Returning to Ceylon, with the help of his maternal uncle
Muthu Coomaraswamy Ramanathan became a law apprentice under
Richard Morgan,
Queen's Advocate of Ceylon. Ramanathan became an
advocate of the Colombo
bar in 1874. Ramanathan was appointed to the
Legislative Council of Ceylon in 1879 as the unofficial member representing
Tamils, replacing his maternal uncle Muthu Coomaraswamy. Ramanathan wrote a book during this period, published under his Shaivite holy name of Sri Parananda and titled An Eastern Exposition of the Gospel of Jesus according to St. John (1902), in which he argued that the teachings of Christ could be understood as instructions in yoga. He was appointed
Solicitor-General of Ceylon in 1892. Ramanathan was responsible for the release of the Sinhalese leaders who had been arrested following the
1915 Ceylonese riots, travelling to the UK to make their case. He was re-elected at the 1916 legislative council election, defeating Justus Sextus Wijesinghe Jayewardene. He contested the
1924 legislative council election as a candidate for the Northern Province North (Valikamam North) seat and was re-elected to the Legislative Council. Ramanathan was made a
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the
1889 Birthday Honours. He was made a
Knight Bachelor in 1921. Ramanathan founded two schools in northern Ceylon –
Parameshwara College, Jaffna and
Ramanathan College. Ramanathan and other leading figures founded
The Ceylonese, an
English-language newspaper, in 1913. He was president of the
Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club from 1917 to 1930. Ramanathan opposed extending voting rights to the people and urged reservation of franchise only to men of the
Vellalar caste. Ramanathan died on 26 November 1930 at his home Sukhastan on Ward Place, Colombo. ==Works==