Aug 20, Colombo: The 3rd International Congress of the Society of South Asian Archaeology (SOSAA) commenced this morning at the sociology faculty auditorium of the Kelaniya University with the participation of Vice Chancellor of the Kelaniya University Prof. Sarath Amunugama as the chief guest.

The two-day Congress to be held from 20th -21st August 2010 will be followed by a post-conference tour to major archaeological sites of Sri Lanka on the 22nd - 23rd August 2010 for the attendees.

On first day of the tour, the delegates will visit to Polonnaruwa, the medieval capital city of the Island via Kandy and Sigiriya. On the second day of tour they are scheduled to visit Anuradhapura, the first capital city of ancient Sri Lanka.

Around 152 archaeologists representing India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, Iran and Korea and several other countries are scheduled to attend the conference.

The conference has been organized by the Centre for Asian studies at the University of Kelaniya.

The SOSAA provides an academic platform for archaeological and anthropological research in South Asia.