Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c15.32

c15.32

*Bolts* Bolts in the case of one-leaf doors were wooden pins working in an upright post (*agul kaṇuva*) set against the inside of the jamb. The free side of this post was often shaped on the model of ordinary wooden pillars, but otherwise very rarely carved; but the bolt itself afforded an opportunity, too good to miss, for elaborate decoration, but never such as to interfere with its use (Figs. 80 and 81; and Pl. XI., 2). Another type of wooden bolt (sometimes called *daṇḍu-agula*) is used on two-leaved doors and window shutters; the nature of this form will be best understood from the illustration (Figs. 82, 83). These bolts can be opened from without by means of a long curved iron rod passed through a small hole in the door (cf. Bell, Kēgalla Report, p. 21, Bamuṇugama Dēvāle).