Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c16.13

c16.13

Speaking now generally of Kandyan stonework, it will be found that stone masonry plays a very small part in the construction of typical Kandyan buildings; in vihāras there is fairly often a carved stone doorstep (‘moonstone’) and no other work in stone. In the Kẹgalla District “elaborately carved monolithic pillars are rare. . . . Basement revetments in worked stone, where found, follow one recognized plan. First a low socle, next the plinth, then a narrow fillet slightly retired, Lesbian cyma moulding of shallow lotus leaves (pala peti) running back to the inner plane, a vertical block broken half by a bold torus, a second fillet slightly projecting, finished by ogee and rectangular cornice coping. . . Rises or balustrades (et-hoṇḍa-veḷ) to steps are common everywhere.”* The last are sometimes carved on the exterior face in the form of gaja simhayo, the trunks forming the upper edges of the stones, hence called et-hoṇḍa-veḷ, ‘elephants’ trunks’; or they may be very severe and plain.