- Godavaya
Godavaya or Godawaya is a small fishing
hamlet located at the mouth of theWalawe river , betweenAmbalantota andHambantota in the Hambantotadistrict in southernSri Lanka .It received its name, originally "Goda Pavata Pattana" or "Gota Pabbata Pattana" from a huge rock overlooking the
Indian Ocean , at the foot of which it is situated. The originalharbour town was anentrepot on the maritimesilk route from at least the2nd Century CE.It has been the site of extensive excavations by German and Sri Lanka
Archaeologists since the mid1990s .Godavaya is also the site if a
wildlife sanctuary . The beach is important for nestingLeatherback turtle s.History
The Godavaya area has been inhabited for about 7000 years. In
August 2008 , ahuman skeleton dating back to 3000-5000 BC (carbon dating has yet to be done) was discovered in an abandoned stone quarry at Godavaya, together with tools of animal-bone and stone. [http://www.lankadeepa.lk/2008/08/21/front_news/01.htm 'Walawe gang moayen ipærani maanavayek', "Lankadeepa", 21 August 2008.]The settlement of "Goda Pavata Pattana", lay sandwiched on the
peninsula between the inland harbour on the Walawe river and the sea harbour on the bay of Godavaya.Trade was an important component in theeconomy of ancient Sri Lanka and Godavaya was an important maritime settlement, servingTissamaharama in the kingdom ofRuhuna .cite book
last = Ray
first = Himanshu Prabha
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia
publisher = Cambridge University Press
date = 2003
location =
pages =
url =
isbn =0521011094, 9780521011099]The Godavaya port probably pre-dates a
Brahmi script inscription of the 2nd century kingGajabahu I , which states that the customs duties obtained there were dedicated to the Buddhistmonastery , the GodapavataVihara . [http://members.tripod.com/hettiarachchi/port.html W. I. Siriweera Ports in ancient Sri Lanka]However in the
Mahawamsa 's chapter on ‘The 12 Kings’, it is claimed that the vihara at "Gotapabbata" was one of the seven monasteries that Mahallaka Naga built after his son-in-law Gajabahu's death. [Mahawamsa http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/chap035.html]In ancient times, Sri Lanka exported dark red
garnet s, which have been found as burial objects in many European graves of the earlymediaeval period. Recent research reveals that most of those garnets were fromIndia and Sri Lanka. Godavaya had ease of access via the Walawe river to the gem mining area of the Walawe basin, which is a source of garnets.cite journal
last = Loos-Jayawickreme
first = Susanne
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Digging up a maritime past
journal = Sunday Times
volume =
issue =
pages =
publisher =
location =
date = 14 April 2002
url = http://sundaytimes.lk/020414/plus/2.html
doi =
id =
accessdate =21 August 2008]Until the
6th century AD, Godavaya was an important transit port. Ships carrying merchandise from the West exchanged commodities with ships fromChina carryingSilk . Hence, ships did not need to go further than Godavaya. Articles of trade on the Walawe river shipping route and on land routes were also swapped there.Godavaya was the seaport for the mediaeval (
11th century ) southern capital, Maha Nagakula which lay on the Walawe river. [http://www.lankalibrary.com/heritage/temples/ramba.htm Ravi Laduwahetty 'Archaeological eminence of the Ramba Vihara']Excavations
From
1994 onwards, a team of Germanarchaeologist s from theUniversity of Bonn directed by late Prof.Helmut Roth conducted joint excavations at Godavaya with theArchaeological Department of Sri Lanka , under Director General Dr. W.H. Wijeyapala and theGerman Archaeological Institute (DAI). They unearthed evidence to prove Godavaya's importance in the maritime Silk Route, revealing connections from China in the East to theRed Sea and theMediterranean in the West.Among the finds have been:
*Sassanian (Persian) and Chinesepottery
*Roman coins
*beads andbangle s
*brick s showingguild mark s in the shape of an 'O'
*an ancient landingjetty constructed on stone pillars up to 3.50metre s high
*a large ancient stoneanchor discovered underwaterGota Pabbata Rajamaha Vihara Monastery
On top of the rock overlooking the entire area lay the monastery, the "Gota Pabbatha Rajamaha Vihara", which had been a religious and administrative centre since the reign of King Gajabahu I. The Brahmi inscription on a rock next to the ancient
shrine room is unique, being the sole evidence for the transfer ofcustoms duties to a monastery in the Indian Ocean world at that period.Normally, only the King was allowed to collect taxes. In Godavaya, the tax fees were donated to the temple for its maintenance.
The monastery area was excavated by a team under Oliver Kessler, who discovered an elevated ancient
image house (Buddhu gedera) and achapter house (Dharma salawa) on the west side of the monastery. They found a standingBuddha statue about 3.50 metres tall and twoBodhisattva statues each about 1.80 metres in height. Traces ofweather-resistant colouring - the source of which is unclear - are evidence that the statues date back to a period before the8th century CE.Customs House
The team found a custom office building, decorated with ornaments showing an
elephant placing his trunk inlotus flowers.Clay seal s bearing the emblem of alion were used to seal goods and cargo as proof that the customs duty was paid.Quarry
A quarry was also discovered. One big pillar covered with many drill marks dating to the middle
Anuradhapura period before the5th century CE, lies in front of the huge rock, close to the ocean.Godavaya wildlife sanctuary
Godavaya is home to five of the seven global marine
turtle species :Hawksbill ,Leatherback ,Green turtle ,Loggerhead andOlive Ridley turtle , which are all threatened. [http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/iucn_asia_2007__web.pdf "IUCN in Asia 2007", IUCN ] It has been proposed that the Leatherback turtles of Sri Lanka and theNicobar Islands form a separate, genetically distinct Indian Ocean subpopulation.cite journal | last =Dutton | first =Peter | authorlink =Peter Dutton | title =Building our Knowledge of the Leatherback Stock Structure | journal =The State of the World's Sea Turtles report | volume =1 | pages =10–11 | date =2006 | url =http://www.seaturtlestatus.org/Main/Report/SwotReport1.aspx | doi = | accessdate =2007-09-14] Godavaya beach is possibly the best Leatherback turtle nesting beach in the island,http://lists.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0502&L=cturtle&T=0&P=9512 'First Turtle Refuge in Sri Lanka' CTurtle Archives 20 February 2005.] with the largest nesting population. [http://www.ioseaturtles.org/UserFiles/Image/leatherback/Leatherback_Assessment-Sri_Lanka.pdf Thushan Kapurusinghe, 'Status of leatherback turtles in Sri Lanka' in Indian Ocean – South-East Asian Leatherback Turtle Assessment, 2006]A 3.85
kilometre section of the beach at Godavaya was declared a wildlife sanctuary ('Godavaya Sanctuary') by the Government of Sri Lanka under the Fauna and Flora ProtectionOrdinance on10 May 2006 . It extends 500metre s into the sea and 100 metres from the high tide level onto the land. [http://www.documents.gov.lk/Extgzt/2006/Pdf/May/1446-27/1446-27E.pdf 'The Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (Chapter 469) Order under Sub-section (2) of Section 2' Gazette Extraordinary of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 25 May 2006]The seaward limit includes the the turtles' aquatic
habitat (mainlycoral reef s where they forage and rest), while the land limit envelopes their land Nesting habitat.Tsunami
When the
Boxing Day Tsunami of2004 struck Sri Lanka, the villagers of the fishing hamlet, among them two archaeologists, took refuge in the temple on the rock. This probably contributed to the lack of fatalities, contrasting with the thousands of deaths in the surrounding areas. [http://servesrilanka.blogspot.com/2005_03_20_archive.html How Godawaya village got back to its feet Daily News 23 March 2005]References
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