If I am not forgetful it was the great historian Arnold Toynbee who said that a history of a country could be well perceived through the profiles and biographies of those great men and women who lived in the particular country. Toynbee could be quite correct in our own context of some of the great people who lived in our country. One such great person is Professor Senarat Paranavitana (1896 - 1972).
Though quite a number of articles and booklets have been written on the life and works of Professor Paranavitana, a detailed rediscovery of what he actually performed as the first commissioner and the very first professor of archeology at the university level is well documented by the writer cum administrator Sirisaman Wijetunga in his latest work titled as 'Tunkal Dutu Paranavitana' (Paranavitana who saw past, present and future). Wijetunga attempts to draw attention to several hitherto forgotten or lay hidden on the career and legacy of Paranavitana. In the first chapter, he attempts to picture the colonial period of archeological excursions that existed in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon covering a period of varying degrees of work that may have benefited the colonial rulers.
Paranavitana enters the scene of archeology as an epigraphy assistant under the most able archeologist A M Hocart. The meeting point between Hocart and Paranavitana had been a turning point not only in the archeological culture of the country, but also a visionary effort of the two attempting to make quite a number of new scholarly innovations in the field of history, culture, anthropology and archeology.
According to Wijetunga, it was the knowledge of Paranavitana in the field of reading inscriptions that led to the new discoveries in history. This too paved the way to the studies in such languages such as Sinhala, Tamil, Pali and Sanskrit.
The oriental knowledge in historic and linguistic knowledge paved the way for Paranavitana too travel to other parts of the globe in order to bring brighter light to the extant areas in archeology as a comparative study.
Wijetunga stresses that the due honour had come to Paranavitana as a scholar from various foreign seats of learning. This factor is well laid with genuine and resourceful sources in Chapter Three and Four. In these chapters, Paranavitana is also visualized as a pioneer in archeological conservation and preparing documents to seek new administrative policies which could never be overlooked.
In this direction, Paranavitana is blended with the skills of interpretation and analysis in the expression of his views on archeological opinions and viewpoints. One good example is the indelible mark he cared in the findings of Sigiriya frescoes and the Sigiriya graffiti. Wijetunga makes an attempt to trace events in Paranavitana's career with regard to the awareness he wished to create the need to protect places of archeological value. This he performed with much care utilizing the mass media channels like radio and print media. He was indefatigable in the direction of writing on various topics of interest.
Most of these materials came out as learned articles and monographs later. As I remember well, his series of talked delivered over the radio as far back as late sixties came to be compiled into a book titled as 'Sinhalayo'. From the very inception of his career as a researcher, he was a bilingual writer, whose works have been distributed globally inviting the attention of many foreign scholars.
According to Wijetunga, Paranavitana had a sense of wit and humour known to those who closely associated him. At a particular moment he was so contemplative to the extent that he had forgotten to get into his own car and once got into another car. His driver had come to his rescue questioning as to why he had got into another vehicle. The error was rectified. It is recorded that he too had moments of sorrow.
One such moment had been the defacing of Sigiri Apsaras for which the only remedy happens to be the obtaining of services from a foreign specialist from Italy. The events in the life of Paranavitana as recorded by Wijetunga look unending. Coming at the last page of the work, I felt that the whole nation should be grateful to Professor Senarat Paranavitana for the yeoman service rendered.
Add new comment