'Pandit Ji Maharaj' Par Excellence: Swami Vipulananda

In 1933, the Annamalai University of Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu was bustling with activity in connection with the imminent visit by the British Governor, George Fredrick Stanley of Madras Presidency. He was to chair the Convocation at the University.

- SWAMI DAKSHAJANANDA

The whole of India was aflame with the freedom movement. An air of anxiety was also brewing within the university, for, when everyone had hoisted the Union Jack, the flag of Britain, to greet his Excellency, a Tamil professor of the university had hoisted the Indian National Congress flag in the courtyard of his residence! And it was not even his personal residence, but the university's official quarters. ¹ 

The fallout of the explosive event does not concern us now. But who was this daring personality? He was neither a revolutionary nor an Indian in the usual term; adding to this he was a sannyasi! He was Swami Vipulananda from Sri Lanka. It is no revelation that whoever studied Swami Vivekananda became a fierce votary of freedom. The Sri Lankan swami was a great example for this influence.

Muthtamil Vitagar Swami Vipulananda Adigal, as he was known popularly in Sri Lanka, was a sannyasi of the Ramakrishna Sangha. The adjectives in his name denote that he was a venerable Tamil scholar in prose, music, and  drama. Scores of statues in Sri Lanka today stand in honour of this icon of Tamil literature, of resurgent all-inclusive Hinduism, of culturebased education, of homes to the orphans and distressed run in ancient Gurukula set up, and of service to the downtrodden cutting across social barriers.

He was a multi-linguist, an eminent writer and poet both in English and Tamil, a researcher of ancient music, and a friend to all religious fraternities. In his rather brief life of 55 years (1892-1947), he scripted history in diverse fields and firmly established the Ramakrishna Mission in Sri Lanka, following the footsteps of Swami Vivekananda.