Maunaguru - the silent innovator

Maunam in Thamil means silence. Maunaguru is an easily understandable word. It is the name of an academic hailing from the eastern part of Sri Lanka, where the indigenous folk theatre is still flourishing. Not many from the eastern province had been university teachers.

The late Swami Vipulananda, the late P. Santhirasegaram, S. Maunaguru, his spouse, Chitraleka Maunaguru and M.A.Nuhman are the names I can think of to have worked as university teachers.

Maunaguru was discovered by the late Prof.S.Vithiananthan as a student exponent of Naatu Kooththu, while the former was at Peradeniya. He featured him in the famous play 'Karnan Poare" and the beginnings of Maunaguru's career as a professor in Thamil and Fine Arts saw its light.

Maunaguru's achievements are recorded in a volume published last year.

It's called "Mownam". You may even spell it as "Maunam". Silence is golden, and silence is also a communicative language. The 326 page volume with photographs is published by a committee to felicitate the 60 year old don with V.Thavarajah as its editor.

Sinniah Maunaguru is an actor, writer, author, director, researcher and critic. His contribution to Thamil Theatre in Sri Lanka is immense as he is an innovator. To read about him in full, you must refer to this volume, if you happen to read and understand Thamil.

The volume has five sections: an introduction, what others see in him, his scholarly researches, his research papers, and his works. The following notable figures in contemporary Lankan Thamil literary and artistic fields have contributed to this well-made anthology: R. Moanagurusamy, M. S. Mookiah, A. Suntharalingam, A. Shanmugathas, Kulanthai M. Shanmugalingam, Vellavoork Gopal, Kanthiah Sri Ganeshan, Se. Seevaratnam, Su. Seevaratnam, S. Thevarasa, Bala Sukumar, Anbumani, T. V. Kanagasingam. Karthigesu Sivathamby, S. Yogarasa, V. Thavarajah, Vadivel Inbamohan, Ammankili Murugadas, M. S. M. Anes, R. Paarthiparas, M. Chitraleka, M. A. Nuhman and V. Arasu.

Included in this volume are some of the works of Prof. S. Maunaguru. They are a short novel called 'Saarvaahan", five poems, short story, a foreword written by him, a column, and two rhythmic songs.

Kasupathi Nadarasa's profile on Maunaguru is not only a well-written piece but also informs me a lot of things which I did not know about this great scholar, artiste and a fine human being from Mattakalappu.

Maunaguru was among the second batch of students selected from Mattakalppu who entered the university to study in the Thamil medium.

He studied at the feet of professors Kanapathipillai, S. Selvanayagam, S. Sathasivam, S, Vithjiananatahn, S. Thillainathan, S. Thannjeyarajasingham, K. Indrapala, S. Sivasamy, S. Pathmanathan, Bertram Bastiampillai, and S. Balakrishnan.

Maunaguru had had contacts with Dharma Bandaranaike, Simon Nawattegama, Dharmasena Pathirajah, Sunil Ariyaratne, Sunil Wijesriwardena and the late A. J. Gunawardena.

He also acted as Vice-Chancellor of the eastern University in 1997.

He has written more than 25 books in Thamil, and is ready with more than 10 books to be published shortly. He is currently working on two research papers. He has written 15 plays. Three of his works had earned Sahitya Mandalaya Prizes and several others works have earned him other prizes as well.

He has acted, written and directed more than 65 plays from 1948 to 2003. He has written more than 150 scholarly articles published in reputed journals.

This volume also consists of articles not directly touching on Maunaguru, but have some reference to his field of study.

Maunaguru's idealistic goal is to evolve a typical Sri Lankan Thamil Theatre incorporating Vada Moadi, Then Moadi dance forms in folk theatre and dance patterns and music and also adapting from Bharatha Natyam dance form.

I am sure he will succeed because I know that he never says die, despite his facing some sorrowful experiences in his life. I wish him well. Maunaguru is pleasant to engage in any discussion.

He is one of the few academics who could speak well on any subject in a coherent manner and he does not deviate from the topic undertaken.

That itself is a great virtue. This volume is a valuable source book and is printed at Kumaran Press, 201 Dam Street, Colombo 12 and could be obtained from there.