Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c15.21

c15.21

The projection of the roofs of Kandyan buildings to a considerable distance beyond the pillars or walls is a noticeable feature. This is an adaptive character. As Mr. Lewis remarks, the “overhanging eaves are specially suited to a rainy climate like that of most of the Kandyan country, and serve to protect the walls from becoming sodden. They have, therefore, instinctively been adopted by the Kandyans, and in this the native builders show more sense than European architects in Kandy and Colombo, who are fond of erecting buildings with elaborate cement or plaster façades which speedily look weather-beaten and shabby, and the walls of which get soaked through annually and therefore soon deteriorate.” The characteristic eaves tiles also serve as a ‘weather-boarding’ to protect the walls, and are thus constructional as well as decorative. It is needless to remark that Government, as in India, have consistently ignored the local building traditions, thus at the same time striking at the foundation of the arts and crafts of the country, and incurring needless trouble and expense through ignorance. Yet they have been told more than once of their errors. In 1868, Mr. Russell, Government Agent at Jaffna, wrote to Government regarding the preservation of ancient buildings, observing at the same time, “the study of such works might possibly produce a beneficial effect on the draughtsmen of the Public Works Department, who appear to me to have much to learn in respect of adapting a building to the use for which it is intended and to the conditions of climate under which it must be occupied.”*