A grave is considered the final resting place of the physical remains of a being. Yet, graves have been disturbed from time immemorial, mainly for profit motives, where the bodies, as well as any artefacts were sold in the black market. As the author of Khu: A Tale of Ancient Egypt, Jocelyn Murray said, “Even in prosperous times, the living robbed the dead.”
One such instance of the disturbance of a grave surfaced from Moratuwa recently, where the monument built in memory of millionaire businessman and philanthropist of Moratuwa/ Panadura, Maththes Peiris, was uprooted, according to his great-granddaughter, Nalini Mallika Peiris. The monument, erected in memory of Maththes Peiris in 1905 stood in the private family graveyard situated in front of Fountain House, Egoda Uyana, Moratuwa, the residence of his son William Peiris. “This seven perch land was dedicated as a family graveyard and contained monuments for Maththes Peiris, his wife, sons and daughters in law,” she said.
The cemetery had six monuments, of which the structure raised for Maththes was around eight feet tall. The others were about five feet, but all of them are too heavy for a human to carry, she said.
Uprooted, broken and lost
However, on August 12, 2018, Nalini received news that these monuments were uprooted and taken away by the Moratuwa Municipal Council, says Nalini. This, she alleged, is for the purpose of selling the granite headstones, which are adorned with elaborate carvings. Upon receiving the news, she confronted the Mayor of the Moratuwa Municipal Council.
These monuments entombed the cremated ash of the family members, stored in copper pots, Nalini said. “Also, these pots contained gold jewellery, some studded with gems that were regularly worn by these people when they were alive. These pots with the jewellery and ash have gone missing,” she said.
As per the Penal Code of Sri Lanka, desecrating a tomb or a monument remains an act of offence.
On August 13, following the confrontation with the Mayor, Nalini received the news that the Municipal Council has dumped all the monuments back on the land where the cemetery originally was. Some stones had been damaged in the process, she said.
Nalini says, the cemetery land has been illegally occupied by a resident of the area, hindering the replacement of these monuments. “Our family has a deed for this land. But the Mayor of the Municipal Council said, he will not let us replace the monuments on this land,” she said. She requests that the authorities take steps to restore the monuments to the original land where the cemetery was. When queried by the Sunday Observer, the Mayor of the Moratuwa Municipal Council, Samanlal Fernando said, the stones were initially uprooted due to the tsunami waves in 2004. “We took away the pieces as there was a possibility of dengue mosquitoes breeding on these rock fragments,” he said.
However, Nalini insisted, the family did not receive any notice or request to clean the cemetery for any potential dengue breeding sites.
Fernando said, the Municipal Council returned the fragmented monuments to the land where the cemetery was, as the family has filed a complaint with the Police. “However, they will not be able to erect them on this land as it has been taken over by the Department of Coast Conservation. Thus, they will have to take back the monuments to their private land elsewhere,” he said.
Destruction of historical context?
Attempts to contact Director General of the Department of Coast Conservation, B K Prabath Chandarakeerthi, on the subject proved futile.
Maththes Peiris was the maternal grandfather of Neil Hewavitharana, who donated the house which holds the National Museum of Colombo.
While alive, Maththes Peiris has performed many acts of philanthropy, including building two schools and three temples in the area. In the 1800s when the railway track to Matara was being constructed, the land in front of the Fountain House was given to the then Government free, Nalini said. “Also, he donated the land for the Egoda Uyana Public Cemetery,” she said. Under the circumstances, the family remains shocked and saddened as the final resting place of Maththes Peiris has been disturbed and denied, she said.