Canon S.S.Somasundaram
THE CEYLON CHURCHMAN
Vol.101 No.3 May/June 2003 (p.87)
Commemorating the 125th Birth
Anniversary of Canon S.S.Somasundaram
The Cathedral, Colombo
23 December 2002
Santasilan Kadirgamar
I cannot claim to
have known Canon Somasundaram intimately. Much of what I have to say here I
have taken from Bishop Kulandran’s biography of the Canon. He was intimately
connected with my family through the Kingsbury connection and the shared values
that my father had with him. Canon Somasundaram preached the homily at the
first wedding in my family, that of my eldest sister in December 1946 in the Chavakachcheri Church. An indelible
impression was that he had come all the way – about ten miles - from Nallur on
his bicycle and that too for a wedding. The bicycle was his mode of transport
for decades and became the insignia of the simplicity of his life and physical
fitness. Nineteen years later in 1965
my wife and I were deeply honoured to have him preach the homily at
our wedding in the St. James’ Church, Nallur. Sagu has vivid memories of him as
a pastor in the Nallur Church to which her family belonged.
His presence with
his flowing beard and exceptional attire evoked attention on any and every
occasion. Hence I never forgot his presence at my father’s funeral in 1961. I was present with several
other members of my family at his funeral in 1967. We were also present at that historic memorial meeting in
the Ashram the like of which one rarely witnessed in the Christian community.
Three outstanding and respected Christian leaders of that time, Bishop Kulandran, D.T.Niles and Sevak
Selvaretnam organized this service and paid glowing tributes to his life
and work. D.T.Niles in his characteristically eloquent best referred to Canon
Somasundram as the greatest Christian of the century in Jaffna and perhaps the
country.
It
will not be possible to cover such a varied and long life in the time I have
today. I will therefore deal with some of the high points of his career and the
significance of his life for our times.
I
requested my sister Lila and brother Rajan to reflect on his life and what they
had to say has much in common with the numerous anecdotes that Bishop Kulandran
relates in his biography. In fact there are several versions of the “summa vanthen” anecdote. Canon
Somasundaram was a man who believed in being direct and brief. One of these
anecdotes, as recalled, is that of a visitor traveling several miles to see him
on some matter. He was welcomed the usual way. When the visitor was asked the
purpose of his visit he said “summa vanthen” (a common expression in Tamil that
defies translation roughly meaning “I just came” or rather “simply to see
you”). The Canon went back to reading and other matters that engaged his
attention. At the end of an hour the visitor got up and said he would like to
take his leave. The Canon wished him well and said you may go. It was only then
the visitor expressed the purpose of his visit. It is said that after this
episode gained publicity other visitors never used that expression “summa
vanthen” when they went to meet the Canon.
The
stories are abundant and copious about how duty conscious he was. He never
failed to visit the members of his
parish for birthdays, not even the day after his daughter died. Another
one is about how he was cast away from his family and in fact beaten-up by his
own elder brother when he became a convert to Christianity.
Landmarks in a Long Life
Sangarapillai Somasundaram
was born 2 October 1877. He was
born into an orthodox Hindu family that had for generations had a special
connection with the well-known temple at Maviddapuram situated between
Kankesanturai and Tellipallai.
He
had his early education at a Saiva Vidyalayam and entered Jaffna College in 1894. Jaffna
College at that time was an institution of Collegiate standing that provided
courses leading to the B.A. The Jaffna College YMCA hosted the visit of John R.Mott the following year. 400
delegates attended the conference. Somasundaram was deeply influenced by the
event. The major turning point in his life came a few years later in 1900
He
decided to enroll as a student at Scottish
Churches’ College, Calcutta in 1900, where he opted for the honours
course in Mathematics.He is known to have reached Calcutta via Chennai (Madras)
after visiting C.W.Thamotherampillai brother of E.A.Kingsbury who was a teacher
at Jaffna College.
Life
in India could not but have a profound impact on him. Setting foot on Indian
soil for the first time is an enchanting experience. There are people who love
India and those who don’t. The young men of Jaffna who went to India in the early
decades of the twentieth century were lovers of India.
He finally made the
decision to be baptised which
he received by immersion in May 1901
in the Anglican Church. Returning to Jaffna he began his teaching
career at St.John’s College. In
1901 he married Ponnammah the daughter of Mr.Hemphil Thampoe and grand-daughter
of E.A.Kingsbury his one time teacher at Jaffna College,
As Kulandran relates:
In 1906 Sherwood Eddy, remembered as the most tempestuous evangelist who ever
came to Jaffna, and Francis Kingsbury,
the son of C.W.Thamotherampillai and a most persuasive speaker, were in Jaffna,
conducting a campaign of evangelistic and revival meetings. The meetings
created a great spiritual upsurge. Whether it was the effect of these meetings
that led Somasundaram to take the final plunge is not known; but it could not
be a mere coincidence that their visit as well as his decision took place about
the same time. Anyway, during the latter months of 1906 at a meeting at Nallur
he decided to enter the Ministry.
And
hence in 1907 he obtained admission to
the Cambridge Nicholson Institute (C.N.I) at Kottayam - the successor of the earlier Church
Missionary Society (C.M.S) Seminary in Tirivella in Kerala. Having successfully
completed his theological studies he came back to St. John’s College in 1909 to resume his teaching of
Mathematics.
29 June 1909 he was ordained Deacon at the Nallur Church and was placed in charge of a small
Church at Kokuvil and received his
second ordination in Colombo on 12 March 1911.
His
life and mission can broadly be divided into three periods: firstly as teacher
at St.John’s College, secondly the Vanni Mission and finally as pastor of the
Nallur St.James’ Church.
In
a long and active period as teacher he held several positions at St.John’s
College. In 1918 he was appointed Dean.
In the larger community he held noteworthy positions and most significant was
his work with the Jaffna Christian Union. There were four organizations in
Jaffna that laid the foundations for greater unity among the denominations and
the subsequent ecumenical movement. Jaffna stood in the forefront with strong
support for Church Union in the decades the subsequently failed scheme was
discussed. They were the Jaffna College
YMCA (1884) and Jaffna YMCA (1890),
the Jaffna Christian Union (1907),
The Jaffna Inter-Collegiate Christian
Fellowship (1930s) and the Christa
Seva Ashram (1938). These were all inter-denominational. Canon
Somasundaram was associated with all four.
His
election to the Board of Directors of
the Jaffna YMCA in 1910, possibly its youngest member then, indicated
that he had become a notable figure in Christian circles, taking into account
that the 83-year-old Sir William Twynam, Government Agent (G.A.) Jaffna, was
president.
In
1913 the Rev. Somasundaram was elected
Secretary of the JCU. The five years that he was Secretary marked a
period of growth and activity by the Union. Distinguished speakers addressed
the annual conventions. The first being held in 1915, went on for four days and
was marked by the participation of hitherto unprecedented crowds.
An
event of exceptional importance was the visit of the Indian Christian mystic Sadhu Sundar Singh under the auspices of the
JCU in 1918. In Kulandran’s words, “the Sadhu hardly seemed a man at all
… a visitor from another region, a region where angels and archangels
continually do cry “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts.”...
He
is believed to have seen strange visions and various miracles connected with
him and of experiences with holy men and Rishis in the Himalayas were related
and talked about. I recall hearing many such stories from my own father and
other members of his generation, later confirmed in a biography of Sadhu Sundar
Singh by Bishop Appasamy. Kulandran adds, “the stories seemed fantastic; but as
the tall, spare form clad in saffron stood before them and spoke, people felt
that this was a person about whom such stories could well be true; for he
seemed as though he was one who saw sights that our eyes did not see and heard
voices that our ears did not hear.”
The
Rev.Somasundaram was not only in charge of all the arrangements but commanded
such respect as to be able to take care of troublemakers who surfaced on such
occasions.
Writing
in 1925 in the Morning Star on “Evangelisation
or Christianisation” the Rev. Somasundaram referred to the experiences
of the Sadhu who had met many people in India who were followers of Jesus but
not members of any Church and who lived and worked as Sanniyasis. Sadhu Sundar
Singh had claimed that they were Christians in the true sense of the word.
Emphasising the need for the indigenous expression of Christianity the Rev.
Somasundaram wrote,
give India the cotton she needs and let her spin with it
the sarees to suit her fancies and not force on her your narrow skirts and
tight corsets of the western world. Give India pure gold and let her with it
make a crown to fit her head.”
A
message as relevant for our times as then.
From
1918 he moved to the Vanni a
totally undeveloped region and initiated pioneering work in building up the
mission there until 1930.
Totally committed to the dignity of labour, simplicity of life and accustomed
to a mode of transport that constituted his bicycle the Vanni posed no hazards
– it was as though he was destined for the Vanni.
He
is known to have taken an active part in
the co-operative movement and established a C.M.S. United Finance
Society making loans available at low interest rates to farmers. This Society
was able to help the Muslims in Puliyankulam set up a similar society sometime
later.
After
a short stint as Principal, Kotte
Christian College during which period he was conferred the title Canon of the Cathedral he returned to
Jaffna for his single longest spell as pastor of St.James’ Church 1932-54.
I
do not think he really retired. He was very much in demand for all kinds of
occasions. In 1959 he lived briefly in
the Ashram having been an ardent supporter of Sevak Selvaretnam’s
pioneering efforts.
Preparations
had been made to celebrate the fiftieth
anniversary of his ordination in 1961 in Jaffna on an elaborate scale
but out of respect for the Satyagraha in the Northeast that brought the
governmental machinery to a halt the celebrations were observed on a low key.
Theological
Attitude
Kulandran
devotes a substantial amount of space in his biography to what he titles as his
Theological Attitude and discusses his position in the context of schools of
thought prevalent in the Anglican tradition. Not being a theologian myself I
quote at length from Kulandran. I hope I am not on controversial ground.
In the Anglican Church there is more than one school of
thought, it is necessary for us to understand where he stood theologically, if
we are to understand his life and career” and adds “Somasundaram’s basic
Christian beliefs and attitudes had taken shape under the American
Congregational Missionaries at Jaffna College …they, in fact, remained basic to
his life and outlook always.
It may be surprising to know that his long standing
connexion with the Anglican Church came about entirely by accident.”
Somasundaram did not quite know at the time the distinction
between various Christian denominations, nor did he care for them later when he
knew.
At the outset there was nothing special about Somasundaram’s
theology. The C.M.S. at that
time was quite strong in Ceylon; … all the Anglican Churches in Jaffna (except
Christ Church) had been founded by the C.M.S.” In fact, in Jaffna all Anglican
Christians were called “C.M.S.Christians”…
Just as the congregational South India United Church (SIUC) – the predecessor of the present JDCSI was
often referred to as the American
Mission.
In the Anglican Church there is liberty both for the laity
and the clergy to hold differing views within certain limits.
During the two successive episcopates after 1924, the views of practically the whole
Anglican Church in Ceylon were those of a very different colour from those of
Somasundaram; if he was not interfered with, he came to be looked upon as a
curiosity.
Evangelicalism had no philosophy of religion but Christ
crucified … they looked to the Bible as their chief source of inspiration and
authority, believed in prayer and personal holiness and their whole religious
life was characterized by great zeal … always overflowing into good deeds. They
were responsible for founding the Missionary Society, called the C.M.S., the Bible Society which was
non-denominational and played a large part in the abolition of Slave Trade, in
bringing about prison reform and an improvement in the condition of workers (in
nineteenth century England) … and though they belonged to the Church of England
they did not feel that there was any real difference between them and their
fellow Protestants outside the Church of England.
Among the gamut of the Anglican Church, four distinct groups can be
discerned: the Low Churchmen and the Evangelicals on the one hand, having much
in common with each other but not quite identical; that is, while all
Evangelicals are Low Churchmen, all Low Churchmen need not be Evangelicals; on
the other side, the High Churchmen and the Anglo-Catholics, all Anglo-Catholics
being High Churchmen but not all High Churchmen being Anglo-Catholics. All
groups, however, are Anglicans.
Somasundaram was an Evangelical to start with and
through life was an Evangelical without reservation.”
But
Somasundaram never wavered. “You are a very Low”, a bishop said to him once; it
was as much to say, “You are incorrigible.”
But never once did Somasundaram
waver in his conviction that the type of theology he had adopted at the outset
was right in its stresses, as against those, which had become prominent, later.
He, comments Kulandran, had deliberately renounced a religious heritage of 3000
years, not to belong to a denomination but to be a Christian.
Here
was the core and essence of his theology – and more than that the man himself.
There is something remarkable about the convert to Christianity from Hinduism,
especially those who had been devout and pious Hindus, learned and steeped in
the Hindu scriptures and familiar with its devotional songs and thevarams. I
can recall the names of several others including two in my own family the
Rev.S.Ramalingam Hitchcock and Francis Kingsbury. I also recall the powerful
impact that Paul Kadambavanam from Tamil Nadu had on congregations in Jaffna in
our student days. Another was K.E.Mathiaparanam of Jaffna College, lecturer in
Tamil and a devout Christian who always carried a copy of the “Thirukkural in
his pocket. They belonged to what in Indian history is known as the Bhakthi
tradition. Theirs was an indigenous expression of Christianity”
that reflected the genius and soul of Jaffna of their times, so very different
from the Colombo variety, and none of the aping of the west that has once again
become so commonplace today.
It
should be noted as S.S.Ponnambalam indicates that the Canon was a Tamil scholar in his own right and had extensive
knowledge of the Thirukkural, The Ramayana, The Mahabharatha, Pattinaththu
Adigal Padal, Thayumanavar Padal, and the Bhagavad Gita and is known to have
sung stanzas from some of these texts in his sermons. His favourite songs were
the thevarams of H.A.Krishnapillai known for their high literary standard and
finish of his poems and an intensity of feeling and devotion that is comparable
to that of the Hindu saints and poets.
Ground of Greatness
On
the 7th of May 1967 in
Kulandran’s words “the tenacious hold on life, which had survived many grueling
demands, had snapped at last.”
D.T.Niles
in his tribute spoke of the Canon as a witness to both God’s immanence and His
transcendence. Miss.M.V.Hutchins referred to him as a person of uncompromising
integrity, to whom his duty to God came first and as one who cared nothing for
convention. Kulandran echoing what Niles had first said wrote, “He has a right
to be considered not merely the greatest figure in our history during this
century, but perhaps the greatest during the last 150 years. The response he
evoked was “Awe”. Bishop Lakshman
Wickremasinghe once said, “He was the nearest approach to a saint.” Kulandran
prefers the description “holy man”
denoting strength and firmness of character and utter dedication to God.
H.E.R.Goonawardene reflecting on his period as Principal of Christian
College, Kotte, calls him “God’s Good Man.”
The
story of Harichandra is a
fascinating one. I remember learning it in the text titled “Mayanakaandam”
under that legendary teacher of Tamil Literature, Viswalingam of Jaffna College
when I was in form one. It is the story of a king reduced to a keeper of the
crematorium assuming the status of the lowliest of castes having lost all his
power, worldly possessions and most of all his family, and paying the price for
his unwavering commitment to
truthfulness and principles.
Canon
Somasundaram has been placed in that great tradition which in the New Testament
is summed-up in Peter’s words (in Acts 5:29) “we must obey God rather than men.” It is a principle valid for
all times. The Canon came to it through his devotion and total obedience to God. In secular terms in
contemporary situations it amounts to a position that should be taken when faced with laws made by men that deny
and violate ultimate values be it autocrats, legislatures, employers or even
church and religious authorities. From the perspective of those involved in
human rights and justice movements it is asserted that we should obey this higher law rather than that
of men.
I
did not interact with the second-generation members of the Somasundaram family
except Mr. Nesiah (senior) son-in-law of
Canon Somasundaram. But I have known and interacted with and am aware of the
work based on total commitment to ultimate values by some members in the third
generation of the family and now into its fourth. (As an aside may I say that I
have also noted that some of them have inherited some of his mannerisms in
being cut and dry and of few words, not to mention a mathematical and
analytical mind leading to heights of achievements in several professions.)
I
dare say that some notable members of the Somasundaram family have established
a reputation and have carved out a permanent place in history in their unwavering commitment to ultimate values,
taking an extra-ordinarily courageous stand on justice and human rights issues in
the contemporary situation in this country. I believe the foundations for that
were laid by the venerated Canon Sangarapillai Somasundaram whose 125th birth
anniversary we commemorate today. It is a legacy and heritage that needs to be acknowledged, take legitimate
pride in and needs to be passed on to generations to come. It is a legacy and
heritage we commemorate and reaffirm today.
Notes:
As
mentioned above I have been associated with several of Canon Somasundaram’s grand-children.
This was one reason I accepted this invitation to speak. In addition my father was close to both
Rev.Somasundaram and his family.
Notable
in the third generation are Rajan Hoole, founding member of the University
Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna). The UTHR did extraordinary work in
publishing several reports from 1988 and two major publications, The Broken Palmyra and the Arrogance of Power. He was forced to leave
Jaffna and lived in cognito in the country and then went into self imposed
exile returning at war’s end in 2009. Associated with him was Daya Somasundaram
who continued to live in Jaffna for many years through the war. He is the
author of Crippled Minds among other
publications. Devanesan and Lankla Nesiah are well known names in civil
society, Devanesan having retired from the civil service has been member of
several commissions on human rights and justice issues.
