CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA Reply To:
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Two agreements for the return of six artefacts of historical value to Sri Lanka are to be signed tomorrow at the Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Ministry.
These artefacts had been taken away by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) when the Dutch besieged the Royal Palace in Kandy in 1765.
The signing of agreements such as transfer of acknowledgement and loan agreements are scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. tomorrow.
According to research completed by a group of scholars from Sri Lanka and the Netherlands in April 2022, it has been confirmed that the following six items in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands belong to Sri Lanka.
The confirmed items are as follows:
1. Lewke`s cannon, with inventory number NG-NM-1015
2. Golden Kasthane, with inventory number NG-NM-560
3. Silver Kasthane, with inventory number NG-NM-7112
4. Sinhalese Knife, with inventory number NG-NM-7114
5. Two guns with inventory numbers NG-NM-519 and NG-NM-520
Accordingly, the Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Ministry forwarded a diplomatic request to the Education Ministry, Culture, and Science of the Netherlands to return these six artefacts to Sri Lanka. A gazette notification over the handover of the artefacts has been published in the Netherlands. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)
