Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c41.s10: Ceylon

Mānasāra Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Mānasāra-Śilpaśāstra; III. Mānasāra on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Mānasāra: Translation; V. Architecture of Mānasāra: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c41.s10

Language: English

Ceylon

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The *Dīpavaṁśa* and the *Mahāvaṁśa* are the chronicles of Ceylon. According to legends the kingdom of Ceylon was founded at the date of Buddha’s *nirvāṇa*, ‘which was placed in B.C. 543 and 236 years before the Council held in the eighteenth year of Aśoka.’ About a century after the death of Buddha, in or about 370 B.C., his religion was introduced at Anurādhapur, the capital of Ceylon. But this capital city did not become sacred till 240 B.C., when it was considered one of the principal capitals of Buddhism, which position it continued to hold till the ninth century A.D. Thereafter, owing to the destructive invasions of the Malabars, an alternative capital was founded at Polonnaruwa, which in course of time became the sole capital till the thirteenth century. This later capital reached its greatest prosperity in the reign of Parākrama Bāhu I (1153–1186). After 1236, the seat of government was moved from place to place ‘till the country fell into the hands of the Portuguese and Dutch, and finally succumbed to our (British) power.’³

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³ Fergusson, *History of Indian and Eastern Architecture*, I, p. 228.

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The Ceylonese monuments are situated in these two capital cities. Of all known countries Ceylon alone ‘contains a complete series of Buddhist monuments extending from the time of Aśoka to the present day.’ The two *dāgabas* of Anurādhpur are of the largest size known. The dome of the one, the Abhayagiri, is ‘exactly hemispherical, and has a diameter of about 328 feet, being thus more than 1,000 feet in circumference, and with the base and spire must have made a total elevation of about 260 feet.’¹ It is ascribed to king Vattagāmini Abhaya, who is stated to have built, in the first century B.C., a *vihāra* on the site of a Jain temple to commemorate the reconquest of his kingdom. Nothing is stated about the *dāgaba* or *chaitya* which must have been there. It was extended by Gajabāhu I in the second century A.D. ‘The *stūpa* stands on a stone-paved platform 590 feet square, raised about 9½ feet above the ground level, and ascended on each side by a flight of steps 27 feet wide. The chapels or thrones for the Dhyāni-Buddhas (in this *stūpa*) are like those in Sanchi and Kalinga *stūpas*.’²

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¹ The present total height is 232 feet. (Smither, *Architectural Remains : Anurādhapur*, p. 47). Its traditional height, according to the *Mahāvaṁśa*, was 120 cubits of 2 feet 36/7 inch each.

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² Fergusson, *ibid*, Vol. I, p. 230.

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The second *stūpa* of Anurādhapur is the tope of Jetavanārāma. In form and dimensions it resembles the Abhayagiri. It was started by king Mahāsena in the fourth century A.D. and finished by his successor Meghavarna. In addition to these, there is a great number of *dāgabas* of various sorts scattered over the area once covered by the old city.

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The Loha-Mahāpāya, or Great Brazen Monastery, has been fully described in the *Mahāvaṁśa*. ‘It was erected by king Datta-gāmini in or about 100 B.C. Its plan is stated to have been received from heaven. It was 100 cubits or 250 feet square, and as high as it was broad. The height was divided into nine storeys, each containing 100 cells for priests, besides halls and other apartments. There were 1,600 pillars supporting the structure. They stand about 6 feet apart from centre to centre in a compact phalanx, 40 on each face, and covering a space of 250 to 260 feet each way. This monastery was originally of nine, and subsequently of five, storeys, each less in dimension than the one below it. The top one was surmounted, as at Māmallapuram, by a dome, but in this instance composed of bronze—whence its name, and, ‘gilt and ornamented as it no doubt was,’ declares Fergusson, ‘it must have been one of the most splendid buildings of the East.’

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Besides these there are several other monuments, including *vihāras*, monasteries, halls for various purposes, rock-cut temples (like the one known as Isurmuniya), the sacred Bo-tree, stated to be a branch of the famous tree at Bodh-Gaya imported by Mahindra and Sanghamitta, the son and daughter of king Aśoka.

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The ruins at Pulastipura and Kalingapura (now known as Topava or Polonnaruva) ‘extend in a line nearly north and south for about a mile and a half from the palace to the Gal Vihāra and comprise two *dagabas*, besides a number of smaller edifices.’ Most of these were erected during the reign of Parākrama Bāhu I (1153–1186). Most interesting of these is the Gal Vihāra. This is a rock-cut edifice, but is neither a residence nor a *chaitya* hall. ‘On the left, on the face of the rock, is a figure of Buddha, seated in the usual cross-legged conventional attitude, 15 feet in height, and backed by a throne of exceeding richness.’ Next to this is a cell with two pillars in front, on the back wall of which is another seated figure of Buddha. Beyond this is a figure of Ānanda, the cousin of Buddha, standing in the open, 23 feet high ; still further to the right, another of Buddha, lying down in the attitude of his attaining *nirvāṇa*. This figure is 46 feet long.¹

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¹ Fergusson, *ibid*, p. 244–245.

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Close to the Gal Vihāra stands the Jetavana-vihāra temple, built of brick, 170 feet long by 70 feet wide and still about 70 feet high. ‘It was divided into two halls, the inner or shrine being wider than the outer or eastern one, and containing an erect statue of Buddha, built of brick, 58 feet in height. The entrance is flanked by two polygonal turrets, on the bases of which were Dvārapālas or Yakshas in high relief, and the highly carved stone steps at the entrance were 20 feet long. On the north side of it is the Kiri Dagaba, about 70 feet in diameter and nearly 100 feet in height, with two smaller topes standing on raised platforms.’ The whole space measuring 577 feet by 500 feet, once contained other monuments.

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The Sāt Mahal Prāsāda² is a seven-storeyed temple. Its base is 28 feet 6 inches square, each storey diminishes in size and height, the uppermost being ruined, the total height is still 53 feet. Statues of stucco, in high relief, ornamented each storey. Fergusson suggests that the style of this tower was borrowed from Cambodia.

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² Fig. 137. Fergusson, *ibid*, p. 246.

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There is a unique circular building known as the Wata-Dā-ge.¹ ‘It is a circular enclosure open to the sky, 58 feet 2 inches in diameter, and surrounded by a wall 14 feet high. Round the outer circumference of the wall is a narrow passage enclosed by a highly ornamental screen about 3 feet high, adorned with a range of 32 slender pillar shafts, 6 feet in height, with highly carved capitals. Below this is a richly carved stylobate, about 4 feet 6 inches high, standing on a circular platform 120 feet in diameter, about 20 feet broad and 4 feet 6 inches above the ground level. The principal entrance is from the north, but at other cardinal points also are flights of steps leading up to the enclosure. They all have highly carved thresholds or moonstones to start from. Their risers are each adorned with twelve figures of dwarfs, and their side-pieces, or jambs, are of exceptional richness, and each has a pair of *nāga*-headed *dvārapalas* at the sides of its steps.’ Inside this were found the remains of a small brick-*dāgaba* and broken figures of Buddhas, and the broken shafts of pillars of two circles that had surrounded the *dāgaba*.

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¹ Plate, *ibid*, p. 246–247.

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In this group there are, as stated by Fergusson, several buildings in the Dravidian style of architecture. One of these, ‘miscalled the Dalada Māligāwa,’ is really a Saiva temple, erected probably by Nissanka Malla, about 1190.

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‘There are some interesting ancient bridges, formed on upright stone pillars, over which stone lintels are placed, and on these other stone beams, about 5½ feet in length from one lintel to another, to form the road.’

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HINDU ARCHITECTURE IN SERINDIA OR CENTRAL ASIA

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In addition to numerous literary references and travellers’ accounts, archaeological evidences, especially architectural and sculptural remains, have shown beyond doubt that Indian civilization marched further into Central Asia.

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The area extends ‘from the Hindukush valleys and the uppermost Oxus right across the whole length of the Tārīm Basin to the province of Kan-su on the western marches of China proper.’¹ This region covers ‘practically the whole of that vast drainageless belt between the Pāmīrs in the west and the Pacific watershed in the east, which, for close on a thousand years, formed the special meeting-ground of Chinese civilization, introduced by trade and political penetration, and of Indian culture propagated by Buddhism.’ This desert region contains ‘relics of that ancient civilization which the joint influences of Buddhist India, China, and Hellenized Near East had fostered in the scattered oases of those remote Central Asian passage lands.’

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¹ This region has been briefly designated by the French scholars as ‘Serindia’, depending on ‘Learned popular etymology.’ Sir Aurel Stein, Introduction, *Serindia*, Vol. I.

Ceylon

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