Professor Anura Manatunga, Director General of the Department of Archaeology, has submitted his letter of resignation to the Minister for Buddhasasana, Religious, and Cultural Affairs, Vidura Wickramanayaka, who is also the Ministry Secretary.
Following the retirement of the previous director general, Dr. Senarath Dissanayake, Prof. Manatuga was named the next director general of the Department of Archaeology, effective January 1, 2021.
Professor Manatunga previously held the positions of Head of Department and Director at the University of Kelaniya’s Centre for Heritage Studies.
From 1999 until 2013, he also held the position of Archaeological Director for the Central Cultural Fund’s Polonnaruwa Project.
He was the former Joint Secretary and Vice President of the Council, as well as the General Secretary of the International Association for Asian Heritage (IAAH) and a Fellow of the Sri Lanka Council of Archaeologists.
He has been on the Department of Archaeology’s advisory committee for many years. His specialization includes Indian Pre and Protohistory, Archaeology Theory and Methods, History of Archaeology, and Archaeology Law and Ethics.
The majority of his significant archaeological finds at Sigiriya and other locations constitute ground-breaking work in Sri Lanka.
