1st February 1998

A commendable debut

Kaushalya Namasivayam performed with rare confidence combined with dexter ity at her arangetram last week. Bharatha natyam has rhythm, poetry and drama in it. Bharatha natyam is also an art which expresses spiritual life.

It needs a great deal of commitment to excel through a demanding repertoire of classical performing art like Baratham..

Be it an invocation in which she offered a salutation to the Gods and the audience or Jathiswaram, or a Varnam showing the yearning of the human soul to mingle with the divine in a world full of mundane ambitions or Oonjal depicting a devotee singing the praise of Goddess Sivakamasundari, Kaushalya rose to the occasion.

There was a Padham Athuvunma Solluval where the dancer depicts Lord Murugan's consort telling her maid that he has bestowed his affection on the maiden next door. None of these fazed the young dancer. Her gestures were fluid, combined with her facial and eye movements. She never missed a step and her teacher Sivakumari Gnanendran might well be proud. She has taught Kaushalya's mother and aunts. It helps that her family is deeply involved with Karnatic Music.

Kaushalya started Bharatha natyam at five, under the late Venkatachalapathi at Chennai, India. It was a long road for Kaushalya but a rewarding one.

Fifty years ago a band of Tamil women formed the Tamil Women's Union. The Tamil Women's Union launched Kalalaya of which Kaushalya was also a pupil for some time. This band of women wanted to keep alive the Tamil culture for future generations Today the torch they lit has to be passed to a new generation, and may they have the same dedication and devotion as their peers. The present Principal of Kalalaya Vanathy Ravindran is a person well versed in Tamil literature and culture.

Let's hope that the success of the Arangetram will inspire young Kaushalya to continue in this exacting dance form. The Chief Guests were Justice K. Palakidnar and Mrs. Palakidnar.

– Roshan Peiris

'Not so famous letters' of Anagarika

"Arise, awake, unite and join the Army of Holiness and Peace and defeat the hosts of evil".

As we celebrate the Golden Ju bilee of lndependence it is opportune to reflect upon this clarion call by Anagarika Dharmapala to his fellow countrymen. He made this call at a time when the country was under foreign domination and the patriotic elements were struggling to preserve their national culture and religious heritage.

Reading through a collection of the "not so famous" letters written by the Anagarika to his disciple Devapriya Walisinghe (not to be mistaken for Brahmachari Harischandra Walisinghe), one finds his devotion, dedication and determination to re-establish Buddhism in the subcontinent and to restore the sacred Buddhist sites such as Buddhagaya and Isipatana. The letters had been written mainly from London where he established the headquarters of the Maha Bodhi Society in Ealing having purchased a property for £2600 in 1926. He always used both the year of the Buddhist Era (2470) as well as the Christian Era (1926) in his letters.

The first volume of 'Anagarika Dharmapala Aprakata Athlipi' is from an invaluable collection of material found at Sri Seelakkhanda library at Kumara Maha Vihara, Dodanduwa. It has been edited by Dodanduwe Dharmasena Anu Nayake Thera, Ranjith Amarakirti Palihapitiya and Narada Karunatilleka.

Written in simple Sinhala, the letters demonstrate the Anagarika's style of addressing issues and forcefully expressing his views. Most of it comes in the form of advice based on the preaching of the Buddha and guidance notes to young Walisinghe who was with the Anagarika from the age of eight following the Anagarika to Calcutta when he was 15 and handling the Mahabodhi Society affairs there for many years.

The letters clearly show under what stressful conditions the Anagarika spent his time in London in his efforts to set up a Buddhist Vihara there. Once writing from the Red Sea while on a sea voyage to Venice he wrote, "There is no one to accompany me. I have no solace other than the Dhamma. No one knows the suffering I am undergoing nor my efforts. I hope I will get the protection of the Devas on this trip."

Again he wrote: "The cold is unbearable. I am suffering mentally. There is nothing for me to eat. Since I don't eat meat or fish, I feel lifeless."

The book, published by the Southern Province Cultural Ministry is a commendable start to a collection of Anagarika Dharmapala's unpublished documents. The public is bound to appreciate it if more volumes are put out.

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