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Douglas D Ranasinghe:

Pioneer of Kotte Archaeology

The 10th death anniversary of Puravidya Chakravarthi and Puravidya Visharadha, the one and only curator of Kotte Douglas D. Ranasinghe, falls today. He, above all others was single handedly responsible for bringing to life and to the notice of the rest of the country, Kotte's rich cultural heritage of the past.


Douglas D Ranasinghe

He was a man with a mission, the mission to preserve the cultural heritage of Kotte and he dedicated more than 60 years of his life to this cause. Though not academically qualified archaeologist or historian, he nevertheless became an acclaimed authority on both subjects as far as Kotte was concerned and his contribution in this field was recognized to such an extent by the Government, that it conferred the title of Puravidya Chakravarthi on him.

Ranasinghe who had grown up in Kotte and played amongst its ancient ruins as a boy without ever realizing their values or significance, was enslaved to a life long passion as an adult and from then on, to know more and more of his hometown's history and to preserving what was left of Kotte's glorious past.

It was a mostly thankless job which he undertook alone for over 60 odd years of his life. People in the area though of him as an interfering nuisance because he kept remonstrating with them to prevent throwing their garbage into the remains of the old rampart (sung, so gloriously in the Sandesha Kavya) or to otherwise not desecrate or demolish the ruins. Ranasinghe had always been a staunch supporter of teaching history and archaeology to students in all schools so that they might be more appreciative and protective of their heritage.

While other ancient cities such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa were well maintained in all their grandeur, the last great bastion of the Sinhala kings, Kotte, fell by the way side was largely neglected and uncared for, except for this one great character who took the trouble to keep on pushing for his cause until the authorities took notice.

Though he fought what probably felt to be a losing battle against various opposing forces to maintain and preserve the heritage of Kotte, it is an undeniable fact that he achieved a lot towards this end. His achievements were well recognized in the country. On many occasions he was selected as the most outstanding citizen of Kotte in the field of art and culture. He was also recognized by successive Governments for his contribution. He authored five books in Sinhala and English and wrote countless articles to newspapers, magazines and print.

The Kotte museum was his brainchild and what is rather extraordinary about the museum is that, all the exhibits that are on display there are from the private collection of Douglas D. Ranasinghe, historian and self thought archaeologist of the Kotte period.

He is responsible for drawing up the officially accepted map of Old Kotte, demarcating the boundaries and layout of the old citadel as well as marking out all the important locations and buildings of the time. So extensive was his research and passion that he was a treasure trove of information regarding the city of Kotte from the time it was built.

Ten years since his passing away no one has stepped to carry on the crusade of this lone crusader. In 2005, Galpotta Road in Nawala, the road on which Ranasinghe lived for over 50 years was named after him as "Douglas D. Ranasinghe Mawatha as a little tribute to a great man.

- A senior citizen of Kotte

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