Long lost – remembered at last

Last Monday – 18 July – marked the 11th death anniversary of Chitrasena. Deservedly he gained recognition by the postal authorities with the release of a commemorative stamp. 

It came late, taking over 10 years to release a stamp to honour a great artiste. Anyway, as the saying goes ‘better late than never’. Really, the philatelic tribute should have come to him when he was alive. There were many a milestone in his career. He was 75 in 1986. He was 80 in 2001. 

Lester James Peries was honoured with the release of a stamp on his 83rd birthday (April 2002). It was the first time that a stamp was released in the name of a living artiste. The second was when Amaradeva was honoured on his 76th birthday (December 2003) in what the Philatelic Bureau classified as ‘an Honour Issue’. 

Looking back, I believe Chitrasena is the first in the field of dancing in whose name a stamp has been issued in Sri Lanka. Though mention has been made that the renowned Kandyan dancer Nittawela Gunaya has been featured on a stamp in 1950, his photograph was not used.

In a set of six Pictorial Stamps released on 4 February 1950, one was a ‘Kandyan Dancer’. It depicted a Kandyan dancer with the Sri Dalada Maligawa in the background but the dancer was not identified. It could have been Guanya Gurunnanse since he was the only dancer who was being talked about as representing the Kandyan form of dance in that era.

Nittawela Gunaya, remembered as “the simple and humble peasant from the Kandyan kingdom,” certainly deserved a stamp with a photograph like the one seen in the Chitrasena stamp. Renowned as he was as a fine exponent of Kandyan dancing, he well deserved such recognition for having led the dancing troupe at the Esala Perahera for many years and taking the Sri Lankan Flag to many parts of the world.

He was the only Kandyan dancer who was featured in the annual Pictorials of the two newspaper groups – Lake House and Times of Ceylon. The 1938 Observer Pictorial featured him in the cover page and carried a double-page spread on how he gets ready for the Perahera.

While a number of film stars and others connected with the cinema as well as those in the field of music have been recognised, the Philatelic Bureau and the Postal Ministry seem to have forgotten another highly-acclaimed traditional dancer, Panibharatha, who also died 11 years ago – in September 2005.  He was a legend among the Algama generation of dancers. He was head of the Government dance school for many years, headed the Arts Council dance panel, and for many years his troupe was the State dance ensemble. He also led his troupe on several overseas tours. 

The Sabaragamuwa University paid him a fettle tribute by awarding him an Honorary D Litt and naming the campus open air theatre after him. He preferred not to use the ‘Kalasuri’ title conferred by the State or the D Litt but remain the simple villager from Algama as he always was. 

Let me remind the postal authorities: “Better late than never!”