Govt. asks for report on Pahiyangala Cave damage

The Government has called for a special report to take stock of the damage reported at the Pahiyangala prehistoric cave and to launch a conservation program. 

Minister of Education Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, who has the Department of Archaeology under his ministerial portfolio, told Parliament yesterday that he has visited the site on an inspection tour where the possible landslide threat reported from Pahiyangala was strongly considered in the conservation efforts. 

“Necessary instructions were issued to evacuate Buddhist monks residing in the Pahiyangala site and alternative places will be provided for them. Based on the multifaceted report, we will consider the level of expertise which will be sought,” he added in response to Opposition lawmaker JVP MP Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, who highlighted the looming threat at the historically important Pahiyangala.

According to media reports, a landslide that took place a few weeks before on the other side of the Pahiyangala hill has buried 21 persons alive and some cracks have appeared near the entrance to the ancient Pahiyangala rock cave.

Fa Hien Cave, also Pahiyangala Cave, is situated in the district of Kalutara, and according to a rural legend, it is named after an alleged resident during historical times, the Buddhist monk Faxian. However, there is no archaeological or historical evidence to support this legend. Nonetheless, the site is of archaeological significance as late Pleistocene human fossilised skeletal remains were discovered in the cave’s sediments during excavations in the 1960s, 1980s and in 2013. AH