The Jaffna Public Library
The Jaffna Public Library once functioned as one of South Asia’s most famous libraries containing research worthy, authentic and ancient Tamil books which bore witness to the fascinating history of the Tamils and their culture. This library was considered as the intellectual property by the Tamil people. Many documents and rare books that were not available anywhere else in the world were collected and preserved in the Jaffna Public Library. The library was also credited for promoting the greatness of the Tamil heritage and producing many scholars and distinguished academics.
There is saying, ‘to destroy a race you have to destroy its traces.’ As a result this library and its valuable historic content which, was recognised as a scholarly property of the Tamils and which had served to provide knowledge to many Tamils, had been burned to ashes by the Sri Lankan racist vandals on 1st of June 1981.
This occurred as a direct result of the racism against Tamils that had been on going in Sri Lanka for more than half a century and which had escalated to another level. Sinhala communal political conflicts that began long before independence of Sri Lanka, further encouraged the development of an armed conflict. The Sri Lankan government orchestrated violence against the Jaffna library with its henchmen and set the library on fire.
Creation of Jaffna Library
K.M. Sellappa from Achuveli who was employed as a secretary in the Jaffna court was the sole reason for the creation of the Jaffna Library. In 1933, he started the library in his own home with the books that he had collected and pioneered a new path for the public and students. On 9th June 1934, a public meeting was arranged at the Central College Hall, Jaffna, lead by Joseph Thambiya with the for this library to be extended to allow many more users. The total amount added to the library on that day was only Rs. 182.22 / -. This money was a great asset in those days.
With 844 books and 36 seasonal publications, the library developed to the next stage in a rented room on Hospital Road, on 1st August 1934.When the library was in dire need of basic facilities, the Jaffna Building Board took over and relocated in 1935. The construction of the modern building began on the 14th June 1952, following a conference chaired by Sami Sabapathy. The construction of the new library building was also supported by Rt. Rev. Long. Dr. S.R. Ranganathan, an expert in the field of library studies, gave his support. K.S. Narasimhan, an Architect (Government of Chennai), prepared the plans for the design of the library and prepared the structural drawings. The groundbreaking foundation stone laying ceremony was held on 29-03-1953. The first phase was completed in 1959 and was opened by the then Chief Minister of Jaffna, Alfred Durayappa. At that time, when it began to fully operate there were 33 librarians working.
The burning of Jaffna Library
The Jaffna Library gradually evolved and expanded over many stages and began to gain popularity as a repository of knowledge. To eradicate such pride and splendor, the library was burnt and destroyed. Thus, the 31st of May 1981 has featured in the historical annals as an unforgettable tragic day for the Tamil community.
It can be said that the incident of that day became an important factor in thrusting the liberation struggle of the Tamil people to the next dimension. The Buddhist-Sinhala racists were disgusted with the Tamil nationalist position, which became more entrenched among the Tamils as a result. It caused them to unleash violence on the Tamil people and anything identified with Tamils. It incited them to plunder the Tamil people’s possessions. With the intention that, if the history of the Tamil people was destroyed, the Tamil people will no longer have an identity on the island, the racist government plotted to incinerate the Jaffna library.
The Jaffna library was set on fire just after midnight on 31st of May 1981 and burned throughout the night. Along with the building, there are more than 97,000 books; newspapers published in Jaffna from the 1800s; ancient historical documents; rare Tamil and English texts books; and many more treasured palm-leave manuscripts turned into ashes.
Of the many treasured publications which were destroyed in the arson attach there included 6000 books under the categories of literature, grammar, philosophy, and linguistics, and several books written in Tamil by Catholic clergy in 1585. Among the rare books is “History of Ceylon” written by Robert Knox in 1660s, , Mudaliar Nayakars’ historical book of Jaffna “Ancient Jaffna”; Muthuthambipillai’s first literary collection in Tamil titled ‘Abidhana Kosham’, followed by ‘Abidhana Sinnthamani’ compiled by Singara Mudaliar along with all the traces of Siddha Medicines written on palm leaves.
This incident shattered any remaining hope placed on chauvinistic Sri Lankan state and sowed the seeds for the struggle of the Tamil people.
Reconstruction of the Library
The Jaffna Library was restored in June 1984. However, the damaged building was once again destroyed in the 1988 civil war. Then, further destroyed by the military in 1996. In 1997 a restoration program called “Book & Brick” was started by the ‘White Lotus’ organisation under the leadership of Mangala Samaraweera. For this Lakshman Kathirgamar accepted the responsibility of this restoration and supported the recreation of the Library in the same place in the old form.
The Sinhala government restored the Jaffna Library and washed its hands of the act. However, the burnt rare historical records and identities of the Tamils, incinerated Tamil medical evidences, the fragile literary works of the Tamils, can never be replaced.Written records evidence of many hidden facts which had survived through history were also burnt without a trace. Yet the history of the Tamils, which is authentic, despite being buried or burnt, will continue to exist in contemporary times.
Click below for more articles
Rising from the Ashes E-Book-1
2 Comments