Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c13.30

c13.30

stone pillars as a protection against white ants. They typically consist of a single rectangular image house beneath a tiled roof having a double slope, the outer part of which shelters the open verandah surrounding the image house itself. Fig. 7, on Pl. VII., shows a small vihāra of this sort, attached to the dēvāle at Alutnuvera near Balaṅgoḍa; private vihāras of chiefs (‘chapels of ease’) are often of this type (e.g., at Maḍuvanvela). But vihāras are often built on bare rock, especially when such is found on the top of some low hill overlooking the surrounding hills and villages. The need for raising the buildings on stone pillars is then avoided. The situation of such vihāras is often most romantic, as at Laṅkātilaka, where the beautiful temple buildings are visible from many points across wide stretches of rice-field. But vihāras are also sometimes built on an artificial stone, or stone and mud, foundation, as the Daḷadā Māligāva itself.