Remembering Rabindranath Tagore Volume - High Commission of ...

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Remembering Rabindranath Tagore
Although the political constitution of modern Ceylon separates
this country from India, it is no secret that its history, religion,
language, morals, culture and everything else are closely linked
to India. Briefly stated, the fact that Ceylon became great because
of India is no exaggeration. Although the spiritual bond between
the two countries that was there in the past has collapsed, time has
come to put that together again and strengthen it. (13)
The sentiments expressed by Tagore provide a cue to his abiding interest in Sri Lanka. His
next visit was in 1928. It was a longer visit and it lasted ten days. One of the highlights of this
visit was the opportunity he availed himself of taking part in the Wesak festival held at the
historic city of Anuradhapura which in ancient times was a great center of Buddhism. We
learn that although physically indisposed, he took part in the celebrations ignoring the advice
of the physicians, because of the deep respect he held for the Buddha and his teachings. (14)
The third and last visit of the Gurudev to the island was in mid 1934. It also happened
to be the longest and most memorable of his visits. The invitation this time was extended
by an admirer, Mr. Wlimot A. Perera, who was a business magnate and a philanthropist.
Having visited Santiniketan two years earlier he was so much impressed by working of the
institution and what it stood for, that he resolved to found an institution on similar lines in
the island. Having made the necessary arrangements he wanted the Gurudev to come and
lay the foundation stone for the buildings.The site selected was Horana with a salubrious
climate. Tagore arrived by ship and was welcomed by Sir D.B. Jayatilaka, the seniormost
among the Sri Lankan political leaders. On May 20, 1934 Tagore laid the foundation for
the new institution and proposed that it should be named “Sri Palee.” (15)
Another memorable event that occurred during this visit was the staging of Tagore’s dancedrama
Saapmochan. Tagore was accompanied by a troupe of 40 artistes and they held five
performances in Colombo, i.e. on the 12th, 14th, 16th, 28th and 29th of May. (16) These
performances seem to have had a tremendous impact on the world of Sri Lankan art.
Several leading figures coming from different backgrounds in contemporary Sri Lanka have
referred to these performances. For example, Martin Wickramasinghe, one of the greatest
figures of modern Sinhala literature, Ediriweera Sarachchandra, university academic and
another outstanding figure in the Sinhala world of arts, P. B. Alwis Perera, leading poet, and
S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, politician who was eventually to be Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister (17) .
Interestingly, several plays came to be modeled on Saapmochan and they were staged in
Colombo as well as in provincial towns. (18) We do not have much information on those
early attempts at producing dance-dramas. But eventually some Sri Lankans who had gone
to Santiniketan for studies came to produce the first Sinhala ballets, which came to be
identified as Mudranataka, and they were undoubtedly inspired by Tagore and his works.
Chitrasena and Premakumara Epitawala are the pioneers of Sinhala ballet. Both of them
were in Santiniketan in the early 1940’s. Chitrasena’s early ballets were Vidura (1944) and