Somawathi Kompittugala Archaeology Site

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Hidden deep in the elephant infested jungles of Somawathi National Park, This ancient Aramaic Site at Kompittugala lies hidden form the prying eyes close to the Mahaweli River banks
Hidden deep in the elephant infested jungles of Somawathi National Park, This ancient Aramaic Site at Kompittugala lies hidden form the prying eyes close to the Mahaweli River banks

The Northern and the North Eastern province of Sri Lanka has been inaccessible for the most people for almost 30 years until few years ago. The jungles of these provinces hides thousands of ancient Buddhist monasteries still undiscovered. These sites are now being discovered very slowly due to individual efforts of few priests living in these areas. But thousands more are still hidden in the jungles infested with wild beasts.

Kompittugala Archaeology site lies on the 217 / G Sirimangalapura Gramaseva Division of Serunuwara DS Division in the Trincomalee District. Verugam Aru, one of the main tributaries of Mahaweli River meets together inside the Somawathi National Park just after a folk in the Mahaweli Ganga River.  These two again meet 15 kms downstream also inside the same National Park creating a unique floodplain in between.

Ten kilometers down the point Verugam Aru meets Mahaweli River lies a row of rocky outcrops and the outcrop known as Kompittugala is the tallest of these. There are caves with dripledges along the western side of the outcrop. Some of these drip ledges contains ledge inscriptions in Brahmi Characters.  24 steps has been cut in to the rock to reach the top of the hill. Brick remains of an ancient building can be seen on the side of the steps. This area is also known as Sinnavilluwa by the locals.

The top of the rock has a natural dome shape. It seems that the stupa at the top has been built by building a brick dome surrounding this rock using its contours. The surface of the rock has been smoothed in 50-60 cm bands. Cylindrical knob like features has been cut on the rock at random intervals. Both the above work on the rock were made possibly to provide proper cohesion between the rock and the brick layer.

Hidden deep in the elephant infested jungles of Somawathi National Park, This ancient Aramaic Site at Kompittugala lies hidden form the prying eyes close to the Mahaweli River banks
Hidden deep in the elephant infested jungles of Somawathi National Park, This ancient Aramaic Site at Kompittugala lies hidden form the prying eyes close to the Mahaweli River banks
Photos by Sandruwan Heennapita

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Serunuwara Kompittugala Archaeology Site

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Being inside a national park,  the site is inaccessible to the general public unless special permission is taken.


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