaraswamy describes very movingly the destruction of native life under foreign domination. This is an interesting essay which should be read and re-read and it spurs national enthusiasm. This essay which interprets the destruction of native life under foreign domination rings with choice sentences such as: "I thought how different it might be if we Sri Lankans were bolder and more independent, not afraid to stand on our own legs and not ashamed of our own nationalities. Why do we not meet the wave of civilisation on equal terms, reject the evil and choose the good." Commercialism "Our eastern civilisation was here 2,000 years ago; shall its spirit be broken utterly before the new commercialism of the west; or shall we be strong enough to hold our national ideals intact to worship beauty in the midst of ugliness, to remember the old wisdom and yet not despise the new? I fear not..... and help to make men masters of the art of life instead of salves of civilisation...... Sometimes I think the eastern spirit is not dead but sleeping, and may yet play a great part in the world's spiritual life......." As a young man of 23 years he saw his first paper, 'Ceylon Rocks and Graphite' in print in the Journal of the Geological Society and by the time he died he had completed writing more than 500 publications including the bulky monumental works such as "Medieval Sinhalese Art' and "A History of Indian and Indonesian Art'. He wrote eight articles for the 14th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica and edited the English words of Indian origin in Webster's New International Dictionary. His books and memoirs, articles and monographs were published in India, Sri Lanka, England, America, France, Germany and Holland. All his writings have a vital message for men and nations everywhere who are interested to preserve their moral and cultural integrity. Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy revealed to the Sri Lankans that art is nothing more, nothing less, than a mere skill. He had a contempt for those who had built up a magical aura around art and spoke of some vague appreciation of art. His greatest lament was that the modern mind had separated art from work and that art as a leisure time activity was completely unknown. He remarked. "It is the man who, while at work, is dping what he likes best that can be called cultured". He was an individualist during his time and he placed a high value both on his dignity and freedom as well as on the dignity and freedom of others. He is very much alive today as he was in the past and his spirit continues to speak to all those who believe that their future rests on the preservation of the individual regardless of race, religion, nationality or social status. Inspiration It was characteristic of him that he was ever active and at the same time critical of his fellowmen too. From rocks and stones to art and culture, from culture to man and society itself he was an authority as well as a dynamic source of inspiration. There is no doubt that his simple and noble life will continue to inspire the Sri Lankans for many more years. We should also remember him as a Sri Lankan who attained international eminence as a philosopher of art and art historian, as an expositor of oriental art and philosophy, as a traditionalist thinker, as a sociologist, an educationist, a knowledgeable commentator on comparative religion, an erudite writer and above all as an essayist with the touch of a prophet. Dr. Ananda Commaraswamy, with the freshness of his thoughts and the warm sympathy for his less fortunate countrymen, flung himself to the society for a long and dedicated service and he was a great Sri Lankan who heroically displayed a universal quality of greatness which still continues to inspire those who have come in contact with him both directly and indirectly. To us who are living in this complex modern world, sometimes harassed by its very complexities which often result in broken harmonies, Ananda Commarasawamy's life serves well as a model. To those who love to preserve and improve their personal integrity and human dignity Ananda Coomaraswamy's life contains personal qualities worthy of emulation. In modern Sri Lanka, faced with hard realities of economics and culture, it is always good for us, his countrymen, to emulate his worthy qualities and his vital message of the more idealistic values of integrity, justice, courage and purity of thought and action for which this great man nobly stood. **** Back **** |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
Referring to the europeanised Indians he once wrote: "It is not
without reason that Prof. Patrick Geddes has remarked that it is a mistake
to allow the europeanised Indian graduates to have their way with Indian
education: that would be continuously our mistake, not correcting
it."
