Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c10.s4.2.2

c10.s4.2.2

was reigning with equity and justice in the city Sirivaḍḍhanapura, which is styled doruva Seṅkaḍagala Nuvara, and having won the affection of his subjects, His Majesty caused sannasa new temples, dāgabas, and images to be made, and others to be repaired: and when he was by such deeds promulgating the Buddhist religion, his brother, who was also great in royal birth, having heard that there was a small cave in a rock at Amuṇugama, in Dumbara, and having supplied from the royal stores crow-bars, hammers, pickaxes, &c., caused the cave to be enlarged to a length of twelve cubits, and a breadth of eight cubits, and a height of three cubits, and the floor of the front court or hall to be levelled, whereon twelve pillars were set and stone steps were placed leading to the court from the stone at the entrance sandun-kaḍa-gala, and when the work had thus far been carried on, His Highness Asthana, the younger brother of the King Kirti Śrī, at whose feet virtuous men performed services, as bees gather themselves around flowers, caused stone walls to be put up, and doors and windows to be set with keys and bars, and an image of Buddha of twelve cubits in length to be made in a reclining posture, and six other images in a sitting posture to be placed at the head and feet of the image, and also caused twenty-four Buddha’s images to be depicted on the ceiling and on the walls within and without, and other workmanship and paintings to be made thereon and upon the stone pillars, the roof of the front court to be put up with beams and rafters and covered with tiles, and on the cross-walls thereof a representation of hell and heaven, near which he also caused a dāgaba of nine cubits in height to be erected, and a bō-tree to be planted, and a pohoya-ge and as well as a priest’s residence to be constructed, enclosing the temple on all the four directions with ditches and embankments, and he also caused jak, mango, cocoanut, and plantain trees to be planted;