Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c19.40

c19.40

The essential points in the traditional representations were summarised in mnemonic verses, for example, “This is the appearance of Viṣṇu, two hands, a chank, a discus, a head-dress, a crown, ear-flowers, a golden garment, his colour blue, his vehicle the *garuḍa*” (Rūpāvaliya, v. 57). Such mnemonic verses correspond to the memory verses of the early literature, and may once have been transmitted orally in the same way. Thus the Dīpavaṃsa, I., 29, describes the *satsatiya* thus: “The throne, the sanctuary, the cloisters, the gem palace, the *ajapala* (tree), the (*nāga*) mucalinda, together with the Khirapala (grove) as the seventh.” But all this is subservient to the idealism and the living tradition. From the verse alone, a quite inadequate figure of Viṣṇu would be drawn, just as from the verse alone, a very poor idea of the *satsatiya* would be gathered. Each had to be filled in by the artist, whether painter or reciter, as best he knew.