Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c16.1

c16.1

W E have already seen that the indigenous style of architecture was one of wooden building, and shall not, therefore, be surprised to find that the amount of mediæval and strictly Sinhalese stonework is very limited. There were, however, amongst the craftsmen a certain number of masons (gal-vaḍuvo), no doubt mainly of South Indian origin, or descendants or pupils of Indian masons. As we have seen (p. 65, above), the koṭṭal-badda contingent of craftsmen in the Four Kōrales, consisting of eighty-eight men, included only one mason. This may be taken to represent fairly the position of stonework amongst the other crafts. Such stonework as does exist bears strong evidence of Tamil design and workmanship. Mr. Bell remarks (Kēgalla Report, p. 19): “Few men were capable of artistic work; and the services of these experts were only called in on the rare occasions when some ruler, ambitious of erecting buildings of special strength and beauty, reared around him palaces and temples too often left unfinished. Yāpahu, in the Seven Kōrales, and Berenḍi Kōvil in the Three Kōrales, were such. Architecture and sculpture could never have thriven in the Kēgalla district. The paucity of artistic remains attests this, such carved stonework as does exist itself bearing witness to Dravidian design and workmanship. The ‘Kurunēgala Vistaraya’ records that artificers had to be summoned from Gampola to put up the buildings on Beligala. . . So, too, at Berenḍi Kōvil, where, though little more than the tasteful platform of the kōvil is left,—if the shrine ever advanced further,—history and style unite in proclaiming with certainty its Dravidian conception.”