Sri Lanka has had a history of conflict between its minority Hindu Tamils and majority Sinhalese Buddhists since its political independence from Great Britain in 1948 which led to the Sri Lankan Civil War . Since the 1950s Sinhalese Buddhists have claimed that the Tirukoneswaram temple was originally exclusively a Buddhist temple . They cite and interpret historical information of three Pagodas at the Koneswaram site as alluding to Buddhist temples . Buddhists have also claimed that the site was the location of the ancient Gokanna Vihara built by King Mahasena . It was also based on an assertion made by historian Senarath Paranavithana in reading a 13th-century Sanskrit donative inscription in Grantha Tamil script made by a Chodaganga Deva found in the Hindu temple 's premises . The inscription reads that Deva landed in Gokaranna in 1223 . No evidence , archaeological or otherwise , supports the claim the Vihara existed at the site . Other sources indicate that the complex may have had Hindu and Buddhist sections prior to its destruction . During the 1958 riots , Tamils cut down bo trees near the temple to assert that it was not a Buddhist entity . In 1968 , the unity government of majority Sinhalese dominated United National Party and the minority Tamil dominated Federal Party collapsed over disagreements about declaring the holy Hindu site a protected area . A committee appointed by a Federal Party Minister to study the viability of declaring the site protected was disbanded without consultation by the Prime Minister at the time , Dudley Senanayake , after receiving a letter of complaint from a prominent Buddhist monk who objected because the temple area would " get into the hands " of those " who are neither Sinhalese or Buddhist " . The Federal Party withdrew its support to the government following that action . According to journalists like T. Sabaratnam , this incident had negative repercussions towards the future co-operation between Tamil and Sinhalese communities . The temple and its environs are currently occupied by the Sri Lankan Army , which maintains a base at Fort Frederick . On 21 September 2008 , the chief priest of the temple Sivashri Kugarajakurrukal was assassinated in a campaign that has targeted Hindu priests in the region
1958 riots
1958 anti-Tamil pogrom
Koneswaram Temple