Ancient tunnel near Kotte Ananda Sastralaya in spotlight again

Colombo, December 27 (Daily Mirror)- The Department of Archaeology has taken steps to preserve an ancient tunnel which is located in the vicinity of Ananda Sastralaya in Kotte and is slated to fell the trees around it despite protests by the school’s Past Pupil’s Association.

Director General Department of Archaeology Professor Tusitha Mendis told Daily Mirror that eight trees would have to be felled to preserve it. “We are planning to build a canopy over the tunnel in order to stop the collection of rainwater in it. The collection of water can also lead to a health hazard as it could become a breeding ground for dengue,” he said.

However, the Past Pupils Association of the school is against the move as they say the felling of trees will affect the cool atmosphere which the school children currently enjoy. “These trees are over 100 years old, and it is a crime to cut them,” Dilipa Mahesh a senior member of the past pupils association said.

“We were assured that only some branches of the trees were going to be felled and not the whole trees. We wonder as to why the Department has changed its stance,” he said.

According to theories by the Department of Archaeology, this tunnel would have possibly extended towards the Fort Harbour. Such tunnels and secret passageways were used and came in handy during war and strife within the country. They were used as escape routes for families and women of the kingdom, and also as a mark of strategy to ambush and win over enemies.

There are several unwritten tales about the tunnel and one goes on to say that this was built by Princess Suriya Devi, the wife of Prince Veediya Bandara and the daughter of King Mayadunne of Sitawaka Kingdom to free the husband from the dungeons of the Portuguese inside Colombo Fort. Apparently, parts of an underground tunnel have been discovered in Bristol Street in Fort is said to be part of this tunnel complex.

Excavations at Ananda Sastralaya in 2014 also discovered a chamber cut into the kabook rock, complete with a stupa having a circumference of 11 feet. The uniqueness of this whole structure is that the whole chamber and the stupa have been carved out starting from the top. The floor of the chamber is about 11 feet under the natural ground and 12 steps complete with a moonstone at the bottom carved out of the natural kabook rock could take anyone to the floor of the stupa. The whole chamber is 18×35 feet in size.