Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c13.13

c13.13

Two other kinds of buildings may be mentioned before speaking of religious ones. The granary (atuva), always raised on low stone pillars as a protection against white ants, was if small, built over some part of the inner verandah of the house; if large, as in the case of a royal store (maha gabaḍāva), a pansala, or the home of a well-to-do or powerful man, it formed a separate building. But in the Kēgalla district a special type of small granary is found, a cask-shaped wattle-and-daub erection on stone pillars, whitened with kaolin, and covered with a heavy thatch, standing near the house but not forming a part of it; this type (called bissa, pl. bihi) is noteworthy as being often ornamented with paintings of elephants, etc. (Pl. VII., 9). The outer walls of even quite small houses are sometimes similarly painted with conventional designs (Pl. VII., 6). The granaries were usually sealed in clay with a wooden seal, of which a specimen is figured on Pl. XIII., 5.