Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Tight security as monk revisits historic site
Kurulu Kariyakarawana and Damitha Hemachandra reporting from Ampara
An ancient archaeological site -believed to be the only evidence of the 2000 year old Sinhala-Buddhist habitation in Ampara-is facing destruction at the hands of quarry miners.
The Walathpitiya site recently identified by the Ven Ellawala Medhananda Thera was found half destroyed when the monk accompanied by Sihala Urumaya leaders and about 300 others and protected by security forces visited the area again on Monday after he had been allegedly threatened and obstructed by LTTE cadres during an earlier visit last month.
Sihala Urumaya leader Thilak Karunaratne said they would provide everything necessary including security for the monks excavation work to ensure the protection of the ancient site with its relics and monuments.
The group found that the site east of Ampara was owned by a quarry trader who had employed about 50 men who had already dynamited a bed of granite in an area where there were believed to be rock inscriptions belonging to the 2nd Century BC.
They said the site in a government controlled area had been leased to the trader by the Samanturai Pradeshiya Sabha. The group said they found parts believed to be relics of an ancient Buddhist establishment flattened by a bulldozer while a Hindu Kovil had been built on the premises.
Speaking at the site Mr. Karunaratne said they had decided to go there with the monk because LTTE members had earlier threatened the monk telling him not to excavate religious artefacts which belonged to their homeland.
Security for the group was provided by the police, the STF and the Army
An ancient archaeological site -believed to be the only evidence of the 2000 year old Sinhala-Buddhist habitation in Ampara-is facing destruction at the hands of quarry miners.
The Walathpitiya site recently identified by the Ven Ellawala Medhananda Thera was found half destroyed when the monk accompanied by Sihala Urumaya leaders and about 300 others and protected by security forces visited the area again on Monday after he had been allegedly threatened and obstructed by LTTE cadres during an earlier visit last month.
Sihala Urumaya leader Thilak Karunaratne said they would provide everything necessary including security for the monks excavation work to ensure the protection of the ancient site with its relics and monuments.
The group found that the site east of Ampara was owned by a quarry trader who had employed about 50 men who had already dynamited a bed of granite in an area where there were believed to be rock inscriptions belonging to the 2nd Century BC.
They said the site in a government controlled area had been leased to the trader by the Samanturai Pradeshiya Sabha. The group said they found parts believed to be relics of an ancient Buddhist establishment flattened by a bulldozer while a Hindu Kovil had been built on the premises.
Speaking at the site Mr. Karunaratne said they had decided to go there with the monk because LTTE members had earlier threatened the monk telling him not to excavate religious artefacts which belonged to their homeland.
Security for the group was provided by the police, the STF and the Army
