Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c41.3

c41.3

But before the historical productions of the Sinhalese are studied, some mention may be made of the aboriginal people of the island, and the effect, if any, of their cultural activities on the origins and subsequent evolution of the building arts. This especially applies to one aspect of architecture, that of the rock carved method, which it may be noted was the beginning of the development in the adjacent country of India. The indigenous inhabitants, a primitive race, the Veddahs, with notable enthnological characteristics, worshipped among their deities the "god of the rock" (*Gale Debiya*), and considerable ceremonial was performed in his honour, but it does not appear to have found expression in architectural form. At Anuradhapura there is a Galge, or rock-chamber, prepared with some care for the accommodation of hermit priests, parts of which are however of brick construction. It is entered by a moulded doorway of simple but elegant design and leading to three cells, the date probably being of the first century A.D. Later in the fifth century the parricide king Kyaspa planned his eyrie at Sigiriya on a rocky mountain forming a natural fortress and palace combined with a remarkable walled gallery as a means of access, the whole of a romantic and fantastic order, but of no particular architectural significance. That the early Sinhalese were however adepts at rock sculpture is proved by the high quality of a colossal statue of king Parakrama Babu at Weligama, carved out of the living rock and equal to any work of a like nature in India itself. From these productions two facts emerge, firstly that the aboriginal inhabitants of the island exercised little influence on the architecture of the historical period, and secondly, although capable of manipulating hard rock for constructional and also plastic purposes, rock architecture which flourished with such vigour in India at this correspondingly early period made little appeal as a form of expression to the creative instincts of the Sinhalese.