Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c10.s2.8

c10.s2.8

The details of the preparation of the kalasthāpanaya were as follows: rice (hal) was spread on the ground, and an aṭamagala diagram [see glossary] drawn in it with the finger. The area was next covered with mats over which five kinds of paddy had been thinly spread, and the space was then divided into eighty parts by strips of coconut leaf. The eighty pots were arranged in the places thus indicated, separated into two groups of forty each, forming the Brahma Garbbhaya and the Viṣṇu Garbbhaya. A special pot set in the middle of those of the former group, containing gold, silver, pearls and the nine gems, was called Brahma Kalaya, and another pot set in the middle of the other group and containing rice was called the Viṣṇu Kalaya. These chief pots were elevated on stools above the others. The whole collection formed the kalasthāpanaya.