Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c24.34

c24.34

The vessels used especially in connection with vihāras and dēvāles may be spoken of collectively as ecclesiastical earthenware. Of these vessels the most common and most characteristic is the *kotalaya*; this is a spouted vessel for holding the water with which flower offerings are sprinkled. Either an earthen or a bronze *kotalaya* may be found in every vihāra; the bronze *kotala* are smaller and more elegant than the earthen. Earthen *kotala* are also in domestic use as drinking vessels. Pl. XXV., 8, shows a decorated *kotalaya* from Doḍantale Vihāra. A curious variety of the *kotalaya* is the *valalu kotalaya*, which must be inverted and filled from below. The same arrangement is sometimes found in the case of a *kotalaya* of the common form, but closed above, and then called *yatura kotalaya*, ‘secret jug.’