Features | Online edition of Daily News

The Naguleswaram temple in Keerimalai, Jaffna which is considered to be a place of great spirituality is one of the ancient and historical Shivan temples in Sri Lanka. Being one of the oldest temples of Lordshiva, its history predates the arrival of Prince Vijaya to Sri Lanka.

This temple exudes serenity and it is enhanced by the calm surroundings. The interior is a simple blend of colours, the gold plated sections of the walls enhances the simplistic beauty of the large hall. At the centre is a stone structure where bronze statues of Deities have been placed.

A sequence of Archways leads to the sanctum where the largest Sivalingam in Sri Lanka lies. It is said that the Sivalingam has been made out of a very rare material.

Naguleswaram Kurukkal is the high priest of the temple and his family has been an integral part of the temple for more than six generations.

His son too following the footsteps of his ancestors is a priest at this temple. Renovations are being done and the temple roof is being repaired. Since the re-opening of the road to Keerimalai to the public, devotees from all walks of life are visiting this temple to pay homage.

The Naguleswaram temple is very important to Hindus, as it is the site where the ashes of their lovedones are sprinkled in the sea so that they receive the blessings of the deities. The temple festival could be witnessed on Maha Sivarathri Day which falls on Monday 20th February 2012.

In this temple, there is a spring water pond. The water of this pond is said to have medicinal properties and several devotees visit this site to dip in the clear blue water to clean themselves.

It is believed that a sage by the name of Nakulamuni meditated in one of the caves and dipped his face into the Keerimalai spring water pond. When he had a bath in the pond, his face was transformed to that of a man and his Keri Face has been completely changed and thereafter he had a beautiful face.

Further, there are two ponds, one for males and another for females. Though the ponds are in close proximity to the sea, the water is non-saline and smooth to the skin. It is said that even a princess who was born with a facial deformity had a dip in the pond and her face was transformed.

Many devotees swim and bathe in the large ponds. The ground water system that feeds the Amban Ganga (river) in the South of the country is also the source of the Keerimalai natural springs.

Recently, several restoration and reconstruction works were done and Maha Kumbabhishekam of this temple will take place on the first week of next month. As such, let us pray to Keerimalai Shivan temple and receive His Divine Blessings.

Dream of dreamers

Twenty four leaders of the Hindu Community in Colombo formed themselves into a society under the name “Hindu Educational Society” with a view to take meaningful steps to facilitate the Hindu students in Colombo having their education in their own religious and cultural background. That significant assembly of those great men of vision and foresight was held in Colombo on February 5, 1951 under the chairmanship of Justice Chellappah Nagalingam K.C. who later became acting Chief Justice.

Birth of the school

On February 12, 1951 the Hindu Educational Society (HES) gave birth to ‘Pillayar Padasalai’ at Sri Kathiresan Kovil ‘Madam’ only with 48 children.

Although the Pillayar Padasalai has now grown and branched into two colleges, February 12, 1951 is considered as the date of establishment of each school. Thus both Colleges celebrated the Silver Anniversary in 1976.

The year 1951 saw the formation of the Hindu Educational Society for the sole purpose of establishing a Hindu School, not in a spirit of competition or rivalry with any other institution but to supplement the task of these institutions and to take the overflow from them with which they were unable to cope.

“Through the indefatigable efforts of Proctor Somasunderam, Senator Advocate S. Nadesan and Advocate V.A. Kandiah, the Society was able almost immediately to secure an acre of valuable land in the heart of Colombo situated at Bambalapitiya. That land was placed at the disposal of the Society as a result of the magnificent generosity of Annamalai Mudaliyar, the Managing Director of the Madras Palayakat Co. and his co-directors, who are the trustees of the Shree Kathiravelautha Swamy Temple at First Cross Street and of the Manicka Pillaiyar Temple at Bambalapitiya.”

It is on this leased land the Lorenz Road front portion of the Hindu College, Colombo at Bambalapitiya and Saraswathie Hall now stand. The portion of the land on which the Saraswathie Hall stands was separated by HES before the school was taken over by the Government in 1962, but the College has been given free use of the Hall whenever it required.

In the month of March 1951 the Pillaiyar Padasalai was shifted to the present premises of Hindu College, Colombo at Bambalapitiya. K. Pathmanathan was the first Principal of the school. T. Sathasivam functioned as the Head Master of the Primary School.

Upper classes shifted to Ratmalana

The parents and well-wishers of the school envisaging a well planned institution and desirous of ensuring an integrated development of the physique and mind of its students decided to acquire land at Ratmalana for expansion. The land was acquired and foundation stone for the new building was laid by Sir John Kotelawala, (Prime Minister) on May 2, 1953. Owing to the interest taken and support given by our community led by the HES the majestic buildings which stand at Ratmalana now took shape. Before the completion of the buildings, the post primary students from Bambalapitiya were shifted to Ratmalana in 1955. A number of Government servants led by K.C. Nithiyanantha helped the Society to raise funds to complete the construction of Colombo Hindu College, Ratmalana.

During the course of time Bambalapitiya school began to function as primary school and the school with upper classes at Ratmalana as Colombo Hindu College as a post primary school. One Principal served as the head of both the institutions.

Management of both schools

The history of the growth of Hindu College (Colombo) will be incomplete if we fail to honour the services done by the heads of our school at the initial stages. It was K. Pathmanathan, the first Principal, who took a keen interest in the development of the school and paved the way for its smooth growth till 1957. (T. Sathasivam was the headmaster of the Primary section). His service was continued by N. Satyendra (Barrister) who functioned as Principal in an honorary capacity in 1958. Following him T. Subramaniam (1959-62) and Ambalavanar (1963-67) served as Principals.

In 1954 the Hindu Educational Society raised funds to build an auditorium for the benefit of the school and also of the Hindu community. DKS Brothers were invited from India to perform a drama as a fund raising programme. Rs. 83,000 was thus raised. Although we may now wonder whether it is worth talking about such a sum that would have been a substantial sum those days. With those funds Saraswathie Hall was built by the HES on a part of the land given on a long lease by the Trustee of Shri Sammangodar Manicka Vinayagar Temple. The Lorenz Road front portion of Hindu College, Colombo at Bambalapitiyal premises was the balance portion leased to the HES by the said Trustee.

Sacrifice of the founders

As mentioned earlier Colombo Hindu College at Ratmalana was constructed in the years 1953 to 1955. To build that, some of the founders had given their personal guarantees and mortgages. In fact they first purchased a large estate and blocked them into lots. Having sold some of the lots they took away the burden of the costs of the land. It shows what a sacrifice they were making for their dream to come true and at the same time they used their business acumen for a social benefit. As stated earlier, the upper classes at Bambalapitiya were transferred to Ratmalana in 1955.

In 1958 the school had severe set backs. One was the demise of Justice C Nagalingam who was the manager of the school (in the previous year one of the founders and ardent supporters of the school, the philanthropist S. Mahadevan had passed away), the other being the communal riots in that year (1958).

Sivamani Sir Kanthiah Vaithianathan became the manager of the school in 1959. In 1962 the school was vested in the government.

Justice Nagalingam’s leadership at the initial stages gave the strength and dynamism to the society. He was ably assisted by the Society’s first Secretary, S. Mahadevan and thereafter by K.C. Thangarajah. Mahadevan with his business acumen and with the assistance of another entrepreneur K.C. Thangarajah and the well known Chartered Accountant K. Satchithananda and the others really laid down a foundation for a Hindu Square at Ratmalana. Even now the area around Colombo Hindu college at Ratmalana is known as Hindu Square in the Land Registry records.

Sir Kanthiah Vaithianathan the well respected civil servant who later became a Senator and also a Cabinet Minister succeeded Justice Nagalingam as the President of the HES in 1958. At that time Sir Vaithianathan was also the President of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress (Federation of Hindu Religious Associations and Trusts in Sri Lanka). The HES was one of its founder members.

Sir Vaithianathan was succeeded by S. Somasunderam, O.B.E, one of the most respected Proctors of the country and who had been the President of the Incorporated Law Society of Ceylon. While Somasunderam was the President of the HES from 1960 to 1977 he held the office of the President of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress from January 1969 to January 1970. In fact, when Justice V. Sivasupramaniam retired from the Supreme Court, Somasunderam stepped down as the President of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress and invited Justice Sivasupramaniam to head the All Ceylon Hindu Congress.

In 1977 K.C. Thangarajah, who was the Secretary from 1952 to 1977, succeeded Somasunderam as the President. Satchithananda stepped down as the Treasurer of the HES in 1969 and S. Senathirajah functioned as the Treasurer from 1969 to 1977. However, Satchithananda continued to be a member of the Board of Governors for several years till his demise when he was a Vice President of the HES. He functioned as the Treasurer of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress from 1970 to 1973.

M.S. Kandiah who succeeded Thangarajah as the Secretary of the HES in 1977 held that position for one year and thereafter for three years from 1984 to 1987. Kandiah had also functioned as the Treasurer of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress from 1966 to 1970. Dr. S. Satkunanathan who was the Secretary of the HES from 1978 to 1984 was the Treasurer of the HES in 1984/85. Thereafter he was a Vice President for several years. T. Nadeswaran took over as the Treasurer of the HES in 1986 and continued in that position till July 1997 when he was succeeded by the present Treasurer, R. Navaratnarajah.

In 1987 - Velauthapillai was elected the Secretary of the HES and he held that position for almost 10 years.

In 1990 Justice V. Manickavasagar was elected the President of the HES. He continued to hold that position till he passed away in 1994. Justice S. Sharvananda, Retired Chief Justice, was elected to succeed him.

In July 1997 Dr. K. Velauthapillai took over as the President of the HES. Having been his Assistant Secretary. I was elected to succeed him as the Secretary of the HES at the same time.

With the unfortunate sudden demise of Dr. K. Velauthapillai in October, 1999, V. Kanapathipilai who was a Vice President for several years was the automatic choice to succeed him.

Land at Ratmalana

One of the tasks that was assigned to me after being elected to the Board of Governors of the HES was appearing for the HES at the acquisition inquiry in respect of the land at Ratmalana. The land which is behind Hindu College, Colombo at Ratmalana had a youth hostel, but unfortunately it was acquired by the Youth Affairs Ministry but it was ultimately used as an Army Camp.

Having attended the Land Acquisition Inquiry and learnt that we would get only about Rs. 600,000.00 as compensation, I requested the Acquiring Officer to stay the inquiry and grant us an opportunity for seeking divesting of the property. My recommendation strongly recommended by Dr. Velauthapillai had unanimous approval of the Board of Governors. We pursued that line of action. It was ultimately divested to the society and we are obliged to N. Manmatharajan, Principal of Colombo Hindu College for his untiring efforts in successfully obtaining the divesting.

That land was partitioned into two lots - one lot has been sold to All Ceylon Hindu Congress for its Social Welfare project and the Society plans to renovate the balance portion and establish a Vocational Training Institute for Youth.

1983 communal riots and consequences

The 1983 communal riots saw the Colombo Hindu College at Ratmalana closed for several years and an Army Camp was established there. Hindu Educational Society and All Ceylon Hindu Congress were agitating for re-opening of the College for several years. In 1990 we activated the campaign for its re-opening. Minister of State for Education, Mrs. R.M. Pulendran, Mayor of Colombo, His Worship K. Ganeshalingam and Parliamentarians like M. S. Sellasamy, M.P., supported our appeal. Dr. K. Velauthapillai spearheaded the campaign.

Hostel

With the completion of its headquarters the All Ceylon Hindu Congress (ACHC) turned its attention to humanitarian services. The pilot project initiated by the ACHC and successfully continued to be implemented is the free hostel for needy children at Colombo Hindu College, Ratmalana. A number of young students who had been the victims of the war in the North-East and some from the estates were beneficiaries of this project. About 100 young boys are being looked after at this school. Hindu educational society makes the contribution of one month’s costs of this hostel from its inception in 1998.

In recognition of the fact that the hostel project was the brainchild of Dr K Velauthapillai, we have named the Hostel Building as “Dr. Velauthapillai Hall”. The contributions made by him, S Dhanabalaa and Vanathy Raveendran in establishing this Hostel need be mentioned. Although this project remained a proposal from 1996, it was implemented in 1998 because of the active support and untiring efforts of N Manmatharajan who had then been appointed the Principal.

The Hostel houses about 100 students. It is now being managed by the ACHC Committee headed by M. Thavayogarajah, Deputy President of the ACHC. I cannot find words to appreciate the yeoman services rendered by the secretary of the ACHC Hostels Committee, A. Kailasapillai and the other members of that committee in maintaining this hostel.

V. Kailasapillai, President of ACHC, has formed a trust - ‘Manitha Neyam Trust’ - and is spearheading the active campaign for collection of funds to help this Hostel and other humanitarian projects.

The pupils of the Ramakrishna Saratha Mission Colombo presented a devotional song at the Swamy Vivekananda’s 150th birth celebration at the Vivekananda Society Hall, Kotahena, Colombo 13 recently. Rev. Susantha Pirana Mathagi of Saratha Mission are also in the picture. Pic. A. Maduraveeran

The special religious Maha Yagna pooja took place at the Sri Radhakrishna Kovil New Chetty Street, Colombo 13 under the patronage of the Rev. Sriman Rohit Das Swamigal of Chennai South India recently. The event was organized by the International Society for Krishna consciousness (Isk con) to invoke blessing on the country and its people. Pic. A. Maduraveeran

Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre Colombo donated intraoular lenses to cataract patients at the Colombo National Eye Hospital at the Sai Shrine, New Chetty Street, Kotahena, Colombo 13 recently. Here Chief Trustee of the Sai Centre S. Sivasubramaniam hands over a set of lenses to a needy person. President S.N. Udayanayahan is also in the picture. Pic. A. Maduraveeran

Keerimalai Naguleswaram temple: peace of spirituality