[1][2] Ponnambalam hailed from a distinguished Tamil family from Jaffna.
His father Arumugam Cathiravelu was a Magistrate and District Judge.
His own brother Cathiravelu Sittampalam was the first Cabinet Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in the independent Sri Lanka.
Ponnambalam's grand uncle Viswanather Casipillai was a Crown Proctor and co-founder of the Jaffna Hindu College.
You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.This article about a politician from Northern Province, Sri Lanka is a stub.