Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c24.51

c24.51

Mr. F. H. Modder has described the earthen rings (āra-keṭa) used for lining Kandyan wells Well-rings called āra lin. He says: “These wells are very common in the Kandyan district.* They are circular in shape, about three feet in diameter, and instead of being built up with stone, earthen rings made by the village potter, and each about a foot and a half broad, are inserted and fitted in from the bottom of the well, increasing from two feet in diameter as they come up to the top to three feet. The earthen rings are called āra-koṭṭa (-keṭa), and the wells are known as arakeṭa lin, abbreviated into āra lin. The āra-koṭṭa (-keṭa) help to keep the water cool, and if they could be made of larger dimensions so as to get into wells of all sizes, they would certainly be a useful and cheap substitute for stone. Each of the rings used at present can be made at a cost of about 37½ cents, and the cost of a well thus built would not exceed a couple of rupees.”† Urākeṭa well-rings are more often made of wood, generally the hollowed segment of a tree.