Piyadasa Sirisena:

Father of Sinhala novel

Nemsiri Mutukumarana

Today (August 31) marks the 135th birth anniversary of Piyadasa Sirisena, the pioneer Novelist, patriot, Buddhist leader and newspaper publisher. He played a significant role in the national revival of the first decades of 20th Century. Following is a reproduction of an article published in the Daily News of September 2, 1998

From his childhood, he had a penchant for oriental culture. Unfortunately on account of the inability of his unsophisticated parents to withstand colonial influences in Aturuvella, Induruva, he had to display himself as Pediris Siva.

Young Pediris had his primary education at the Varahena Svabhasha Pasala and had to pursue higher studies at the school in Bentara, then known as Lansi Palliya and the Brohier Institue at Alutgama.

That was the time, Anagarika Dharmapala, the mighty crusader against colonialism and a social reformer went from village to village with his clarion call. Pedris who had heard of the fiery speeches of the Anagarika, one day went to a public meeting, the Anagarika addressed at Bentota. Before, Anagarika’s speech, a young student sang at the meeting. Anagarika, as usual, keen to know people and cultivate them for his campaign against colonialism, thundered on hearing the name Pediris Silva. ‘Are you not ashamed to flaunt un-Sinhala names?’

Childhood poet

From that day, the young student threw out lock, stock and barrel Anglo-Portuguese nomenclature and took two Ariya Sinhala names, Piyadasa Sirisena given by the Anagarika Dharmapala. In 1895, Piyadasa Sirisena, a childhood poet, immigrated to the big city to join the editorial of the Situmina, edited by Ervin Silva.

That was the beginning of his writing and journalistic career which spanned nearly 51 years until his death on May 22, 1946 at the age of 71. Still in his twenties, Piyadasa Sirisena wasted no leisure time. He was engaged as a sub-editor of Situmina. He supplemented his income by working as a clerk (Liyanamahatmaya) at a furniture shop. As a young man of 28, Piyadasa Sirisena started his own magazine, the Sinhala Jatiya.

Before long, the monthly became a weekly and the weekly, a daily news paper. Fired by the inspiring message of ‘Anagarika Dharmapala, the young Piyadasa Sirisena made the Sinhala Jatiya, the voice of the Sinhala people. The paper’s popularity spread far and wide and the Sinhala Jatiya became the voice of the people. Piyadasa Sirisena became a household name.

His paper took upon itself the vigorous campaign to reawaken the slumbering people to thwart the clandestine campaigns of the agents of colonialism to destabilize the nation. Piyadasa Sirisena carried forward the message of the Lanka Temperance Movement and the criticism of the Excise Tax the British Government introduced, to the far flung villages.

At that time, another unfortunate incident took place - that was the Sinhala-Muslim conflict. To the British who could not control the wrath of the preponderant Sinhala people against their regime, considered the riots, a golden opportunity to incarcerate the Sinhala leaders, especially the Sinhala-Buddhist leadership who were in the forefront of the freedom struggle against the imperialists.

Path of freedom

Piyadasa Sirisena’s Sinhala Jatiya re-oriented the minds of the people. So much, the British branded him s a ‘dangerous element’ and put him behind Welikada prison bars along with F R Senanayake, C A Hevavitarana and D S Senanayake among others. Though the British incarcerated Piyadasa Sirisena physically, their might miserably failed to indoctrinate him or influence him against his chosen path - the path of freedom. Out of jail, Piyadasa Sirisena continued his newspaper with vigour and vitality. The Sinhala Jatiya which became a daily paper from 1930, had to suffer because of a lack of funds.

Rising from the ashes like a phoenix, the Sinhala Jatiya hit the news stands again, this time as a weekly, from 1934 and became the leading week-ender till his death in 1946.

He made the Sinhala Jatiya the medium to addresses the people. It was the forum of discussion and debate. His verse and prose attracted the people as never before.

Besides the journal, Piyadasa Sirisena’s own books, the novel and the verse provided the Sinhala-speaking people sufficient encouragement to give up, once and for all times, the unSinhala ways and means and dress and eating habits.

His novels became an instant success to penetrate into the minds of the villager as well as town-dweller. He changed the way of living of those people who were addicted to follow the habits of the Portuguese, Dutch and the British much more colourfully than even those colonialists themselves.

Piyadasa Sirisena’s first novel came out of the press in 1906 as Vasanawanta Vivahaya or Jayatissa Rosalin. He wrote 17 novels, the last of which was Debara Kella.

In almost all is works, the golden thread that ran through them was the miserable defeat of the villain. He portrayed victory to the disciplined, civilized and cultured and defeat and destruction to the drunkards, debauches and the corrupt. His novel played a tremendously significant role in molding the lifestyles of a people who use to ape the west and blindly follow Western norms.