Gajaman Nona

Gajaman Nona
Gajaman Nona's Statue Situated at Nonagama Junction, Ambalantota
Born Donna Isabella Koraneliya
(1746-03-10)10 March 1746
Ceylon
Died 15 December 1815(1815-12-15) (aged 69)
Sri Lanka
Occupation Poet
Spouse(s) Thalpe Merenchegei Garadiya Arachchi
Parent(s) Don Francisco Senarathna Kumara Perumal, Francina Jasenthu Graivo

Donna Isabella Koraneliya (Sinhala:දෝන ඉසබෙලා කොරනෙලියා) (a.k.a. Gajaman Nona) was a Sri Lankan author who was noted for having the ability to write and recite impromptu Sinhala poetry. She was born in Kollupitiya, Ceylon as the second daughter of Don Francisco Senarathna Kumara Perumal and Francina Jasenthu Graivo. Gajaman was baptized as Donna Isabella Koraneliya. She had her early education within her own family.[1] She was talented and earned her honorific name Gajaman Nona (Lady Gajaman) from her mother. She grew up in Matara,[2] with a taste for dressing like a Dutch woman, which came from her partially 'Westernized' background.[3] She had a surprising talent in literature, which was highlighted by the women of her community and status.

Her talents were noticed at an early age when someone hid her water pot, and she wrote this Sinhala poem:[4]

English Version:

"Little golden pot, filled with water
And left on the edge of the well,
The one who hid it is a scoundrel who can't count to five or eight!
Will you give back my little pot, so that I can go home?

Later in life when married, Gajaman Nona was left almost destitute by the death of her husband. She couldn't get a proper job. As she had several children to take care of, she asked the then Fiscal Collector for the Matara district, D'Oyly, for some kind of assistance.[5] D'Oyly granted her Nindagama (An area of land in which one is able to live and farm for one's own needs). In gratitude, she wrote poems with Sir D’Oyly. Today, a statue of her stands at Ambalantota, Nonagama Junction (the name derived from Gajaman Nona).

Sources

  • Best loved folk tales of Sri Lanka: legends and folklore By Manel Ratnatunga page 172,173,178 ISBN 81-207-2011-3, ISBN 978-81-207-2011-4
  • This inscrutable Englishman: Sir John D'Oyly, Baronet, 1774–1824 pages 4, 87, 249 ISBN 0-304-70095-9, ISBN 978-0-304-70095-0
  • The Gajaman story: Gajaman puvatha By Dayānanda Guṇavardhana pages 11, 41 : ISBN 955-95409-0-4, ISBN 978-955-95409-0-8
  • Vignettes of far off things: introducing the history, tank civilization By Gamini de S. G. Punchihewa pages 284, 286, 287
  • This Inscrutable Englishman (Sir John D'Oyly 1774–1824) by Brendon Gooneratne and Yasmine Goonaratne pages 81–102 ISBN 0-304-70095-9

Notes

  1. ↑ Gooneratne 1999, p. 82.
  2. ↑ Gooneratne 1999, p. 82.
  3. ↑ Gooneratne 1999, p. 82.
  4. ↑ Gooneratne 1999, p. 82.
  5. ↑ Gunawardana, C. A. (2003). Encyclopedia of Sri Lanka. New Delhi: Sterlin Publishers Privet Limited. p. 121. ISBN 81-207-2536-0.

References

  • Gooneratne, B & Y (1999). "The Inscrutable Englishman", 1805–1810: The Noblest Chance in the World, 81(102).


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