A number of valuable artefacts taken from the country by the Dutch a few centuries ago were recently returned to Sri Lanka. An exhibition featuring those items is currently being held at the Colombo National Museum.
Ceremonial cannon, gold and silver castanets, golden knife (knife) and two great guns And many items including a time cannon of Lewke District are included in this exhibition.
These weapons were acquired during the Dutch invasion of the Kingdom of Kandy in 1765 and were later sent to Holland as war memorials. From 1927 to November 2023, these artifacts were exhibited at the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands.
According to a request made by Sri Lanka since 1960 to return these equipments to Sri Lanka, the Dutch government recently arranged to provide these equipments to Sri Lanka.
The return of these valuable artefacts can be seen as an event that confirms the cultural cooperation between the Netherlands and Sri Lanka .
