Were mischievous hands behind it?
A team from the Ceylon Electricity Board and the Pitigala Police has initiated a formal investigation to establish the cause of a fire that destroyed several buildings of the 200- yearold Niyagama Sri Punyarama temple.
The monks’ quarters, a shrine room and alms hall were destroyed by fire on Tuesday evening (20) when the novice monks of the temple were away to attend a Pirivena leaving only three lay students studying at the Niyagama Technical institute. The monks who had returned to the temple about 20 minutes before the incident and were having their meals when they became aware of an unusual smell which they found was emanating from the two-storied alms hall that was ablaze.
A crowd that gathered at the temple doused the fire preventing it from spreading to other buildings. The Chief Incumbent of the temple, Ven. Mapalagama Nanda Thera said if not
The use of water bowsers and fire fighting equipment sent from the tea factories and the government institutions prevented the entire temple been destroyed
for the help of the tea factories and the government institutions in the area that sent water bowsers and fire fighting equipment the entire temple would have been destroyed.
Residents of the area suspect it was an act of sabotage, but a senior police official of the area said the cause of the fire could be established only after concluding the ongoing investigation.