Ven.Dambagasare Sri Sumedhankara Thero was a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka who re-discovered the Seruvila Mangala Raja Maha Viharaya temple in 1922. In early 1922 young Sumedankara Thera set sail from Dodanduwa, Southern Province and arrived at Muttur, Trincomalee by a maha-oruwa (local coaster). He had to walk the 14 miles to Seruvila and trekked four miles of thick jungle before arriving at a place strewn with ruins. He soon undertook the task of restoration with the patronage of a few Southern Sinhala Buddhist traders in Trincomalee, Mudliyar D. D. Weerasinghe and the Archeological Department. In 1931, the stupa was opened to the public veneration.