Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c11.s1.46

c11.s1.46

ELEPHANT. Not often used in pure ornament, but more often in jataka and historical pictures; roughly painted on granary walls, Pl. VII., 9; on woven cloth, Pl. XXIX., 7; carved on stone at the entrance to the Daḷadā Māligāva. The elephant is sometimes seen on eaves tiles. Two elephants are also associated with the goddess Śrī (Lakshmī), pouring water on her seated figure, in the conventional representation (Pl. IX., 1). I have seen a bronze hanging lamp in the form of an elephant. There is a bronze elephant of unknown purpose in the Colombo Museum. As in early Indian art (e.g. Barāhat) the elephant is usually very well drawn though not so in Fig. 27. It is one of the 108 magul lakuṇu.