Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c11.17

c11.17

∗ *Śakra, or Indra, is the Chief of the Gods, and Lord of Deva-loka. In stories it is said that his throne grows hot whenever important events take place on earth, requiring immediate attention.* † *Condensed from ‘The Jataka,’ Cambridge, 1895, Vol. IV., pp. 179-182. A somewhat similar story is related in the Takkariya Jataka; but here the two kinnaras are brought before the king by a hunter who has captured, not slain them; this appears to be the story illustrated in the sculpture at Barahat (‘Cunningham, Bharhut Stupa, Pl. XXVII., and p. 69). See also “Two Kandyan Brass Boxes,” ‘Ceylon National Review,’ 1906.* ‡ *Observe that although the jataka is called canda kinnara, the representation is of liya kindurō; so also at Kelaniya, in Pl. VIIA., below. But on the same Plate, above, canda kindurō may be seen in the makara torana, as if issuing from the mouths of the makaras. The distinction drawn by Kandyan painters may be erroneous.* § *See Baring Gould, ‘Curious Myths of the Middle Ages’; section ‘Swan Maidens.’*