Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c41.7

c41.7

The actual construction of some of these immense mounds of brickwork, several of which date from before the Christian era, implies considerable skill and experience. After over twenty-two centuries of the effects of the climate and the destructive action of vegetable growth, not to mention spoliation by the hand of man as instanced by driving tunnels into the structure in a vain search for hidden treasure, the fact that these monuments are still in existence, and also identifiable, speaks highly both of the quality of the materials employed and the manner of their application To support a solid mass of brick and rubble some 270 feet in height and nearly a thousand feet in circumference, as in the case of the Ruwanwaeli Dagaba at Anuradhapura, of which the foundations were laid by king Duthagamini in the 2nd century B C. would need special preparations and these are fully described in an ancient chronicle known as the *Mahawansa*. This royal founder ordered "round stones to be brought by means of his soldiers, had them well beaten down with pounders, and to ensure greater durability he caused that layer of stones to be trampled by enormous elephants whose feet were protected by leathern shoes. He had clay spread upon the layer of stones : over them a network of iron . over that a layer of *phalika* stone, and over that he laid a course of common stones." On the top of this prepared basis, which in its technique is singularly suggestive of reinforced concrete, the monarch, making the occasion into a picturesque and formal ceremony, "guarded by his officers of state decked in all the insignia of their gala dress, himself captivating all by the splendour of his royal equipment, surrounded by a throng of dancing and singing women—rivalling in beauty the celestial virgins—decorated in their various embellishments, attended by forty thousand men, accompanied by a full band of musicians, repaired to the site for the royal hand itself to lay the first and festival brick of the edifice" The foundational rites having been performed with all the requisite regal and priestly observances, the actual construction was then put in hand Firstly the groundwork of the raised terrace was prepared, with the stone revetment next fitted with great care backed by rubble (no mortar being used), and the interior packed to the level of the coping with earth and brick debris Upon this, when it had settled, was laid the pavement, and on the centre of the platform the extreme circumference of the tholobate was marked out, and its lower course or courses built At this stage it was usual to sink in the platform the brick foundations and walls of the chambers to enshrine the relics ¹ When these had been deposited within the receptacle it would be closed by stone slabs, and the dagaba finished by the completion of the tholobate, the dome, finial and spire. The surface of the whole would be thickly coated with white plaster, adornments of various kinds added, parts painted and gilt, so that the monument would present a chaste and at the same time brilliant appearance.