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Rupaskulama Reservoir Archaeological Site (රූපස්කුලම වැව සම්බන්ධ පුරාවිද්‍යා භූමිය)

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Rupaskulama is a remote village in the jungles of Ampara. It was on the 11th of June 1990 that the name of this rather obscure village was spoken in every household in Sri Lanka. In 1989 the Government entered into peace talks and a cease-fire with the Tamil Terrorist group LTTE and confined the Army to barracks while the LTTE dug trenches and bunkers surrounding the army camps in the north and the east. While the peace talks were on, On June 11, 1990, the LTTE attacked a number of police stations in the east, and President Ranasinghe Premadasa instructed all police stations to lay down arms and to surrender to the terrorists hoping to ease the tensions.

The LTTE captured over 800 unarmed policemen, took them to the jungle of Trincomalee and Rupaskulama jungles, lined up the officers, tied their hands behind their backs and shot them dead. In all, 600 to 774 unarmed police officers died at the hands of the terrorists due to the blunders of the politicians. It was reported that 324 Police officers were killed in the Rupaskulama jungles.

The ancient Rupaskulama Reservoir (Rupaskulam Tank) is the lifeblood of the farmers of the area. The ancient reservoir and its bund has now been designated as a protected archaeological site by the Government with the Gazette issued on 10th October 2014, and describes the location as follows;

“Rupaskulam lake and bund belonging to Rupaskulam village situated in Kanchirankuda Grama Niladhari Division of Thirukkovil Divisional Secretariat in Ampara District in Eastern Province. (latitude 07º 05′ 10” N and longitude 081º 46′ 53” E).”

Two other locations also have been marked as archaeological reserves close to the Rupaskulama Reservoir. One lies on the Rupaskulama Reservoir reservation and the other towards the east of the reservoir. They are described in the gazette as follows

“Site with ruins of buildings in Rupaskulam lake reservation belonging to Rupaskulam village situated in Kanchirankuda Grama Niladhari Division of Thirukkovil Divisional Secretariat in Ampara District in Eastern Province. (latitude 07º 05′ 09” N and longitude 081º 46′ 30” E).”

“Site with drip ledged caves with Brahmi inscriptions and stone pillars on the East of the Rupaskulam lake towards the road to lake belonging to Rupaskulam village situated in Kanchirankuda Grama Niladhari Division of Thirukkovil Divisional Secretariat in Ampara District in Eastern Province. (latitude 07º 04′ 39” N and longitude 081º 46′ 53” E).”

Also See

Map of Rupaskulama Reservoir Archaeological Site

Please click on the button below to load the Dynamic Google Map (ගූගල් සිතියම් පහලින්)

Show Location (ගූගල් සිතියම)

The map above also shows other places of interest within a approximately 20 km radius of the current site. Click on any of the markers and the info box to take you to information of these sites

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Travel Directions to Rupaskulama Reservoir Archaeological Site

Route from Ampara to Rupaskulama Reservoir Archaeological Site

Through : Eragama
Distance : 40 km
Travel time : 1.30 hours
Time to spend : 30-60 mins
Driving directions : see on google map

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Also See

Map of Rupaskulama Reservoir Archaeological Site

Travel Directions to Rupaskulama Reservoir Archaeological Site

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