P. Arunachalam
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Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam MLC CCS |
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| பொன்னம்பலம் அருணாசலம் | |
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| Member of the Executive Council of Ceylon | |
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In office 1912–1913 |
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| Member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon | |
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In office 1912–1913 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
P. Arunachalam 14 September 1853 Colombo, Ceylon |
| Died | 9 January 1924 (aged 70) Madurai, India |
| Alma mater | Christ's College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Civil servant |
| Ethnicity | Ceylon Tamil |
Ponnambalam Arunachalam (Tamil: பொன்னம்பலம் அருணாசலம், translit. Poṉṉampalam Aruṇācalam; 14 September 1853 – 9 January 1924) was a Ceylon Tamil civil servant and a member of the Executive Council of Ceylon and Legislative Council of Ceylon.
Arunachalam was born on 14 September 1853 in Colombo in south western Ceylon. He was the son of Gate Mudaliyar A. Ponnambalam, a leading government functionary, and Sellachi Ammai. He was the brother of P. Coomaraswamy and P. Ramanathan. Arunachalam was educated at Royal Academy, Colombo where he won many prizes including the Turnour Prize. After school he joined Christ's College, Cambridge in 1871 on a scholarship, graduating in 1874 with B.A. degree in law and history. He received a M.A. degree from Cambridge in 1880.
Arunachalam married Svarnambal, daughter of Namasivayam, in 1883. They had three sons (Padmanabha, Mahadeva and Ramanathan) and five daughters (Maheswari, Manonmani, Sivanandam, Pathmavathy and Sunthari).
Arunachalam was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1875. He wanted to start a career in law but was persuaded by his maternal uncle Muthu Coomaraswamy to join the civil service. He sat the Civil Service Examinations in 1875 and became the first Ceylonese to enter the Ceylon Civil Service via open competition. His initial posting was at the Government Agent's office in Colombo. Thereafter he held numerous posts within the civil service: police court in Kandy; police magistrate and commissioner of requests at Kalpitiya, Puttalam, Matara, Avissawella, Pasyala, Matale, Kalutara and Colombo; and district judge in Chilaw, Kegalle, Kalutara, Batticaloa and Kurunegala.
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