Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c41.73

c41.73

Political conditions however brought this short-lived period of high maturity to a speedy end, Polonnaruwa was abandoned at the close of the thirteenth century, and the arts consequently suffered a considerable interval of decline, only to be revived when Kandy became the seat of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1592 to 1815. On this romantic site, some sixteen hundred feet above sea level, the last phase of the building art of the island is recorded Picturesque and colourful but merely a pale reflection of the grand classical movement which died with the line of the Parakrama Bahu, its combination of timber and masonry has a certain attraction, but it is no longer a great art. It is represented by such buildings as the Audience Hall of the Kandyan kings, and now used as a Supreme Court House. There is also the Dalada Maligawa, or "Temple of the Tooth Relic" in a style of architecture which accords with modern taste its projecting caves with supporting corbels and massive pillars, all painted in schemes of primary colours displaying a sense of vivacity which is not unpleasing. Added to this there are patterns of figures and grotesques with floral accessories and other familar motifs which tend to associate it with the folk-art manner. But the great ideals of the early mediaeval period have deteriorated, under more modern conditions, the spirit of that remarkable movement has ceased to exist, and wood and painted pavilions are now sufficient to satisfy the public eye.