{"id":105035,"date":"2020-07-29T16:56:34","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T23:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=105035"},"modified":"2020-07-29T16:56:34","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T23:56:34","slug":"an-object-lesson-in-archaeological-conservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/07\/29\/an-object-lesson-in-archaeological-conservation\/","title":{"rendered":"An object lesson in archaeological conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Buvaneka Hotel? I wanted to renovate the place when I was\nSecretary to the Urban Development Authority, but the owner refused to give it\nup for renovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • An amused President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to some young men who asked him, during his campaign tour of the Kurunegala district on July 27, why he kept silent when \u2018our kingdom\u2019 was bulldozed.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    (The prime minister has appointed an archaeological advisory\ncommittee consisting of twenty experts – monks and laymen, archaeologist Ven.\nEllawela Medhananda among them – as a first step towards protecting the gravely\nendangered archaeological heritage of the country, according to live evening TV\nnews from Sri Lanka\/July 29. This is a very positive response to public\nconcerns raised over the partial demolition of what is popularly held to be the\nremains of a royal assembly hall belonging to the reign of King Bhuvanekabahu\nII of Kurunegala of the 13th century CE.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The demolition of a part of a building that is claimed to be an\narchaeological site at Kurunegala on the night of July 14, 2020  caused\nquite a furore, with the opposition seizing the opportunity offered by the\nsurreptitious operation to sling mud at the government. Why the mayor had to do\nit in the night in such a hurry is yet to be explained, though. In any case,\nthe controversy that the destruction ignited was manna from heaven for the\nopposition, which is starved of a proper platform for fighting the election.\nAside from this, the main opposition speakers are providing much needed comic\nrelief for the corona-fears-hit audiences across the country through their\nempty campaign speeches. They have suddenly become champion protectors of the\ncountry\u2019s cultural heritage. But it is hardly likely that the senior SLPP\nleaders would have allowed this act of (apparently accidental) vandalism to be\ncommitted, had they had an inkling of it beforehand, particularly in this\nrun-up-to one of the most decisive general elections  held in the\ncountry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Be that as it may, the episode has drawn the attention of all Sri\nLankans to a chronic issue that is directly connected with the national\nsecurity and the political stability of the Sri Lankan state: the deliberate\ndestruction\/vandalizing\/encroachment of Sri Lanka\u2019s archaeological sites by\ntreasure hunters and politically motivated individuals. The protection, through\npreservation and conservation, of the country\u2019s rich ancient cultural heritage\nis a national responsibility that no government can ignore. There are six main\nparties who are bound to take an interest in this issue; they are, to list them\nat random: Buddhist monks, the general public, historians and archaeologists,\nrelevant state officials, politicians in general, and the government including\nthe prime minister the executive president. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The president laughed when the young men queried him about the\nKurunegala affair because he knows that the name \u2018Buvaneka\u2019 had been dragged\ninto it by interested parties to embarrass the government (by highlighting its\nsupposed antiquity). With that answer, he pricked the balloon of false\npropaganda of the opposition. But there is no doubt that he takes the problem\nthat underlies the whole affair seriously. It is very clear that, taken out of\nthat context, it is no laughing matter, though some people may try to make it\nout to be something trivial and  funny. In fact, the enemies of the\ncountry want to represent even the general election as a form of meaningless\ntheatrical entertainment, which in reality this time is the moment of truth for\nthe whole national electorate.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Incidentally, there are those who are ever ready to attack the\nrecorded history of the Sinhalese in their unique homeland as mere fiction. But\nknowledgeable local and foreign scholars, from colonial times to the present,\nhave increasingly accepted it as something well authenticated by carefully\ncomposed ancient chronicles and orally transmitted folk traditions, both\nsupported by epigraphical evidence and archaeological remains found across the\nlength and breadth of the island. Ill-informed cynics are making the public\noutrage caused by the thoughtless act a pretext for taking a playful dig at\nthose who are speaking up for safeguarding the rights of the variously besieged\nmajority community. It is a different matter that there are a few political\nopportunists, fakes, and rogues among them as there are among members of other\ncommunities. Recent  evidence unearthed by archaeologists (some of them\nfrom foreign universities) has proved that a primitive people who had\nnevertheless reached a relatively advanced stage of civilization had inhabited\nthe central mountainous region of the island at least some four and a half\nthousand years ago, which hints at the fact that the history of the Sinhalese\nis much older than the recorded 2500 years. The Ravana story may be a myth, but\nit is quite possible that is based on a regal ancestor of the Sinhalese who\nfought invasions from abroad thousands years before the time that the Mahavansa\nbegins with. Some amateur \u2018archaeologists\u2019 in the form of You Tubers,\napparently none of them with any expertise in the most difficult domain of\narchaeology, at various levels of commitment to the discovery of the scientific\ntruth from one hundred percent to zero percent, are turning out videos these\ndays about real or imagined archaeological sites. Some of them have published,\nfor example, pictures of mysterious symbolic shapes carved on a rock in a\nhardly accessible place and a drawing of what looks like a dinosaur on another\nrock face, images worthy of being included in Erich Von Daniken\u2019s 1968 classic\n\u2018Chariots of the Gods\u2019. A responsible future government must turn its attention\nto this so-called \u2018Ravana\u2019 aspect of Sri Lanka\u2019s pre-history and bring it under\nthe purview of proper archaeological study. The nation can exploit its\npotential for the benefit of the country in terms of its economy through the\npromotion of tourism in addition to contributing to the global store of human\nknowledge. Equally important, it will serve to ensure the future survival of\nthe Sinhalese as a race with their unique historical identity. So, the uproar\nraised about the Kurunegala incident by both genuine and mischief-making\nprotestors is not something to be dismissed with a laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There cannot be any dispute about the fact that the structure at\nthe place in question is of archaeological value, though the mayor of\nKurunegala, the first citizen of the city, is unaware of it. Ignorance is no\nexcuse for a person who holds such a responsible position. However, the\nAdhikarana Sanga Nayake Thera of Vayamba,  at a meeting of the Bauddha\nUpadeshaka Sabhava with the President (July 25) said that the place in question\nwas not an archaeological site, and that it was a big lie to say that it was.\nHe said that there was no \u2018raja sabha mandapaya\u2019 (a royal assembly hall)\nbelonging to king Bhuvanekabahu II at that place. In his detailed explanation\nof its recent history of about twenty years, he described how the premises was\nleased out by the municipal council during that period and was enlarged and\nused for various commercial purposes such as running wine shop,a \nrestaurant, a barber shop, and even for renting out rooms for couples. It was\nimplied that the enlargement of the building by adding rooms, etc was done\nwithout proper official authorization. But the monk admitted that the old\nstructure that  originally stood there and apparently still stands there\npartly damaged or tampered with, was one built more than one hundred years ago,\nwhich means that the place should be considered an  archaeological site.\nAn archaeologist who was seen at  the meeting, had stated to a local\nnewspaper on an earlier occasion, that, according to popular tradition, the\nparticular place was where king Bhuvanekabahu II held assizes\/adjudged cases\n(though there was no literary or other evidence to support this.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With apologies to historians and archaeologists, I would like to\nsuggest, as a lay reader, that  unrelated information available in Chapter\nXC (90) of the Mahavansa (continued in the Culavansa) lends  credence to\nthe popular tradition that the archaeologist monk mentioned. That particular\nchapter narrates the goings on in a period of history made noteworthy by such\nevents as the relocation of the seat of government from time to time to\nDambadeniya, Kurunegala,  and Yapahuwa, internecine conflicts triggered by\nsuccession disputes sometimes leading to torture, treachery and murder, foreign\ninvasions, the forced removal of the Tooth Relic to the captivity of Pandyans\nin south India by \u2018a chief among Tamils, known as Ariya Cakkavatti, albeit he\nwas not an Ariya\u2019, and its eventual recovery through sophisticated diplomacy,\ncultural activity in the service of Buddhism and the advancement of letters\nunder royal patronage, and the construction of architectural monuments such as\nthe magnificent rock fortress city of Yapahuwa\n(Subha-pabbata\/Subhacala\/Subagiri) built by king Bhuvanekabahu I, whose son\nBhuvanekabahu II ruled at Kurunegala from 1293-1302 CE. That the latter\ndispensed justice from a specially constructed assembly hall in Kurunegala is\nnot an improbability. Has any archaeologist tried to compare the architectural\nfeatures of the alleged  royal assembly hall to those found at Yapahuwa?\nIn view of these facts, talking further about the issue is worth our while.\n(The Mahavansa references here are based on Mudaliyar L.C. Wijesinha\u2019s\ntranslation of 1889.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The issue involves the accidental or premeditated partial\ndestruction of a heritage building and its complex aftermath. The foreign and\nlocal supporters of the opposition may not see any complexity in either, the\nformer because of their ignorance of, and the latter because of their\nindifference to, the cultural sensitivities and political perceptions of the\nmajority Sinhalese Buddhist community. Hence they might express adverse\nopinions about the way the six categories of people responded to the\nincident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It is obvious that the mayor found himself caught off his guard\nwhen he was confronted with the fact that what was partly demolished was of\narchaeological value. A minister of the present government, a prominent member\nof the SLPP (who comes from a business background, and who was a UNP stalwart\nbefore he joined the Mahinda camp), rushed to his rescue, which one of his\ncabinet colleagues publicly criticised. If some irregularity was committed in\nthis instance, which is very likely, there is a common heritage of guilt to be\nshared by the incumbent and previous mayors, possibly of a different political\ncolour. Prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, it seemed, showed a special interest\nin the matter as the Buddha Sasana and cultural affairs minister in the\ncaretaker administration. The opposition\u2019s exploitation of the mayor\u2019s blunder\nto attack the government to gain some propaganda advantage over it, with the\nelections round the corner, made the PM\u2019s concern in this regard look like a\nmark of what they probably thought was his desire to engage in some sort of damage\ncontrol exercise. In my opinion, there was absolutely no need for the\ngovernment to register a panicked response. What happened was what could have\nhappened under any government, notwithstanding its desire to avoid such\nembarrassment or to ensure rectification of what went wrong in such a\nsituation. The commercial abuse of that place, and many other similar\nregistered and unregistered heritage sites, for that matter, has persisted for\na long time, in some cases, with the connivance of or under the sponsorship of\npoliticians in the local authorities allied to main parties. Party leaders have\nno control over this. In politically motivated attacks on the country\u2019s ancient\nBuddhist heritage in the east particularly, government officials become\nvulnerable to manipulation by well funded extremists through bribery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The only solution is to leave matters to the law enforcement\nauthorities so they can take appropriate action. The PM-appointed committee has\nmade some recommendations (conservation of the part damaged while preserving\nits archaeological features, acquisition of the building by the department of\narchaeology, requesting the RDA to revise its road widening plan at this point,\nprosecuting the persons responsible for the destruction, and recovering the cost\nof conservation from the institutions or individuals responsible for the\ndestruction) which are to be implemented in the short term. Once the building\nis restored and the problem, whatever it is, that required a part of it to be\nbulldozed under cover of the night is sorted out, the current mode of its\nutilization will have to be reviewed, and changes introduced as appropriate. At\nthe meeting he had with the monks of the Bauddha Upadeshaka Sabhava on July 25,\nthe president decided to appoint a committee of experts to propose changes to\nthe Antiquities Ordinance, which should ensure more robust implementation of\nthe law relating to archaeological places, buildings and objects than\nnow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Even in the past the president was the only person in a position\nof power (as defence secretary) who made a meaningful intervention in the\nproblem first articulated by Buddhist monks (for example, Kuragala). Meanwhile,\nit will be very important to depoliticize and de-communalize the problem of\nprotecting the archaeological relics of the country\u2019s glorious Buddhist past.\nMost of the vulnerable sites lie in the north and east where the island\ncivilization started as currently understood. Actually there is no threat to\nthem from the mainstream Tamil and Muslim minority communities who respectively\ndominate those provinces in terms of population numbers, but these peaceful\npeople are held hostage by a few political extremists (separatists and\njihadists).  Tamils and Muslims are not confined to these two provinces.\nMore than 50% of them live in the south among the Sinhalese. The protection of\narchaeological sites has become a political and communal issue, particularly in\nthe north and east, because of the the extremists. The government must enlist\nthe support of ordinary Tamils and Muslims in these areas to overcome the\nextremists, and then entrust the protection of the archaeological sites to\npeople of all three communities who live there, in addition to ensuring state\nprotection of the same. Places already encroached upon must be re-acquired by\nthe state, and people already settled on them gradually relocated elsewhere\nwith the least inconvenience to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    These archaeological remains belong equally to all present day Sri\nLankans irrespective of ethnicity. In economic terms, the existence of ancient\nhistorical places and objects is beneficial to the people who today inhabit the\nrelevant areas, because they are tourist attractions. Most people are ignorant\nof the value of these relics of the past. Popular ignorance facilitates the\nextremists\u2019 anti-national activities. One of the lessons taught by the\nKurunegala episode is about the importance of adequate awareness on the part of\nthe officialdom as well as the populace regarding the country\u2019s inestimable\narchaeological treasures.     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Rohana R. Wasala Buvaneka Hotel? I wanted to renovate the place when I was Secretary to the Urban Development Authority, but the owner refused to give it up for renovation. An amused President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to some young men who asked him, during his campaign tour of the Kurunegala district on July 27, why […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rohana-r-wasala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105035\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}