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The Dutch Museum in The Pettah after Renovation-by Randima Atytgalle Source:Thuppahis Randima Atytgalle, in The Sunday Island, 28 July 2024 where the title reads “A monument to all things Dutch,” … while the photos are his work or that of Prof KD Paranavitana. The Dutch Museum in Colombo, located at Prince Street, Pettah, was closed for several years for renovation. It was reopened to the public early this month. The conservation project which is nearing completion hopes to restore this archaeologically protected monument to its former glory. More than a century since the Portuguese fortified Colombo, the city was lost to the Dutch in 1656 who remodeled the Portuguese fort. A new fortress or a citadel ringed by nine bastions, ramparts and deep moats replaced the original Portuguese-built Colombo Fort. The fort or kotuwa in the local language was known as the casteel or the castle by the Dutch. High-ranking Dutch officials lived in the casteel. Outside the Fort ...

Jul 29, 2024 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , , , ,
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Welgamvehera: A sacred place that promotes unity-by M.A.R.Manukulasooriya, Hiriyala group corr. Source:Sundayobserver Welgamvehera is a historical Buddhist Temple in Kanniya in the Trincomalee district. To reach this sacred site, you have to travel seven miles on the Trincomalee-Anuradhapura road, turn South and travel another three miles. This sacred site is famous as a site that had been protected during the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa eras. There are shrine rooms, Buddha statues, Guard stones and Dagobas belonging to the period from the Anuradhapura era to the 12th Century, in the temple. A notice board put up by the Department of Archaeology at the site states the following. “The founder of this temple is unknown. It is stated in the King Bhathiya’s ( 143-167 A,D,) stone inscription found in the top of the nearby hillock that the old name was Welagama Abagara Vihar. With the invasion of Cholas from India in 993 A.D. ...

Mar 4, 2024 Posted by In Articles Tagged , ,
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Archaeologists Find Evidence of Ancient Civilisation- By Udeni Saman Kumara Image Source:Ceylontoday Source:Ceylontoday Following excavation work done in the Kandarodai area, also known as Kandurugoda, in the Jaffna Peninsula, it has come to light that a colony had existed in this country before 750 BC. This old colony had spread around 1 kilometre from the Kandurugoda Temple, which is situated close to Chunnakam town in the Jaffna Peninsula.  This particular excavation had been undertaken with the consent of the Department of Archaeology by the Non -European Cultural Behavioural Institute situated in Bonn, Germany. This exercise has also been jointly supported by the Archaeological Studies Faculty of the University of Jaffna and the Archaeological and Heritage Studies Faculty of the University of Rajarata. The advice for the excavation work at the Kandurugoda Temple had been provided by ex-Deputy Director of the Department of Archaeology, Dr. Nimal Perera.  ...

Jan 6, 2024 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , ,
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Dutch colonial architecture in Matara- BY MAHIL WIJESINGHE The front view of six-pointed Star Fort in Matara   Source:Sundayobserver                     The easiest way to get to Matara is by the Southern Expressway. The new road greatly shortens the driving time of six and a half hours to one and a half hours. The expressway runs inland, well away from the scenic coastal highway known as Galle Road that links Colombo with the Southern cities of Hikkaduwa, Galle and Matara. We drove South on the Southern Expressway last month, visited several fascinating places during our three- day journey, and finally to Matara, where the end of the Southern Expressway and the beginning of the new extension of the railway track to Kataragama, is a bustling town whose main streets are like canyon formed by concrete structured shops, offices and banks. A quaint ...

Oct 10, 2022 Posted by In Articles Tagged ,
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