By Savitri Kumar –

Dr. Raja de Silva (Raja Aiya) is no more. He was a favourite cousin of mine and one of the most charming persons I knew. His charm made all his cousins feel they had a special place in his heart. We were the children of Pabo, the youngest (the 13^th) sibling of his mother, Maggie (the 4th) and so there was a big age gap between Raja Aiya and us, but the man was such that we “small brats” never felt out of place with him.

In later life there was a more immediate connection between us as both of us were chemists. Like me and my husband, Raja, two of his brothers and a few of his other cousins were followed the special degree in Chemistry. Raja Aiya used to loan or gift me books relevant to the subject and several owned by his late brother, Lucian (CL) who was in the academic staff of the University Chemistry Department, long before I joined it.

The early chemists were called alchemists and they spent their lives, seeking the means to convert base metals to gold and discovering the elixir is life which would guarantee immortality. Raja although in his 102^nd year seemed no different when we visited him last month than the younger Raja Aiya I used to know. Sill young at heart if not body, we had come to believe that he had indeed found the elixir of life which long eluded the alchemists in the form of quality scotch, which he truly enjoyed in sips from the hip flask he often carried. So his sudden passing away came as a big shock to us. More so as I too had written an article for “Raja 100”, released on his hundredth birthday edited by a nephew of his, Uvindu and we fully expected to bring out a follow up for his 105^th.

Raja Aiya was a raconteur par-excellence. We will truly miss his never-ending range of stories, some true, many exaggerated, and a few concocted but all with a touch of humour.  He had the talent to make his listeners hang on to his every word until the very end, even when they may have heard it from him before.

Raja, while working in the Archaeology Department lived in Kollupitiya with his batchmate, “Pips” Siriwardene. My father (Botany) and Pips (Chemistry) were in the Faculty of Science at the University in Colombo. Our family (father, mother and five children) could not comfortably travel on long trips (Kataragama, visits to relatives of our extended family) in our Peugeot 203 and Pips’ often helped out by taking some of us children in his Mercedes. Raja Aiya would usually accompany Pips and we always tried to get into Pips’ car as Raja’s stories would keep us entertained throughout the trip

Raja Aiya like most of his male siblings and cousins studied at Royal, a place close to his heart, which he believed moulded his character through teaching him to learn of books, learn of men and learn to play the game.

Raja graduated in 1946 from the University of Ceylon followed next year by yet another degree in Chemistry from the University of London. He then joined the Archaeology Department as Assistant Commissioner, the first chemist and indeed the first with a scientific background. He was awarded the doctorate by the University of Oxford a few years later based on his research on technical aspects of art history.

The Archaeology Department was headed by civil servants during the British period although a few of whom had some practical training in excavations. The educational background of the first two Archaeological Commissioners of Sri Lankan origin, Paranavitana and Godakumbura were in Oriental languages. They specialized in Epigraphy and their research was concentrated on the study of ancient inscriptions, the area of specialization of most of the others in the Department at that time.                    

As the first chemist appointed to the Department, Raja established a chemical laboratory in the Department devoted to conservation problems where he worked on ancient temple paintings and their restoration. He became the third local Archaeological Commissioner and served eleven years from 1967 until he retired. He then became an advisor in the Department for seven more years and continued to write on archaeological topics. His principled thinking and logical mind permitted Raja to present an alternate, often controversial, viewpoint.

His background in science allowed him to steer clear of the racial undertones that were slowly permeating into archaeology. Some subsequent Commissioners actively exploited archaeology for political purposes by excavating for Buddhist relics in the North and East, identifying areas as archaeological sites, restricting their use by locals and establishing Buddhist temples there. Raja brought into the Department people with backgrounds in architecture and anthropology including Siran Deraniyagala who initiated scientific stratified excavations in Sri Lanka.

Raja even though retired by then was very critical of the relationship between the newly established Central Cultural Fund (CCF) and the Department of Archaeology. With the influx of dollars from tourists visiting archaeological sites, the CCF was flush with funds while the Department was starved of money. Raja felt that the funds collected by CCF legally belonged to the Department and should help pay for departmental research. Instead, the CCF was using its funds on projects run by University academics, architectural and foreign consultants, many of them with little or no training in practical archaeology. The unkindest cut was that UNESCO funds negotiated by Raja for improving the Departmental laboratory, but received after he retired, were handed over to the CCF and wasted on constructing a largely non-functional laboratory in Anuradhapura. It is clear that Raja’s warnings on the CCF should have been heeded as the CCF appeared to be rather lax in its treatment of accounts as is shown by the many allegations that have surfaced of Ministerial misuse of CCF funds.

In October 1967, the archaeological site of Sigiriya was in crisis as some unknown persons had daubed green paint on the frescoes and scratched some with daggers. Raja was given the task of removing the paint. It was apparent to Raja that the work required expertise of a high order not available in the country and an Italian paint conservator, Luciano Maranzi was brought in, sponsored by UNESCO and the Smithsonian Institution. The work involved removal of the paint, consolidation of the plaster and application of a preservation coating. Since Maranzi’s assignment was only for a few weeks, the work had to be continued after he left and was eventually completed in April 1968 by Raja and his team. All but two of the paintings were saved.

Raja was fascinated by the story of Sigiriya and questioned the conventional wisdom accepted by all Archaeological Commissioners and many archaeological scholars that it was Kasappa’s palace. Raja provided evidence to suggest that it was in fact a Mahayana monastery and pointed out that the Mahavamsa, written seven centuries after the event, was an unreliable source because of the bias felt against Mahayana by its author from the Mahavihara Hinayana tradition which had successfully suppressed the growth of Mahayana. According to Raja, the paintings were not of ladies of the Court as claimed, but of the goddess Tara, revered by the Mahayana tradition. He provided evidence by comparing them with similar paintings in the Ajanta caves in India. Although there were many challenges to Raja’s proposition, he dealt with them effectively and provided more evidence to support his assertions.

Raja’s attachment to Sigiriya was such that he built a modest holiday home close to the rock. Kamala and he would regularly spend time there. After Kamala’s passing too, he paid regular visits to Sigiriya but in the past few years, travelling had been a problem. Raja however remains close to Sigiriya with the rock impacting his everyday thinking, writing and actions. Just as Dhatusena told Kasappa that his treasure was the water in the Kalawewa, Raja could justly claim that the treasured moments of his life were those spent with the painted ladies of Sigiriya.

*Savitri Kumar is Professor Emeritus at the University of Peradeniya and a former Senior Professor at the University and the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS)