Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c11.s1.44

c11.s1.44

The bull is represented amongst the 108 magul-lakuṇu; also in the aṭamagala diagram. A curious device is the usamba-kuñjara (Fig. 27). This name of ‘bull-elephant’ is given to a combination of the two animals used as a copy in teaching drawing, and also rarely in decoration, as on a carved wooden pillar at Embekke dēvāle. I have seen it also in an old Tamil Kammālan’s kaḍuttam pustakam at Tanjore; he called it by the same name (virasuba kuñcaram).