Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c24.19

c24.19

As Knox observed so long ago, the Sinhalese are apt at making “all sorts of earthenware to boil, stew, fry, and fetch water in.” Generic terms for all pots are *heḷiya*, *kaḷasa*, and *walaṇda*. They may be classified according to form into *kaḷageḍi*, *muṭṭi*, *appalla*, and *eṭili*; the *kaḷageḍiya* approaches a complete sphere, the others are successively shallower. The *kaḷageḍiya* is a water-carrying vessel indispensable to every family. Four examples are shown in Pl. XXV., 1—4. It is carried by women on the hip, the arm passing round the neck. A favourite dance of the alatte women (women of a *gikiyana*—a *naṭana paṅguva* holding) is the *kaḷageḍi neṭima* (dancing with new pots); the pot used becomes the dancer’s perquisite, but such *kaḷageḍi* are, I think, smaller than those in general use. The *muṭṭiya* has a wide mouth and is a vessel used for boiling rice. Pl. XXV., 5, shows a decorated *muṭṭiya* used for new rice at the *Alutsal Maṅgalya* at the Kuṇḍasāle Vihāra. An ordinary *muṭṭiya* is seen on the worker’s right hand in Pl. V., 2, also against the wall, Pl. V., 3. *Muṭṭi* are used for other general purposes; pots used to collect kitul syrup are, for example, called *uga-muṭṭi*. *Embul muṭṭi* are pots made to hold the medicinal preparation of the juices of plants used at the *Nanamura Maṅgalya*.† *Appalla* are shallower vessels used for cooking curries; these are (larger) *loku-appalla* and (smaller) *appalla-poḍi*. *Eṭili* are shallow pots for cooking curries (see Pl. V., 1, between the potters). A larger sort of broad shallow pan (used for cooking sweetmeats or other special purposes; a variety with handles (called *kanbola eṭiliya*) is shown on Pl. XXV., 12.