Mr. K. Vallipuram Pillai Mudaliar
Mr. K. Vallipuram Pillai Mudaliar has served as the Chairman of this Board of Managers. He is said to be a native of Mullaitivu. He has served as the Secretary of the Local Board. His father was Kanakasinghe Mudaliar. Mr. M. M. Subramaniam, who was elected as the representative of the Trincomalee constituency in the Sri Lanka Legislative Assembly (1924-1930). Mr. M. M. Subramaniam, who was elected as the representative of the Trincomalee-Batticolao constituency in the first State Council of Sri Lanka (1931-1935), married Alagamma, the sister of Mr. K. Vallipuram Pillai Mudaliar. Mr. M. M. Subramaniam also belongs to the Mudaliar family. His full name is Mayilvagana Mudaliar Subramaniam. It is noteworthy that Mr. A. Sivalokanthan, the son of Mr. S. Azhakuraja, a son of Mr. M. M. Subramaniam, later served as the Principal of Ramakrishna Mission Hindu College (1978-1989).
Mr. M. M. Subramaniam has served as the Manager of the Board of Trustees of Villunri Kandaswamy Temple and Veerakatthi Pillayar Temple. He has also donated many of his lands to temples and it is also noteworthy that he himself had donated the land for the Hindu cemetery in Trincomalee. Mr. K. Vallipuram Pillai Mudaliar had two sons, Maylvahanam. Kumarasamy and three daughters, Sivapakiya Soundaramma. Thanga Nachiyar and Soundaranayaki Azhugapakiyam. Their children and grandchildren have studied at Hindu College. Some of the fourth generation of Mr. K. Vallipuram Pillai Mudaliar are still studying in college.
Lawyer S. Viswalingam
Another important member of this board of managers was Advocate Viswalingam. His father was Mr. Saravanamuthu and his mother was Mrs. Azhagamma. He lived in a house called ‘Lingavila’ on the main road of Trincomalee. He had five sons: Kanakasabapathi (Public Health Inspector). Pakiyathurai (Advocate). Rajadurai (Court Fiscal). Sivanandham (Treasurer of the Municipal Council). Jagatheesan. Thayalnayaki. Visalakshi Nesarathnam. Sivapakiyam and Maheswari.
The grandson of the present Attorney General Mr. Sanje Rajaretnam, the famous advocate Mr. T. Rajaretnam, was elected as the first President of the Trincomalee Municipal Council in 1940. Mr. T. Rajaretnam’s mother was Mrs. Duraiappa Vanniyanar and his wife's father, Notary Natarajapillai, were brothers and sisters of Advocate Viswalingam.
It is said that when this school was started in 1897, Advocate Viswalingam donated a piece of land and constructed a building. Advocate Viswalingam was concerned with providing opportunities for English education to Hindu students.
Dr. Mr. K. Arunachalam
The father of Mr. K. Arunachalam was Mr. Kathiresu. His family lived in the present house at No. 56, Rajavarodayam Road. Mr. K. Arunachalam was an Ayurvedic doctor by profession. He had three daughters and two sons. The eldest daughter was married to Mr. Erambu. The second daughter was married to Mr. Arunachalam and the next daughter was married to Mr. Sivagurunathan. The eldest son was Mr. Chandrasekaram. The youngest son was Mr. Sivapathasundaram.
The eldest son was a distinguished student of Hindu College. He studied primary and secondary education at Hindu College (1921-1931). It is noteworthy that he obtained excellent results in the Cambridge Senior Examination and joined the University College of Ceylon as an external student of the University of London and graduated as the first science graduate of the Trincomalee district in 1937. He was appointed as a teacher at the Hindu College itself and was appointed as a school inspector in 1944. He gradually rose to become the Chief Educational Officer in 1966.
Mr. K. Arunachalam served from the Board of Managers and was also involved in many social services. In the Government Gazette of Sri Lanka dated 20.10.1939, it can be seen that Mr. K. Arunachalam's name is registered in the list of Tamil-speaking court judges for the Trincomalee district in the Eastern Province.
Mr. S. Subramaniam (Chief)
Mr. S. Subramaniam served as the chief conductor at the Trincomalee Concert Hall. He had sons Gnanaganesan, Rajanathan, and Murugaiah. Of these, the youngest son Murugaiah was an excellent football player. He passed away at a young age. The eldest son, Mr. S. Gnanaganesan, had sons Subramaniam and Swaminathan. He had daughters Thayalnayaki, Seemanthini, and Dharmasam Watthani. Of these, Thayalnayaki's husband, Mr. A. A. Jayaretnam, was an old student of the Hindu College and served as the secretary of the School Development Association of the college from 1987 to 1992. His sons and nephews are also old students of the Hindu College.
Mr. S. Gnanaganesan's sons, Mr. Subramaniam. Mr. Swaminathan also studied at the Hindu College. Mr. S. Subramaniam (Shirappar) had another son, Mr. Rajanathan, who had sons Mahendran, Lokendran, Ravindravarman and daughters Kumudharanjani, Sriranjani. All three sons studied at the Hindu College. One of them, Mr. Ravindravarman, also served as the Secretary of the Canadian Old Students' Association of the Hindu College.
It is noteworthy that Mr. S. Subramaniam (Shirappar)'s wife, Mrs. Thayalnayaki, was the sister of the Trincomalee Tamil scholar, Mr. T. Kanakasundaram Pillai. They lived in a house called 'Rosefield' on Vidyalayam Street. It was in this house that Swami Vibulananda also lived in later years. Swami Vipulananda, who had arrived in Trincomalee in late 1924, established an ashram in this house, known as 'Rosefield', in 1925 and operated it as a center for Ramakrishna Mission activities.
Mr. E. Murugupillai (Surveyor)
Mr. E. Murugupillai served as one of the later members of the Board of Managers. He was born in 1893 in Trincomalee, the son of Mr. Ramalingam. He worked as a government surveyor. He surveyed all the lands belonging to the Tamil University Movement free of charge. He was also one of the trustees of the Tamil University Movement. He was very involved in the renovation of the Thirukoneswarar temple and the consecration ceremony in 1963. He joined the Ramakrishna Mission as a member of the Executive Committee in 1930 and served for many years. He helped the Mission to function well.
Mr. E. Murugupillai had joined the management committee of this college, which was started in the late 19th century (1897) and worked as a junior member in the early 20th century. He was concerned about the smooth running of temples, schools, and religious institutions. Even after the school was taken over by the Ramakrishna Mission in 1925, he supported Swami Vibulananda for the development of the school. It can be learned from some references that he also worked on the management committee of Sri Shanmuga Vidyalayam, Trincomalee.
Mr. E. Murugupillai had married Dr. Kanakasabapathy's eldest daughter, Annamamma. After his wife's death, he married his wife's younger sister, Kamalanayaki. Mr. E. Murugupillai was given the names Thanalekshmi, Padmavati, and Sarojini. Maheswari and a son named Balakrishnan. Mr. M. Balakrishnan also worked as a Government Surveyor. Mr. E. Murugu Pillai's son Mr. M. Balakrishnan and Mr. Sivasubramaniam (Deputy General Manager, Mahaweli Development Board) and Mr. Navaratnam (Surveyor, River Valley Development Board) are both educated at the Hindu College, Trincomalee.
Mr. E. Murugu Pillai, who lived in Colombo during his last years, passed away on 19.05.1976.
Mr. Thiagaraja Advocate Mr. Vaithilingam
No information could be obtained about the two persons mentioned above who were mentioned as having a place on the Board of Managers. Attempts to find out about their family relations, friends and whereabouts were unsuccessful. The only information that was received was that Advocate Thiyagaraja had gone to Pedrothurai, Jaffna with his family and lived there and that he had visited Trincomalee a few times for court cases.
