From one Josephian to another, a tribute to late Dr. Roland Silva

(image from icomos.org)

By Chryshane Mendis

The new decade dawned with the saddest news for me and for the entire Heritage sector of Sri Lanka, the legendary Dr. Roland Silva had finally found rest in the early hours of the 1st of January.  Deshamanya Vidya Jyothi Dr. Roland Silva was one of the foremost Asian experts in the conservation of historical monuments and sites and one of Sri Lanka’s most prominent archaeologists.

My historical curiosity got me to attend the various public lectures soon after I finished ALs in 2013 and that’s where I first came to know Dr. Roland Silva at The National Trust. Throughout my time in school I had been notorious for having an ambition to be an archaeologist, which is very rare in a Colombo school at present. Having never known academics before, the curious fresher inside myself made me go and speak to various people during these lectures and Dr. Roland was one, whom I knew by this time was a significant person. I still remember the shock when I spoke to him and mentioned my school, where the reply was ‘ah I was the Head Prefect there in 1951!’. Having been a Prefect myself, my excitement knew no bounds, so there was a Josephian archaeologist, and one of our Head Prefects in that!

Born in 1933 to a prominent entrepreneurial family in Giriulla, Dr. Roland began school at St. Joseph’s College Colombo 10 in 1939 and was the youngest boarder at that time in the hostel. He was an all-rounder, excelling in studies and sports; where he excelled in the second and third standard receiving a double promotion to the fifth standard and captaining the College Athletics and Volley ball teams. Due to his academic excellence he was finally awarded the Head Prefectship by the Rector Rev. Fr. Peter Pillai in 1951.

Having been an Old Boy from my Alma mater I admired him for taking on this considerably rare field but that admiration only grew as over the years as I came to know his true contribution to Sri Lanka. Apart from reaching the highest position in the field, the Director-General of the Department of Archaeology, his great charisma and vision for the field led to the founding of the Central Cultural Fund, the UNESCO-Sri Lanka Cultural Triangle project, the naming of our first UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the conservation of several Stupas to name a few. His work was not concentrated on Sri Lanka alone; he was regarded as one of the leading Conservators internationally having been the first Non-European to hold the office of President of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in 1990, which is one of the three advisory bodies to UNESCO World Heritage Convention, which he held for an unprecedented three consecutive terms till 1999 working tirelessly to set up national committees in African, Asian and Latin American countries to realize his vision of making ICOMOS truly a world body.

Through my work on Colombo and my dealing with the National Trust as a member and participant of the Scientific Committee, I was honored to have known Dr. Roland personally and fortunate enough to witness his great aura which had attracted hundreds of followers throughout the decades including the current frontrunners of the sector. Despite being in old age, his commanding presence, speech and knowledge were ever inspiring.

He was very pleased when I phoned him and spoke of my selection for graduate studies in the Netherlands, where he too had obtained his PhD. I then visited him in his home in August 2019 before I left and although he was very weak, he gave me valuable advice which still rings in my ears. He said to always focus on my goals and work with them in sight, that there may be battles lost and won, but continue. This last phrase is also the title of his commemorative volume, and I had always thought it was just a fancy title, but it was when he said it that I realized it was in fact his philosophy. Humorously enough due to his weak health, he mixed up several things I said, and presumed I was going to do research of the battle of Waterloo, and as it got stuck in my head I truly ended up doing a research assignment on it which I completed this month, however by the time I completed it, the person who put it there was no more. I may be only the second Josephian after you Dr. Roland to follow on the path of archaeology and I do not know if I can make it, but I will try. Like you said to me ‘battles may be lost and won, but continue’!