Archaeology Department Archives

Embekke: The Devale of legend Source:Sundayobserver The third and final destination of our detour of the Daulagala road was Embekke Devale. In the early morning sunlight we visited Gadaladeniya and Lanklatilaka and it was late morning when we arrived at the Embekke Devale. Travelling towards Embekke, which is another two kilometres along the same road that winds through lush green fertile paddy fields and the typical rustic Embekke village, we caught a glimpse of an impressive landscape of rural Kandyan setting. Since public transport is not available on the road that we travelled, from Lankatilaka to Embekke, we offered a lift to a boy we saw walking, to attend his tuition class in a nearby place. A villager told us that over 100 families, many of them Muslims, lived in Embekke, most depending on agriculture (rice, coffee, pepper) for their livelihood. At the end of a street, in the warm ...

Window to prehistory- BY MAHIL WIJESINGHE Source:Sundayobserver The story of ancient Sri Lanka begins with the culture of stones. Call it Stone Age, call it prehistory, and call it the time before the dawn of history, whatever the labelling, the life and times of early man, especially the early Sri Lankan man, are a fascinating study. We find the early man was not confined to just a single space. He lived everywhere, in coastal areas, in the forests and most prominently in caves. A scenic drive through rustic countryside will bring you to Yatagampitiya, a sleepy, mountainous village with an abundance of lush greenery, about seven kilometres from the Bulathsinhala town in the Kalutara District. Pahiyangala is about 40 kilometres from Colombo and one of the closet drives from the capital to a significant historical site. It lies off the Piliyandala –Bulathsinhala road and is accessible from Horana and Katutara. ...