Conserving the Buddhist stupas and religious nationalism in Sri Lanka

Summary

Surveying, excavating, and conserving Buddhist stupas have been major activities undertaken by Sri Lankan archaeologists since colonial times. Conservation of Buddhist stupas holds an important place in the archaeological agenda of the national institutions in Sri Lanka. I present the elusive concept of ‘authenticity’, treated as the most important criterion in conserving architectural heritage and examine the crisis that emerged when this centerpiece of the Authorized Heritage Discourse was applied to conserving Buddhist stupas. The crisis took a political dimension when the ceremonial reopening of the recently conserved Abhayagiriya Stupa had to be postponed when custodian monks lodged a petition with the President of Sri Lanka maintaining that the stupa should be restored by complete rebuilding and white washing. This action contradicts the World Heritage Convention regarding the integrity and authenticity of heritage and it departs from a 30 year old agreement that included the religious community. Today the religious nationalist rhetoric that dominates Sri Lanka is being used to challenge theories of conservation and restoration based on the idea of "authenticity", suggesting that concept of ‘authenticity’ needs to be revised and reconfigured if it’s going to be of utility in a context like Sri Lanka, where religious nationalism prevails.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Sound of Theory

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