Treasure hunters have dug up about six spots, including the stupa, on the land of the Muthugama ruins in search of buried treasure. Additionally, around 10 acres of jungle surrounding the ruins have been cleared for land grabbing, and makeshift huts have been set up.
You can find the ruins of a stupa mound a short distance from the Kappalthurai Ayurveda Hospital in the 229B Sumedhankarapura Grama Niladhari division, within the Town and Gravets Divisional Secretariat of the Trincomalee District.
This ancient dagoba (stupa) is located within a teak plantation in the Kappalthurai Grama Niladhari Division, which falls under the Trincomalee Kadawath Sathara Divisional Secretariat. It is located opposite the Kappalthurai Timber Corporation and is accessible from the Trincomalee–Kandy road while heading toward Thambalagamuwa.
To reach the Maha Alankulama Archaeological Site, travel past Mailawewa village in Gomarankadawala toward Thiriyaya. On the left, turn onto the track leading to the tank and follow it for about one kilometer. From there, trek roughly 500 meters north into the forest to find the scattered remains.
The ruins extend across roughly two acres. This forest hermitage, known as “Nai Pena Wana Senasuna” (Cobra-Hooded Forest Hermitage), gets its name from a pair of caves shaped like cobra hoods. Believed to have been built around the same time as Girihandu Seya in Thiriyaya, the site features three large boulders atop a hill that resemble a traditional three-stone hearth.
This stupa, believed to be of Anuradhapura origin, was constructed entirely of brick. The looters had first tunneled horizontally into the stupa, about 15 feet deep, reaching the relic chamber. They later dug vertically into the center of the stupa, creating a shaft approximately 30 feet deep and removing a substantial number of bricks. Archaeologists estimate the original diameter of the stupa to be about 40 feet.
The site is located on the Kumburupiddi Red Rocks point, along Nilaveli Road in Trincomalee. The stupa mound lies on one side of a wide, rocky summit that stretches towards the sea. Sadly, the stupa has been destroyed by treasure hunters who have dug a large pit at its center—about four and a half feet in diameter and roughly 15 feet deep
Located in the LB Six area of Dehiwatta, Serunuwara, Trincomalee District, on the premises of Sirivaddhanaramaya Viharaya, are the remains of an ancient stupa. This site is believed to be potentially one of the 500 viharas that King Gothabhaya (253-266 CE) is said to have built along the Mahaweli River, according to the Dhatu Wamsa chronicle.
Vilankulama, located between Trincomalee and Kadawat Satara Divisional Secretariat, is a area full of ruins belonging to the early Anuradhapura period. Villagers who go to the forest to cut wood and collect bee’s honey say that 10 ancient and destroyed stupas are lying in the jungles below and above Vilankulama Wewa reservoir and on the hillock near the reservoir.
