Munidasa Cumaratunga

Munidasa Cumaratunga (1887–1944) was a pioneer Sri Lankan linguist, commentator, writer, poet, and journalist. He founded the Hela Havula movement which sought to remove Sanskrit influences in the Sinhala language.

He was one of the most eminent scholars Sri Lanka has known for several centuries. He achieved fame through his profound knowledge of the Sinhala language and firm conviction of the need to develop the language to promote creative thinking. He was well versed in Sinhala, Pali and Sanskrit and was also proficient in Tamil and Malyalam as well as English, Latin and Greek.fact|date=February 2008

Under the pressure of being a reduced to a colony and the cultural, social and linguistic change induced by the British empire, we notice, beginning from the late 19th century, a surge in secular Sinhala literature. Kumaratunga Munidasa, Mahagamasekera, Madawala S. Ratnayake and others strived hard to enrich the indigenous tradition. The Sinhala novel also had its beginnings during this period. These include Albert Silva"s Vimala (1892) and Adara Hasuna (1894). Another early novel which gained immense popularity was Simon Silva"s Meena (1905). Kumaratunga Munidasa researched for the development of an indigenous style of music which can truly be called our own.

Munidasa was a man of great learning and was a popular writer, teacher, teacher trainer and school inspector during different periods of his life. Even today children are encouraged to read and study Munidasa Cumaratunga's works Shiksha Margaya, Kiyavana Nuvana series, Hath Pana, Magul Kema, Heen Seraya, Prabandha Sangrahaya, Pahan Katuveki and Kavi Shikshava at least to acquire effective expression and to gain efficiency in modern creative thinking.

= Contribution To Children's Literature =

Needless to say, Kumaratunga was a giant in the field of Sinhala language and literature. The richness of the language throughout his books bear testimony to this. He is a poet of a rare genre whose use of language is amazing. "Ha! Ha! Hari Hawa" (from'Hawa ge waga'), "Maha Pudumeki, Malaka Maleki, Nehe Ehi Saki, Samanalayeki" ('Mal Bas') are but only a few examples of his contribution to children's literature.

At the same time Kumaratunga's deep sensitivity is amply portrayed in such verses as 'Daru Surathal', 'Avasana', 'Sohoyuru Viyowa' and 'Ma-ge Warada'. In 'Ma-ge Warada', the poet laments about punishing his young son for telling a lie. He says:

:"Daruwa ge anagathe kusum,:Hata-ganwannata mai ma-thath kiya,:Wanasum hema wathmane kusum,:Pasasum gannata wath no we sathan".

Kumaratunga discusses the qualities of a good boy with the character 'Sirimath'. He is punctual, he is studious, he is obedient. This is to help send a strong message to the children how they should plan their lives. The beauty of the poems is the simple words used. They are easy to remember and can be recited with ease.

Munidasa Kumaratunga's 'Nelawilla' (Lullaby) has been acclaimed by many critics as the best of its kind. Reggie Siriwardena has commended it as "one of the finest contemporary Sinhala poems". Likewise individual poems such as 'Hawa ge waga', 'Mal Bas' etc. have been lauded. However, it seems that society is yet to realize the real value contained in Kumaratunga's children's poems as a whole.

In recent times, Consultant psychiatrist, Dr. D. V. J. Harischandra has serialised the poems 'Sirimath' and 'Udaya' and shown how each verse indicates some attribute or quality which helps mould a child's character. J. R. P. Sooriyapperuma has focused on how Kumaratunga has presented 'Velendee' as a courageous mother, bringing her out as a shining example of simple but moral living coupled with determination and dedication to the well-being of her children (i.e the future generation). He shows how Kumaratunga has even managed so ingeniously to inculcate the concept of saving into the child's mind through this poem.

Revolution of the Hela Havula

This period contributed to the breaking down of the rigid difference between the spoken and literary languages. The second stage of purism rose as a counteraction against the discrimination and neglect of the Sinhala language, tendency towards hybridisms in the literary usage; and also reinforced the teaching of Sinhala and classical grammar in the classroom.

The movement Hela Havula was headed by Kumaratunga Munidasa who was a popular guru. Munidasa and his followers were opposed to the belief that Sinhalese was a derivative of Sanskrit, and admired and believed in the the antiquity of the Sinhalese race and language. They believe that Sinhalese is of even greater antiquity than Sanskrit or Greek.

In this, the elite were split into two camps. There continued to be an orthodox purist tradition who believed that the grammar of the classical works should be employed in all writings and, in order to create ornateness, Sanskrit lexis should be allowed unrestricted, written in an alphabet adequate for that purpose. There was a rich Sinhalese alphabet with which the Sanskritic lexis could be written; this was known as the misra sinhala hodiya (see De Silva 1970b).

The Hela Havula purists differed on the use of the Sanskritic lexis. They opposed the use of any loanwords, and advocated the use of phonology akin to the pre-thirteenth century poetic phonology. A corresponding alphabet, which was stripped of the Sanskritic letters like the aspirates, palatal and retroflex sibilants, etc., was always available as a poetic alphabet; this was known as the Sudha sinhala hodiya (see De Silva 1970b).

Notice the metaphor of law and society in defining the relationship of grammar and language; notice also how similar this notion is to the notion of group standards that Sprott describes. Kumaratunga (1492 B.E.) says:

Nowadays some people seem to think that grammar is irrelevant, To him who suffers from indigestion, food is indeed a nuisance. From the primitive hunter's point of view cothes are only things to laugh at. When one looks at things this way, one is not amazed that there are men who hate grammar. In civilized society, however, language needs grammar. If there is permission to violate the law, it will be two the mirth of the criminal. If, for the happiness and comfort of the criminal, social laws were allowed to be violated, civilization would begin to disappear straight away. If there were permission to violate language rules, the ignorant ones would certainly be happy…

It would provide a way to conceal their ignorance… In this country, alas, ignorance is erudition; knowledge is a thing to ridicule. An attempt must urgently be made to remedy this situation.(Intro p. 1)

Theeru Lipi (News paper articles)

* Asaranayage Kannalawwa-Lakmini Pahana
* Devi-IIapatha
* Gadubu-Subasa

Books

* Mangul Kema
* Heen Saraya
* Piya Samara