by Percy Kuruneru
Anuradhapura Corr
Several
rare artefacts have been unearthed from the Anuradhapura
historical Abhayagiri stupa site. They were found stored in two
caskets.
A marble statue of the Buddha flanked by
Maithree and Avalokitesvara Bodhisattas was of immense
archaeological value, Anuradhapura Abhayagiri Expansion
Programme’s Archeological Director Prof T. G. Kulatunge told
The Island.
A conch shell decorated with intricate carvings
and ancient bronze Roman coins had also been found, he said.
The objects had been found during the
conservation process. Several loose bricks of the stupa had led
the archaeologists to the caskets containing artefacts belonging
to 8th and 9th Centuries AD, Prof Kulathunge said.
The coins are believed to belong to the 3rd and
4th centuries AD. All the artefacts had been deposited inside
the stupa’s foundation.
"This indicates the stupa had been repaired and
rehabilitated during the last few centuries of the Anuradhapura
period," he said.
Scholars believe the artefacts have the hallmarks of the
Indian Mahayana tradition. "It is the first time that an
embossed marble statue has been found in Sri Lanka. Earlier some
of them had been found in India. The findings substantiate the
Abhayagiri Monastery’s links to Mahayana centres in ancient
India," Prof. Kulathunge said.
