Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c11.171

c11.171

We have seen how the walls and roofing in the rooms of the Ummagga palace were finished with the highest polish and the same is stated in the Jaina Aupapātika Sūtra (S. 2-5) about the walls of the shrine of Pūrṇabhadra Chaitya being highly polished and also the Mother Goddess tablet of homage (*Pṛithivī śilā-paṭṭa*) being as lustrous as a mirror (*āyamsatalavamā = ādarśa talopama*). The colour of the polish is said to be black (*kṛiṣhṇa*), bluish (*nīlotpala*), green (*marakata*), and enamel white (*kallitta*). It is of great value that all these four colours are verified in the N.B.P. Ware. Thus the combined testimony of the Brāhmanical, Buddhist and Jaina literatures speak with one voice about the existence of this polish, of its various lustrous shades, of the recipes for producing it and of its use on a large scale on walls and roofings and on ceramics of household use. The proper word used by all these writers is *slakṣṇa*, *ślakṣṇi-karaṇa*, signifying the polished surface or the technique of producing it. In later literature, e.g. Mahā-vaṃśa, we find mention of *Sanha-Mattikā* (*ślakṣṇa mṛittikā*) specially prepared for imparting the necessary polish on the walls to be used for painting.