Ancient tunnel near Kotte Ananda Sastralaya in spotlight again

• Archaeology Department to conserve it after felling trees near it  

By Yohan Perera   

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.