The year was 1930! The date was December 10 when Ceylon was under Colonial rule and the Hindus were at a crossroads; losing our innate Hindu Tamil identity.

That was the time when a band of young Hindu women embarked on their journey to form the Saiva Mangaiyar Kalagam (Kalagam), to foster their language, religion and culture. The first step they took was to form themselves into a Women’s Society under the benign guidance of Swami Vipulanandaji of the Ramakrishna Mission and Mudaliyar Rasanayagam.  

On December 10, four score and ten years later, we are observing our 90th Anniversary by presenting our story - “Achievements – The Kalagam and Its Institutions,” of the past 90 years. 

It needs to be written, so that future generations would know its beginnings.

The Kalagam was founded and in keeping with the three objectives, the Founder Secretary says in the Silver Jubilee Magazine, “…within a year of our inception, we made the momentous decision to start a Secondary School for girls,” a new structured educational institute, remembering Mahatma Gandhi’s words – “Teach a girl and you teach the family.”

The foresight of these pioneer women could be summed up in two valuable decisions they made – namely that Language and Religion were vital in the educational program of children and
the importance of Aesthetic Studies in the curriculum, especially for girls

The Saiva Mangaiyar Vidyalayam was born with seven students in the Theosophical Society, Colombo and by 1933 moved into its own premises in 34th Lane, Colombo 6. 

The Kalagam in its formative years of the nineteen thirties was a very active society. The women joined hands to develop themselves and those around them, at a time when alien culture and religion were the norms.  

It was in May-June 1958 that the Kalagam faced its first challenge, brought about by the communal riots. 

In 1960, the Sivananda Nilayam a prayer and meditation hall was built for the Kalagam by Mrs. Tambiah.  Kalagam decided not to hand over the Vidyalayam to the Government but keep it as a non fee-levying Private Hindu School.
It was only in 1977 that a Norwegian NGO came to our rescue.  Soon after, the government decided to assist these private denominational schools and the Vidyalayam became an Assisted Private School in 1980 by paying the salaries of the permanent cadre of teachers.

At present we have over 2,400 and an academic staff of 120. The national curriculum is followed with extra classes. These are reflected in the results our students achieve in the different examinations – G 5, Ordinary Level and Advanced Level.

As the Kalagam reaches another milestone in its long journey of 90 years, it has become a beautiful endeavor for me to reminisce and recapitulate events from the past. On this Founders’ Day let us pledge afresh to continue to carry forward the legacy of a many splendoured traditions of self service into the future. 

Sivanandini Duraiswamy, 
President of the Kalagam.