Swami Vipulanada (Tamil: சுவாமி விபுலாநந்தர்), also known as Vipulananda Adigal (March 27, 1892 – July 19, 1947), was a Tamil Hindu social reformer, literary critic, author, poet, teacher and ascetic from the Tamileelam. Vipulanada was an early pioneer associated with the Indian-based Ramakrishna Mission. Along with other reformers, Vipulanada was instrumental in the revival of the Hindu religion and native traditions in Tamileelam after a long period of dormancy and decline during the previous 500 years of colonial rule by various European powers.
Biography
Vipulanada was born in the village of Karativu, in the south of Batticaloa. His father’s name was Samithamby and mother’s name was Kannammai. His birth name was Mylvaganam. Vipulanada had his early education in Christian mission-run schools in his native village, neighboring Kalmunai and eventually in Batticaloa city. After completing his high school education at the age of 16, Vipulanada became a teacher in various cities across the island nation. During his tenure as a teacher he completed his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of London, and also became the first Eelam Tamil Pandithar, a degree awarded by the Tamil Nadu-based Madurai Tamil Sangam, a linguistics academy created to promote the study of Tamil language. Vipulanada eventually became the head of operations of the Ramakrishna Mission as well as a professor of Tamil language in two universities.
Literary contributions
Apart from Vipulanada’s knowledge of Tamil he also knew English, Greek, Latin, Sanskrit and Sinhala. After researching Tamil music and other Indian musical forms and musical instruments for many years, Vipulanada produced the seminal book of scientific research in Tamil called the Yal Nool, or Book of Stringed Musical Instruments, which was published just before he died in 1947. The book was an effort by the author to understand and explain the intricacies and technicalities of genre of Tamil music in general, and the stringed musical instruments in particular, using modern techniques and tools of research and calculations based on mathematics and physics. Yal Nool is recognized as a unique work of its kind.[3] Using the literary traditions in Sanskrit, Greek and English he wrote Mathangaculamani, a translation of twelve of Shakespeare’s plays, as a treatise on drama with commentaries focusing on various aspects of drama such as the plot, structure, sequence of action, characterization, subjective experience and gestures. Professor Chelva Kanaganayagam, in a critical review of Mathangaculamani, concludes that “ The major contribution of the text is its attempt to establish drama as a valid academic discipline rather than provide a basis for performance. ” Vipulanada also served as editor of several publications including Ramakrishna Vijayam (Tamil), Vedanta Kesari (English), Vivekananda (Tamil) and Piraputha Barath (English). He also edited and helped publish literary works of several well-known scholars. His translations from English to Tamil include selected writings of Swami Vivekananda, Bengali Nobel Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore and historian Kathiresan Chettiar. He also translated from Tamil to English selected poems from the Sangam literature period, devotional songs from the Bhakti movement period, and poems of Subramanya Bharathi and Navaneetha Krishna Bharathi. Vipulanada authored six major Tamil publications: a collection of four Pirapanthangal, Mathangaculamani, The Great Dance of Thillai, Umamageswaram (all related to Saiva traditions of the Hindu religion), Dictionary of Technical Terms on Chemistry and Yal Nool. A collection of 170 essays, written from 1914 to 1947, were published posthumously in four parts in 1995. He also wrote many poems, and a collection of 32 of his poems was published in 1995. He was a good public speaker and most of his speeches, focusing mainly on history of the Tamils, Tamil literature, Tamil music and musical instruments, and Vedanta philosophy, were published in international journals and magazines.
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