Tribute to Professor Nimal de Silva

The passing of Professor Nimal de Silva was conveyed to me by fellow students with whom I studied architecture.
My deepest condolences.

He is someone who cannot be forgotten in many ways—a calm and composed individual, always seen with a gentle smile, and someone who spoke with warmth and kindness. He was the one who taught us the subject Traditional Architecture, and he is also one of the reasons I eventually wrote the book on the city layout of the Nallur Rajadhani.

When he introduced me to the article The Town Planning of Ancient Anuradhapura by Roland  Silva, I was astonished. Anuradhapura is a sacred city for Buddhists—one of the earliest royal capitals of Sri Lanka—home to many renowned stupas.

Anyone traveling from Yal Devi (the Jaffna–Colombo train) to Colombo cannot help but see the stupas of Anuradhapura. According to Roland  Silva’s research, ancient Anuradhapura was centered around a marketplace, with stupas arranged in a circular formation around the city. The ancient city unfolded before my eyes and left me in awe.The circle plays a significant role in Buddhist architecture—stupas are circular in form. Similarly, Roland  Silva’s article reveals how circular layouts dominated the urban planning of such cities. In contrast, in Hindu architecture, one can observe that the square (or rectangular) form is more dominant.

That very article on the city planning of Anuradhapura sparked my interest in exploring the city layout of the Nallur Rajadhani. I have mentioned this in the preface to my book. After the advent of the internet, I kept in touch with him via email, and he shared his postal address with me. I also sent him the English translation of the book.

The news of his passing has brought all these memories flooding back. Once again, my heartfelt condolences.