Sampur Stupa

Sampur Soodaikudah archaeological site is a historic site with archaeological evidences, situated in Mathalamalai mountain, Sampur, Sri Lanka. The site was discovered by a group of archaeologists, during an archaeological excavation done in the Sampur area in December 2017. However the ruins, including an old Stupa were completely destroyed and flattened out by a group of vandals on 18 December, few days after the discovery.[1][2]

Sampur Stupa & Archaeological Site
සාම්පූර් දාගැබ හා පුරාවිද්‍යා ස්ථානය
General information
LocationMathalamalai, Soodaikudah
Town or citySampur
CountrySri Lanka
Coordinates08°30′22.4″N 81°17′59.8″E
OwnerArchaeological Department (Sri Lanka)

Archaeological exploration

During the Sri Lankan civil war, many of the archaeological sites in the North and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka were not properly investigated or recorded as the prevailed threats from the LTTE rebel group. After the defeat of LTTE in 2009, the archaeology department carried out several projects across the North & Eastern provinces to investigate and identify the places with archaeological evidences and the some of places were finally declared as archaeologically protected reserves and monuments. As the instructions given by Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, a similar project was started after the 2015 to investigate the unknown archaeological sites in the Eastern province of the country.[3] In December 2017, as a part of the project a group of archaeologists unearthed a dilapidated Stupa during an excavation done in a Hindu temple premises in Soodaikudah in Sampur.[3] According to the initial evaluations done by the archaeologists, the Stupa is a construction of early Anuradhapura period (377 BC to 1017 AD) with a girth of 15 feet.[4]

Hindu shrine

The ruins of the stupa were found on land which is used by a recently built Hindu shrine. The local people in Soodaikudah are said to be displaced in 2006 along with Muttur people and had been resettling around the area from 2013. The Hindu shrine, constructed near to the stupa mound, was officially registered in 2014.[5]

Destruction

A few days after the identification, the Stupa mound had been cleared completely by a group of people using a bulldozer before the Department declared it as an archaeologically and historically important site. The destruction was first revealed by police who conducted investigations following a tip-off given on the police hotline.[4][6] The incident was reported to the authorities including the Secretary to the President and the Eastern Province Governor by the chief monk of Seruvila Mangala Raja Maha Vihara.[4] A police investigation was started following the incident and meanwhile a court order was issued by the Muttur magistrate, suspending all rehabilitation works on the Hindu temple.[7]

On 23 December, the speaker Karu Jayasuriya revealed that the people who destroyed the Soodaikudah Stupa in Sampur has been identified.[8] A few days after the statement, three people were arrested with a bulldozer and a lorry which were used to destroy the Stupa.[9][10] The bulldozer had been brought to the Hindu shrine to dig a drinking well around 100 metres away from the Kovil but they had used the vehicle to destroy the Stupa.[11] Local media reported that the two drivers involved in the destruction of the Stupa had met with accidents at different places on the same day.[11][12][13]

On 29 December the Department of Archaeology announced that they will take over the entire land area, where the Sudaikuda Stupa was located for further preservation.[14][15] In January police arrested three senior members of the Hindu temple board who had connected with the incident.[16]

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gollark: I am not revealing personal details, and palaiologos won the election on promises of transparency.
gollark: I'm not one, see.
gollark: Of course, with automation it would be much easier to provide a full picture of things.
gollark: It might result in that. I try and get the active-conversationy ones and particularly important ones.

See also
  • Sagama Seya
  • Mottagala Gamini Tissa Monastery

References
  1. "Dagaba in Sampur demolished". Hiru News. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  2. "Vandalizing an archaeoloical site in EP: Dept. vows to take legal action". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). Wijeya Newspapers. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  3. "සාම්පුර් චෛත්‍ය පිහිටි භූමිය පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව බාරයට ගෙන සංරක්ෂණයට අදාල පියවර ගන්නවා (In Sinhala)". ITN News. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  4. "Probe into clearing of archaeological ruins". Daily News (Sri Lanka). Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  5. "Meddling monks and an abusive governor's wife - tensions in Trinco as temple restoration halted". Tamil Guardian. 27 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  6. "සාම්පූර් ඉපැරණි දාගැබ ඩෝසර් කිරීම ගැන පුළුල් විමර්ෂණයක් (In Sinhala)". Rivira. Rivira Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  7. "පසුගිය දා ඩෝසර් කරන ලද සාම්පූර් පුරාවිද්‍යා බිමේ ඉදිකිරීම් තාවකාලිකව නවත්වන්න දාගැබට හානි කළ පිරිස අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන අධිකරණයට ඉදිරිපත් කරන්න මුතූර් මහෙස්ත්‍රාත් නියෝග කරයි (In Sinhala)". Mawbima. Ceylon Newspapers (Pvt) Ltd. 25 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  8. "Sampur Stupa destroyers identified-Speaker". Hiru News. 24 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  9. "Three arrested for bulldozing A'pura-era Stupa Ancient ruins found near Hindu Kovil". Ceylon Today. Ceylon Newspapers (Private) Limited. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  10. "Two people arrested for destroying the Sudeikuda stupa". News First. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  11. "සාම්පූර් දාගැබ ඩෝසර් කළ රියැදුරුටයි ලොරි සහයකටයි පව් පලදෙයි (In Sinhala)". Mawbima. Ceylon Newspapers (Pvt) Ltd. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  12. "Sampur Stupa bulldozer operator critically injured". Hiru News. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  13. "සුඩකුඩා දාගැබ සමතලා කළ ඩෝසර්කරුට බරපතලයි (In Sinhala)". Lankadeepa. Wijeya Newspapers. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  14. "Archaeology Dept. to take over Sampur Chetiya area for preservation". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). Wijeya Newspapers. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  15. "Archaeology Dept takes over Sampur stupa site". Ada Derana. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  16. "Sri Lankan police arrest three board members of disputed Trincomalee temple". Tamil Guardian. 1 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
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