Sunday Times 2
He left an indelible mark on the hearts of Sri Lankans
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- Sir Cyril de Zoysa
This tribute is published in commemoration of Sir Cyril de Zoysa’s 129th birth anniversary, observed today.
By Venerable Rajakeeya Panditha Eethalawetunawewe Gnanatilake Nayaka Thera
Sri Lanka’s Buddhist cultural and social fabric, which had lasted from ancient times, came under threat in the face of foreign invasions by the Portuguese, the Dutch, the English and others.
Sir Cyril de Zoysa
We know that Henry Steel Olcott, who came to this country at that time to make a deep study of the Buddha’s teachings, rendered immense service to the development of the Buddha Sasana (Buddha’s Dispensation) in this country by raising the standard of Buddhist education.
In subsequent times, this service was continued through the intervention of Anagarika Dharmapala. Following the path adopted by Dharmapala, who was engaged in social reform paying special attention to Buddhist values and customs, it was Sir Cyril de Zoysa who rendered humanitarian service to the people of this country in the recent past.
It is important to commemorate him
at a time like this, as he rendered a priceless service to the Buddha Sasana in this country and to the entire
Sri Lankan community; thereby, his character and his noble service provided an ideal for the present generation to emulate. He was one of the great personalities “born for the glory of the Buddha Sasana and the nation”. The following statement, made in the mature years of his life, clearly reflects his religious devotion, his simple life, and his understanding of life:
“I am now free. No matter how wealthy anybody is, matters nought. Everything is a mockery. I was born without resources. My comfort, happiness and strength come from the Dhamma I believe in.”
Born on October 26, 1896, to Solomon de Zoysa, notary of Welitara, Balapitiya, and Harriet de Zoysa, he received his education at some of Sri Lanka’s most prestigious schools—St. Thomas’ College, Matara, Richmond College, Galle, and Royal College, Colombo. After passing the Cambridge Senior Examination in 1916, he pursued his higher education at the Law College, Colombo, and later began his professional career as a lawyer at the Balapitiya Courts. Subsequently, he joined the Kalutara Bar. This fact of moving to Kalutara is considered a turning point in his career and in his life.
Around 1930, he had the opportunity of improving the Kalutara Bodhiya’s Pahala Maluwa (Lower Compound), located to the west of Galle Road. It had long served as a site for popular folk worship among villagers. He transformed Pahala Maluwa into a proper Buddhist religious environment, despite resistance from European colonial administrators.
Thus, this famous sacred site, now known as the Kalutara Bodhiya, would have remained neglected but for Sir Cyril’s intervention. His establishment of the Kalutara Bodhi Trust to manage this site demonstrates the same far-sighted vision that the Venerable Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thero evinced when he founded the Vidyodaya Pirivena and brought its management under the Vidyadhara Sabha. Apart from the ancient Bodhi tree at this site, believed to be from a sapling from the sacred Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, the beautiful bubbulakara (bubble-shaped) stupa, built with a vatadage (circular relic chamber), stands out as a remarkable work of art and has also become a main feature of the City of Kalutara.
Currently, the Kalutara Bodhi Trust maintains the performance of traditional daily rituals, offerings and worship; organises Poya day observances, meditation programmes and the delivery of Dhamma sermons; provides scholarships to monks receiving traditional education; conducts Dhamma school teacher training programmes; donates educational equipment to monasteries; offers library facilities to educational institutions; and maintains homes for the elderly and for children, thus making this Bodhi complex a true centre of meritorious activity.
Of no small measure was Sir Cyril de Zoysa’s contribution to the development of temple complexes such as the Hunupitiye Gangaramaya, the Bambalapitiye Vajiraramaya, the Kuppiyawatte Jayasekararamaya, the Aluthgama Kandeviharaya, the Moragalle Aranya Senasanaya and the Pinwatte Saddharmalankara Pirivena.
His project for the restoration of the Kataragama Kiri Vehera, which was inaugurated on February 26, 1970, by the then Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake, brought a sense of great devotion to the world of Buddhists. After his appointment as president of the Young Men’s Buddhist Association (YMBA), Colombo, he pioneered the construction of its main building complex.
He also rendered extensive service to the education of Buddhist children across Sri Lanka, through the YMBA. Among his educational initiatives, the establishment of schools such as Kalutara Maha Vidyalaya and Kalutara Balika Vidyalaya is noteworthy.
The service rendered by Sir Cyril de Zoysa while holding the positions of president of the Mahabodhi Society of
Sri Lanka, president of the Ceylon Bar Association, and leadership roles in institutions such as the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress, the Scout Association, and the Theosophical Society remains without parallel.
As a special contribution towards the unity of the Sangha and the integrity of the Sasana, what is significantly remembered today is Sir Cyril’s pioneering role in unifying the Amarapura Maha Nikaya, which had dissected itself into 22 sections; this ‘unification’ led to the establishment, in 1966, of the Sri Lanka Amarapura Maha Sangha Sabha.
With maturity in the political arena, Sir Cyril was appointed chairman of the Kalutara Urban Council in 1941. He later served as president of the Senate for 14 years. Professionally as a criminal lawyer, he rendered distinguished service as president of the Ceylon Bar Association for nine years, during which the Bar Association building at the Colombo Court complex was constructed. He built a textile weaving factory on part of his ancestral land in Balapitiya. It became one of the country’s leading high-quality textile manufacturing plants. He also initiated the construction of several factories to produce rubber-based goods in the Kalutara District, creating foreign exchange-earning opportunities for the nation. He invested his personal funds and private land in these ventures to ease, to a significant extent, the problem of unemployment. Thus his services of such value to society, supported by his own personal funds and private land, may also be an example for present day politicians to emulate.
Endowed with sharp and advanced business acumen, he founded a private bus company named ‘Swarnapali’. This bus company was later registered and operated under the name and style of the South Western Bus Company. It soon became the largest private bus service in the country at that time. When the government nationalised bus services in 1956, he handed over all the company’s buses to the government only after refurbishing them and filling them with fuel—certainly a splendidly generous gesture!
For his extensive humanitarian work and contributions to the national, religious, social, educational and political development of the country, he was awarded a Knighthood (Knight of the British Empire – KBE) by the British government. It was at this point that the title “Sir” was prefixed to his name, distinguishing him as Sir Cyril de Zoysa.
The current leadership of this generation rests with Deshamanya Ajita de Zoysa, a member of the second generation. He is the chairman of the Kalutara Bodhi Trust; he is the president of the Sri Lanka Amarapura Maha Nikayabhivurdhi Dayaka Sabha and the National Organiser of the Sri Lanka Ramanna Maha Nikayarakshaka Dayaka Sabha, working for the development of the Sasana (the Buddha’s Dispensation). He renders great service in the field of education. He is at present the chairman of Musaeus College, Colombo.
His sons, Dinesh de Zoysa, Managing Trustee of Musaeus College, and Ashan de Zoysa, a Trustee of the Board of the Kalutara Bodhi Trust, represent the third generation. They are certainly shaping the future of these institutions admirably, it seems, also by drawing inspiration from their immediate ancestors, Sir Cyril de Zoysa and Deshamanya Ajita de Zoysa.
Sir Cyril was always mindful of continuity and sustainability in every project he undertook, and in line with his vision, the dedication and contribution of the second and third generations in carrying forward his work in a distinguished manner are both commendable and exemplary.
This most exemplary humanitarian, who was born in Sri Lanka in the recent past, lived a life of eighty-two years and passed away on January 02, 1978. This article is but a modest tribute to him – to Sir Cyril de Zoysa, who rendered great service to
Sri Lankan society. May he attain the Supreme Bliss of Nirvana, immortal and eternal—this is our ultimate wish
(The writer, Venerable Rajakeeya Panditha Eethalawetunawewe Gnanatilake Nayaka Thera, is the Chancellor of the Rajarata University and Chief Incumbent of the Ruwanwelimahaseya.)