Skantha Varodaya College (1894-1967)

Skantha Varodaya College (1894-1967) S. KANTHASWAMY The Skantha Varodaya Old Students Association of Canada has requested me to write a brief history of the college to be included in the souvenir which they propose to release on the tenth year of their inauguration. I feel that this task has been assigned to me because of my close connection with the school, its principal, teachers, and students during the most vital period of its history. The small B-grade school I joined in 1948 had become a super-grade school, by the time I left in 1958. To write the story of how this small school in a remote unknown village in Jaffna blossomed into one of the finest colleges in the Island is a demanding, but fascinating exercise. A dip into the early history of Skantha Varodaya (1894 1967) will, I feel, be of interest and value to the readers and posterity. My father, Late Mr. C.Subramaniam (Orator), Principal of Skantha from 1944 to 1962, was a very close associate of the Founder and the Manager, Dr.S.Subramaniam (P.S). He has written in detail about them and the school in his autobiography and elsewhere. In this article I have included copious extracts from these writings. I can do no better! (his writings appear in italics). Hundreds and thousands of students have passed through the portals of the mighty institution at Kantherodai and to most of them this tiny village is known only as the abode of Skantha Varodaya. They are unaware that they had received their education in one of the most ancient historic cities of Sri Lanka. History has it that the northern territory of Sri Lanka was at one time occupied by the Nagas. The capital of the Naga Kingdom was Kadiramalai, near the present Kantherodai. It is presumed that the great temple, Thambaleswaram, built by King Vijaya, stood near the present village of Kantherodai. It is also believed that the sacred Pattini Devi's relics were brought to this revered place by King Gajabahu. Archeological finds also show that Kanthrododai was once inhabited by Buddhist and was a pilgrimage centre. What is now left of this two thousand years old city are a few archaeological sites and unexplored mounts. Exploratory investigation and excavation of an area in Kantherodai has revealed many interesting finds of archeological interest bearing on religious and historical events of the past. Archeologists have dated the Kantherodai civilization as being of the BC 500-BC 100 period, i.e., about 2500 years ago. The hundred year old Skantha Varodaya stands in this ancient city. During the later half of the eighteenth century, foreign Christian Missionaries, Saiva Paripalana Sabai and the Hindu Board of Education, together, gave a big boost to education in the Peninsula by building and managing a fine string of schools. As a result, Jaffna attained an enviable position in the field of education. But our story here is not about a missionary body or an association, it is about a lone visionary who founded a school and the men who continued and built it to perfection. Why did our Visionary - Kandiah Upathiyayar, start this school? What were his ideals? What were his dreams? To answer these questions let us digress a little into the history of our land. In the seventeenth century the Portuguese assumed control of the Jaffna peninsula and were followed by the Dutch and then the British. Two successive foreign governments, the Portuguese and the Dutch had smothered the vestiges of our national life and culture. The Portuguese, during their occupation of our land demolished all Hindu temples and carried out measures for the subjugation and eradication of any religion other than theirs. The Dutch who succeeded the Portuguese followed the same policy of their predecessors with regard to the native religions. They made use of education to convert the locals to Christianity. When the British became rulers o f the Island they allowed full freedom of public worship. The British Government while professing neutrality in religious matters entrusted the education of the country to missionary societies. Proselytizing non-Christian children in schools by holding out to them the bait of secular education was part of the system of evangelization by some of the missions. The Tamil provinces came under intense educational and missionary activity and the Tamils were quick to take advantage of these facilities. Jaffna benefited immensely by their work and the Tamils gained a great headway over other ethnic groups because of the education they received in Christian schools. As a result, the Tamil provinces during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries produced eminent men in all branches of learning. English education opened the eyes of the Hindus, as it made them set their house in order. At the beginning of the nineteenth century when the American and European missionaries began their work in Jaffna, the system of education prevalent in these areas was entirely traditional. There were only a few Tamil schools here and there, and only a few could read and write on the palm leaf. The school was only a small hut with a thatched roof and an elevated mud floor. The pupils sat cross-legged on mats and their books were palm-leaf manuscripts. Their writing exercises were done on the sand with their forefingers. The American Missionaries, the most enterprising of educators during the British colonial era, established Free Schools in the villages of Jaffna. How keen the Jaffna man's desire for education was, may be seen from the fact that only five years after the arrival of the first American missionaries, twenty four schools existed in Jaffna villages, with an attendance of over one thousand children. There were at that time, many impediments for Hindus to provide themselves with schools of their own. Throughout the nineteenth century English and vernacular education were in the hands of foreign missionaries. The non-Christian children had no other choice but to attend Christian schools for their education. These children had to forgo all their Hindu customs and were forced to follow Christian practices at school. Patriots and leaders among enlightened Hindus saw in the missionary activity, a danger to their own cherished beliefs and traditions. When the Hindus were straying away from their religion, language and culture, Srila Sri Arumuga Navalar; scholar, patriot, social-reformer, and a consummate master of debate appeared on the scene. By his clarion call, he summoned his people back to their national way of life. For more than thirty years he carried on a vigorous campaign for the growth and development of Saivism both in India and Ceylon. He criticized the proselytizing work of Christian missionaries and extolled the greatness of Saivism. Societies for the propagation of Saivism were started. Newspapers, tracts and pamphlets were published and schools were established. He declared that education without the religious and cultural background of the child was not worthy of its name. "Hindu schools for Hindu children everywhere", was the quest that fired Navalar in all his labours in Sri Lanka and South India. The movement he set afoot rapidly began to spread throughout the length and breadth of the Tamil country. As a result, a society named Saiva Paripalana Sabai was started in 1888 to work for the growth and development of Hindu Education. This society founded the Jaffna Hindu College (1890) and its sister institutions. Sir Muttucumaraswamy, the first Tamil Legislative Councilor described Navalar as "the champion reformer of the Hindus". His nephew Sir Ponnampalam Ramanathan who entered the Council after him, mainly on the efforts of Navalar, cleared the ground and paved the way for building Saiva Schools for Hindu children - a project that was obstructed by many an oppressive legislation that favoured the foreign missionary in his rapid establishment of Christian schools. The momentum generated by the forces set in motion by Srila Sri Arumuga Navalar in the cause of a revival in Hinduism developed into an active movement after his demise in the year 1879, at the early age of fifty-seven. A band of dedicated young men, inspired by the life and works of Srila Sri Arumuga Navalar, launched a campaign to counter the proselytization of Saivite children and to establish Hindu schools. Kandiah Upathiyayar was one of the foremost workers in this campaign and he started the Tamil English School at Kantherodai. It was meant to be a challenge to the many schools in the Jaffna peninsula established by powerful missionary bodies whose objective was not merely education but also conversion of children of other faiths to their own religious denomination. Realizing the benefits of a sound education in a Saivite environment, Kandiah Upathiyayar started the 'Kantherodai Tamil English School' in 1894. He maintained it with his own resources. After four years, to obtain certain concessions from the government, this school was separated into the Tamil and English schools. S.Kandiah Upathiyayar was in charge of the English School and A.Kandiah Upathiyayar, popularly referred to as Tamil Kandiah Upathiyayar, was in charge of the Tamil School. In 1902, Kantherodai English School, as it was then named, was made a grant-in-aid school and had about 300 students on the roll. The school attracted students from all over the peninsula; many of them paid no fees, while some received free board and lodging. Kandiah Upathiyayar with his band of equally dedicated teachers continued to work tirelessly and the school moved to its present site in 1907. (From the 'Skantha' 1966) 1 remember with reverent gratitude and affection Kandiah Upathiyayar, who, with undaunted courage and vigorous idealism of service as his only resources and inspired by the life and work of the great Hindu Reformer, Sri la Sri Arumuga Navalar - the father of Tamil Renaissance and the leader of the Saivite Reformation, founded this school and toiled hard for well over half a century in the education of the poor and brought happiness and sunshine into the lives of many families.

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