Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c13.16

c13.16

There were, also, a few more pretentious rest-houses, called maḍama or iḍama, where food and firewood, etc., were provided freely to strangers, being kept by a maḍama-rāla or iḍama-rāla, who held lands for the performance of this duty. Such would appear to have been the Governor’s house where Knox made a stay (on his escape) about six miles south of Anurādhapura; “having reached his house,” says Knox, “according to the Country manner we went and sat down in the open house; which kind of Houses are *Architec-ture* built for the reception of Strangers.”*