Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c41.57

c41.57

As with the stupa in India, so with its counterpart the dagaba in Ceylon, this Buddhist tumulous was by no means an isolated monument, but formed the central feature of a complete monastic settlement. Besides this great sacred pile a typical monastery or *sangharama* would consist of a temple, or image-house (*pilima-ge*), a preaching hall (*bana salawa*), the temple close (*simana*), a processional path (*vidiya*), with an enclosure (*prakaraya*) bordering this path, a priory (*prasada*), a tank (*pokuna*) for ablutions, all of which were enclosed within a perimeter wall (*sima*) entered by a guard-house or lodge (*mura-ge*). To the main building of the monastery there was also a portico (*doraṭuva*) as well as various other supplementary structures for different purposes disposed within the enclosure walls Remains of most of these buildings are to be found in conjunction with the Ruwanwaeli dagaba which in its prime must have been a very large and well-established institution But in addition to these monastic premises, around the immediate precincts of the lowest platform of the dagaba were three or four concentric colonnades of free-standing monolithic pillars, presumed to have been so placed in order to carry lighted lamps on ceremonial occasions The building art of this period was distinctly of the peristyle order, and it is the frequency of these pillars that form the most striking feature of the remains.