Life-size giant stone elephant sculpture in the middle of the Mahaweli River, where treasure thieves were hunted Treasure is a popular topic in our country

praneeth123 (57)in #krsuccess • 11 days ago

Life-size giant stone elephant sculpture in the middle of the Mahaweli River, where treasure thieves were hunted
Treasure is a popular topic in our country. Despite the discovery of the treasure of pearls buried by the previous kings, a number of priceless valuable resources have been lost by ruthless treasure thieves. A revelation about such a unique creation that ended in this tragedy.
In Anakallu area belonging to Tamankaduwa Divisional Secretariat, the Mahaweli river flows very quietly. In this isolated event, H. C. P. Mr. Bell mentioned in Ceylon Antiquary And Literary Register magazine in 1917.
According to him, the life-size elephant carved on a stone at Anakallu on the Mahaweli River may be the only such carving found in Sri Lanka. The earliest record of this work of art comes from Mr. Bell's diary entry dated September 23, 1897.

September 23 (morning)
" Crossed the river about 1½ miles from the ferry (Mahaweli River; by canoe on the west side). The nearest village is Katuwanwila, a Muslim village, a short distance to the south on the opposite bank of the Mahaweli River.
Then we walked up the river along the right bank to the area where the stone elephant carving is about a mile away. At this place there are seven or eight stones of moderate size close to each other.
A channel has been cut along the base of one rock slope (which rises to the southeast and is about 15 feet above the present high water level, but at an angle of 45 degrees from the landward side). At the south end of the rock, nine shallow steps with abutments for pillars have been cut on either side.
It looks like there was some kind of building here. Probably a guardhouse or guardhouse.
The sculpture called “Stone Elephant” is carved on a small rock that projects slightly into the river and is a few feet above. Due to gradual accumulation of sand on the bank, the elephant's head was buried up to the area. The elephant is facing south-southeast and almost directly facing the stream. The guides told us that the elephant was harvested in a kneeling form with the head tilted slightly to the right (looking at Udugam).
The elephant's head is wonderfully carved overall, and its shape and size are extremely lifelike. At this time, the river has overflowed, so everything below the eyes and ears is covered with water.
No inscriptions could be found on the adjacent rocks to give a definite clue to the date of this carving, which is a unique example of life-size animal sculpture.
This image shows a happy Muslim youth riding on an elephant. (He “seems to be enjoying the ride”). With that I took the measurements here.
From top of head to back (2 feet slope): 6 feet 0 inches
From behind ear to other ear, across forehead : 7 feet 5 inches
From above ear to above other ear, across skull : 3 feet 10 inches
From behind ear to eye : 3 feet 3 inches
Ear : 2 feet 7 inches
Eye socket: 9 x 6 inches
In addition to this, he told the Ceylon Antiquary And Literary Register in 1917 about this elephant
It is actually a full-sized elephant carved from the rock at the end of the left bank of the Mahaweli River. Crafted to adapt perfectly to its surroundings, the carving depicts the partially submerged elephant's head looking slightly up and looking back before walking or swimming across the river.
After 10 years of this note, H. In the book Hunting and Shooting in Ceylon published by Storey (H. Storey) in 1907, it is mentioned that he visited this elephant in 1904.
Then the stone elephant is reported by As. D. De Lanarolle in the book "Forest River". This is a trip chart along the Mahaweli River in the 1950s from Kandy to Trincomalee. He mentions that he only saw the head and back because the water level was high.
About half a century later, during Mr. Jackson Anthony's trip along the Mahaweli River, he did not find the historic elephant king lying in the Mahaweli Sands. This unique structure, which was protected by the river for thousands of years, was blown up and destroyed by unscrupulous treasure thieves.