Don Baron Jayatilake was born on 13 February, 1868 in Waragoda, Kelaniya, in the Gampaha District. His father was Wickramarachchilmia Rajakaruna Liyana Athukorallage Don Daniel Jayatilake and his mother was Liyanage Dona Elisiyana Perera Weerasinghe. His father was a landed proprietor commanding much wealth and respect in the area.
In 1874, when D.B. Jayatilake passed the age of six years, he read his first letters at the feet of the Founder and first Principal of the Vidyalankara Pirivena, Ven. Ratmalane Sri Dharmaloka Thera. Thereafter, he was sent to the nearest available school, which was the local Baptist school at Waragoda. There, he was taught English and other subjects through the medium of English, as that was the practice and fashion a 100 years ago. D.B. Jayatilake learnt quickly and assimilated a lot more, both at the Baptist school and at the Pirivena. His brothers Simon and Abraham were not so interested nor did they care for his knowledge. There were two sisters but both had died young and the three brothers grew up later without that sisterly affection.
D.B. Jayatilake’s teacher, Ven. Sri Dharmaloka Thera, no doubt kept his clever and favourite pupil informed of the new Buddhist movement and influenced him to follow it closely and later to play a leading role in the very same mission of Buddhism and education for which Colonel Henry Steele Olcott arrived in Ceylon in 1880.
In 1881, D.B. Jayatilake left the Baptist school and was admitted to Wesley College, managed and run by the Wesleyan mission during that time. The College was situated in Pettah and his daily trip from Waragoda to the new School was made by cart. At that time, there was no Buddhist school in the city nor anywhere in the Island and the parents had no alternative but to send these three children to this College. After attending Wesley College in the forenoon, he went to the Pirivena in the afternoon, thereby maintaining the close association with Buddhist learning, the cultural environment and spirit. D.B. Jayatilake was always the best student in the class.
With the double promotions that he earned annually, he was still the best in his next class and finally ended up by winning all the prizes at Wesley College. During in the 1890’s, a few schools and colleges in Ceylon were preparing students for the Junior and Senior examinations of the Cambridge University Examinations syndicate. D.B. Jayatilake was a candidate and was successful in the Cambridge Junior and Senior Examinations. At this time, there were no examinations of the London University held in Ceylon, so the next best that one could do was to prepare for the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) at the Calcutta University, India. When he left Wesley College at the age of 22 years, he had completed his education, and was a youth who possessed the knowledge, ability and character to become great, pressed with no economic necessity, looking for a job merely because of the glamour of the Government service in those days.
The first appointment that D.B. Jayatilake was entrusted in 1890 as the Principal of the Buddhist High School in Kandy, later called the Dharmaraja College. In fact, he had started this Institution with Col. Olcott. By this time, D.B. Jayatilake had abandoned hopes of becoming an engineer and had decided to devote his whole life to teaching and propagating Buddhism. The school at Kandy was managed by the Buddhist Theosophical Society of Colombo and the salary paid to the Principal was said to be Rs. 30 per month and this too, he spent on the College. At age of 28 years in 1896, he succeeded in passing with honours in English and Latin, the B.A. degree examinations of the Calcutta University.
The Buddhist Theosophical Society was so pleased with his success at the Dharmaraja that they wanted a talented person to perform the same miracle at the Ananda College and naturally, the choice fell on D.B. Jayatilake so he had no alternative but to leave, and the public of Kandy was greatly disappointed and protested against the transfer.
In 1898, D.B. left Dharmaraja College and returned to Colombo to assume duties as the Vice Principal of the Ananda College. C.W. Leadbeater was the first Principal and later, since 1890, it was under the able guidance of A.E. Buultzens, who was a Cambridge scholar with brilliant scholastic attainments, that Jayatilake, a man with the courage of his convictions, put his heart and soul into the work connected with the new Buddhist movement.
D.B. Jayatilake’s new appointment as the Principal of Ananda, on 15 December, 1898, was a recognition of his ability and efficiency. Besides, he interpreted this as a recognition of his service for the cause of education and Buddhism. It was a stimulus for further activity, greater sacrifices of energy, time and money. D.B. Jayatilake worked harder than before and campaigned vigourously to elevate Ananda College to the highest position.
He helped the Buddhist Theosophical Society in its work of organising and managing other schools. The College staff was increased and improved. Teaching was organised to enable the students to complete with students of other leading Colleges in Colombo such as Royal,
St. Thomas and Wesley. Advanced classes were conducted and more students were presented for the annual Cambridge Junior and Senior Examinations. The results began to improve and the reputation of Ananda College attracted children from the city and rural areas.
At the Annual General Meeting in 1902, the Buddhist Theosophical Society appointed D.B. Jayatilake, the General Manager of Buddhist Schools in addition to being the Principal of Ananda College. D.B. Jayatilake visited schools and advised the principals about policy and teaching. The study course was amended and improved. D.B. Jayatilake was proud of his pupils at Ananda. He had taken a personal interest in their studies. G.K.W. Perera, who later became a brilliant advocate and a well known public figure was the scholar who won the Government scholarship in 1904. Also, it was one of his pupils, Arthur Wijewardana who became the first Sinhalese Buddhist Chief Justice of Ceylon and later the first Ceylonese to act as the Governor General of Independent Lanka.
The School steadily and peacefully progressed during D.B. Jayatilake’s period till, by the end of January, 1907, there were 445 boys on the roll with an average attendance of 345 days.
During 1908, D.B. Jayatilake established the Old Boys Association to support future College activities. Unfortunately for the School, D.B. Jayatilake resigned by the end of 1910 due to certain events that occurred in the College, and he proceeded to England for further qualifications. He entered Jesus College, Oxford and in 1913 obtained his Master of Arts degree and contemporaneously, he studied law and was admitted a barrister-at-law of Lincoln’s Inn. He had now obtained the highest academic qualifications, and as was his nature, he practiced for some years at the Bar in Colombo.
On 12 August, 1898, D.B. Jayatilake was married to Mallika Batuvantudawa of Werahena, Bentota, with all the pomp and ceremony associated with a Sinhalese wedding, and since they had no children of their own, they considered all children as theirs.
In the same year (1898), the Young Men’s Buddhist Association, an institution similar to the Young Men’s Christian Association, was started in Maradana and its first President was D.B. Jayatilake. He continued to be elected annually to the office of the President until the time of his death in 1944.
D.B. Jayatilake’s love of literature urged him to give expression to his literary talents. He started a weekly paper called “Satyodaya” and contributed valuable articles himself. He wrote easy Sinhalese with a slight mixture of Sanskrit. It was the spoken language, slightly polished and grammarised.
1943 was the first time that a Sinhalese Buddhist was honoured by his imperial majesty, the King of England. True to his nature, the knighthood did not make any difference to D.B. Jayatilake.
There was another important incident in which Sir D.B. Jayatilake was involved. The Trade Commissioner of Ceylon in London Perera, his old pupil at Ananda, had informed that the Buddha relics in the British Museum could be made available to Ceylon. At once, Sir. D.B. Jayatilake seized the idea as the Minister of Home Affairs decided to accept the relics and he deposited them at the Vidyalankara Pirivana shrine room.
Sir. D.B. Jayatilake passed away in Bangalore on 29 May, 1944, due to a heart attack, and the body was flown in a special plane in dismal weather amidst heavy rains, storms, thunder and lighting and the plane touched down at Ratmalana on 30 May, 1944.
A State funeral was ordered and the civil Government of the day, with complete co-operation of the overall military authorities and the civil defense administration, spared no pains to pay the highest possible honour to a national hero, who had died in the service of the Ceylonese nation. The funeral was held at the General Cemetery at Borella, on 1 June, 1944, with a large gathering.
In 1963, Sir. D.B. Jayatilake’s statue was unveiled opposite the House of Representatives (the Old Parliament building premises) in Colombo.
(The writer is a freelance contributor.)