President opens Pinbara exhibition

Dhanushka Godakumbura

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday opened the Pinbara Lanka exhibition at the museum where a host of artifacts including the casket bearing the ashes of King Dutugemunu are on display.

He paid his respects to the casket bearing the ashes of King Dutugemunu who united the country under one flag and committed himself to promote Buddhism in the country.

The exhibition organized by the National Heritage Ministry parallel to the 2600th Sri Sambuddhatva Jayanthi will conclude on May 31.

Former Archaeological Department’s Director General H C P Bell upheld in 1896 that King Dutugemunu’s ashes had been cremated in the southern chetiya and the excavation of the site first started in 1948.

A special committee was appointed by the government in 1978 to further investigate the ashes of Dutugemunu found from the excavated site.

Officials from Australia and France who conducted carbon tests to determine the age of these ashes confirmed that they belonged to the era beyond 2,000 years.