Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c11.s1.76

c11.s1.76

part of the border consists of alternating half-lotus flowers in full view, and lotus flowers in profile, the only example of the latter position which I know of in mediæval Sinhalese art; it is a most archaic arrangement, as seen, for example at Barāhat (Cunningham, Pl. XXI., central figure at the top). The characteristic lotus throne, or *padmasana* of divinities and kings must not be overlooked (Pl. XVIII. and XIX.); also the lotus pendent bracket capitals or *pekaḍa* (Pl. X., 4 and 5). The same motif is repeated in the pendent bell-shaped earrings (Pl. LI., 17). It is interesting to compare with the different conventional forms, the more pictorial treatment of a lotus in a tank, on Pl. I., middle of the lower panel. Lotus flowers are often painted on rock cave ceilings, and may be very large. A cave temple at Heḷamaḍa (Four Korales) has on the ceiling large and small lotuses, surrounding one large eight-petalled lotus, four feet in diameter. Many lotus derivatives are also used without any consciousness of their origin. In Fig. 35, from a large door key, I give one example of such a form, belonging to the Egyptian strain in Sinhalese Art; and in Fig. 37, one from a painted book cover, more suggestive of Assyrian. Fig. 36 is of the ‘*gegenständige Lotus-blüth und Palmette*’ type.∗ Of ‘lotus-palmette’ or ‘honeysuckle’ origin, too, is the *vel-pota* of Fig. 67. The significance of these forms will be discussed in a later chapter.