DESTRUCTION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL TREASURES (98 Aug 26)
The five priceless guardstones (muragal) of the ancient watadage in Medirigiriya have been plundered on Saturday the twenty first according to "The Island". The watadage site comprises two shrines and a dagoba built about two thousand years ago.
The guardstones on either side of the entrance of the dagoba had been removed after destroying its foundation. Two other guardstones at the entrance of the shrine located on the western side of the watadage had been removed after digging the foundation.
This is not the first time that the so-called treasure hunters had destroyed or removed archaeological treasures. Recently a number of Buddha statues were destroyed by unknown people.
While treasure hunters may be partly responsible for the destruction of these important historical monuments the Sinhala people are suspicious whether it's the work of those who want to destroy the Sinhala cultural monuments and archaeological evidence of a Sinhala Buddhist history in the country. The people who live with the Mahawansa phobia must be trembling at the sight of these archaeological treasures.