Sacred City of Kandy is fast losing its significance-by L.B Senarathne

No maintenance and conservation of historical monuments

The protected monuments and the ‘Sacred City’ concept of the historic Kandy city are in danger today due to negligence.

A classic example is the ‘Coffee Planters’ Fountain’ in the precincts of the Paththini Devale and in front of the DFCC Bank which is also housed in a ‘Heritage City’ declared building. There are only five such fountains in the world.

The ‘cherubs’ or chubby children wrestling with small crocodiles in this fountain erected in 1875 have been damaged.

This fountain has been declared a protected monument by the Antiquities Act in 1988.

The fountain was a gift to the Prince of Wales in 1875 by the eldest son of Queen Victoria who became King Alfred VII in 1902. It was presented during the time of coffee plantation in the country. The fountain was made with parts brought down from the Glasgow Sun Foundry of George Smith.

Local craftsmen

The fountain was erected by local craftsmen in time for the arrival of the Prince of Wales on December 3, 1875. Two Sinhala pioneering newspapers of the day gave a vivid account of the fountain and the visit of the Prince to the Dalada Maligawa for a special exposition of the Sacred Relic and honouring of Sir William Gregory as a Knight at the Kandy Audience Hall.

The fountain was decaying as much as the four other fountains of the same design in Scotland, Lahore, Isle of Man and in another country. All were rehabilitated over the years.

Restoration of the fountain

Since the fountain was in front of the DFCC Bank, the then Mayor Mahindra Ratwatte requested the DFCC Bank to help in the restoration of the fountain. They undertook to rehabilitate the fountain at his request with the assistance of local craftsmen and handed it over to the Kandy Municipality.

Thereafter, the fountain came under regular elephant attacks during the Kandy Esala perahera.

The mahouts were prohibited from using the water to bathe elephants. But, it seems the Kandy Municipality has not taken due precautions for the conservation and protection of this monument though they are within the UNESCO Heritage City Concept. The irony is that the Kandy Municipality has not been able for nearly fifteen years to proceed with an Act for the Heritage Committee. When asked the usual reply is that it is with the legal draftsman.

It is no wonder that the original Heritage Committee ‘Diploma’ was signed by the late Shelton Ranaraja in France while the Mayor of Kandy was sleeping. Late Shelton Ranaraja who participated in the conference stood up for the Mayor. This shows how much attention has been paid to protect the historical city.

Today, one could question whether Kandy could be called a Historical City as all its ancient buildings have been destroyed by entities with vested interest and the traffic congestion in the city.

With the dissolution of the Council a Heritage Committee has not been appointed. Currently, only one officer is there and he is unable to make decisions. A number of violations have been reported but no action has been forthcoming.