Kurunthumalai: A Contested Sacred Site in Sri Lanka’s Post-War Land Disputes
The Kurunthumalai Aathi Shivan Iyanar Temple in Mullaitivu District has emerged as a focal point in Sri Lanka’s ongoing land conflicts, illustrating the intersection of archaeological claims, religious tensions, and competing historical narratives in the country’s Tamil-majority northern region.
The site, located atop Kurunthumalai Hill in Thannimurippu, comprises 78 acres that were first designated an archaeological reserve under British colonial administration in 1933. For generations, Tamil communities have maintained the Aathi Shivan Iyanar Temple on this site, a Hindu place of worship central to local religious practice.
The contemporary dispute began in September 2018 when Buddhist clergy attempted to install a statue at the location, prompting legal intervention. The Mullaitivu Magistrate’s Court issued an injunction and subsequently ruled in favour of Hindu priests’ right to continue worship at the site, instructing police to prevent disturbances.
However, in January 2021, the Department of Archaeology commenced excavation activities with military assistance, citing historical evidence of Buddhist remains. Local communities report that officials arrived without prior notice to the temple’s board of trustees, disrupting ongoing religious activities. The Department later declared its intent to establish semi-permanent facilities and continue research.
Despite Presidential assurances in May 2023 to halt such land appropriations, surveying work continued. In July 2022, the Mullaitivu Magistrate’s Court ordered the removal of temple structures erected on the hill and prohibited further construction. When this order was violated, the Director-General of Archaeology was held in contempt of court in August 2023.
The situation escalated in June 2024 when over 200 Buddhists from Mihinthale conducted a pilgrimage to the site. Reports indicate that Hindu idols, including the primary deity Aathilingam, were subsequently removed, whilst Buddhist construction proceeded despite court orders. Recent accounts describe ongoing tree clearing within the archaeological site, with neither the Archaeology Department nor the Forest Department taking enforcement action.
A November 2024 report alleges that an archaeology official planted artefacts at the site to fabricate Buddhist links, based on a complaint filed with the Criminal Investigation Department by a Buddhist monk from Mihintale.
2025- 2026 Developments
The conflict intensified significantly throughout 2025. In March, the Shiv Sena organisation pledged to resolve the dispute within six months, though state-backed activities continued. In May, Professor Thusitha Mendis, Director General of the Department of Archaeology, visited the site despite court prohibitions, accompanied by military personnel, intensifying concerns about official complicity in land seizures affecting over 300 acres of Tamil-owned land.
The dispute extended to surrounding farmlands in May when Tamil farmers were arrested whilst cultivating their privately owned land at the foothills following complaints by Buddhist monk Galgamuwa Shantha Bodhi. Two farmers were remanded in custody alongside a 16-year-old student, prompting protests at the University of Jaffna. Vanni District MP Thurairasa Ravikaran condemned the arrests as ethnically motivated, warning they risked fuelling ethnic unrest. In June, the Mullaitivu Magistrate’s Court released the farmers after the government admitted no official gazette had declared the land as Archaeology Department property.
By October, Tamil officials intensified their criticism, with Karai Thuraipattu Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Chinnarasa Logeswaran condemning continued land seizures as unacceptable. That same month, MP Ravikaran accused the Department of Archaeology of “state-sponsored erasure” after new display boards falsely linking the site to Buddhist history were installed, branding it the “Kurundi Archaeological Site” and citing the Mahavamsa chronicle.
In a notable development, TNA MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam revealed that the Chief Incumbent of the Mihintale Raja Maha Viharaya, Ven. Walawahengunawewe Dhammarathana Thero had handed him a written complaint filed with the CID on 21 July 2025, alleging that a senior Archaeology Department officer named Jayathilaka had planted Buddhist religious symbols in sacks across nearby paddy fields before documenting them as archaeological sites. The allegation echoes the November 2024 complaint filed by a Buddhist monk from Mihintale, suggesting that concerns about fabricated evidence at Kurunthumalai have now surfaced from within the same religious institution the Department of Archaeology has long cited to justify its claims over the site.
The Kurunthumalai case reflects broader patterns documented across Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern provinces, where state institutions, religious groups, and competing heritage claims converge on disputed lands. For affected Tamil communities, the site represents not merely religious heritage but agricultural land essential to livelihoods, now increasingly inaccessible.
The unresolved dispute continues despite multiple court orders, highlighting challenges in enforcing judicial decisions when political, religious, and institutional interests align against marginalised communities in post-war Sri Lanka.
References
https://www.cpalanka.org/the-intersectional-trends-of-land-conflicts-in-sri-lanka/
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/sivasena-pledges-resolve-thaiyiddy-vihara-dispute-six-months
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/kurunthurmalai-farmers-further-remanded-amid-archaeology-dispute
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/case-dismissed-mullaitivu-magistrate-court-releases-tamil-farmers-land-does-not-belong-sri
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/logeswaran-condemns-archaeology-departments-encroachment-tamil-farmlands
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/ravikaran-condemns-fabricated-buddhist-narratives-kurunthurmalai
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/monk-accuses-archaeology-official-planting-artefacts-kurunthurmalai
Last updated – March 2026