Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c26.14

c26.14

The following are the names of the patterns still woven at Taḷaguṇe, and found on the eṭirili now obtainable: mal-petta, hin mal petta, maha mal-petta, aṭa-peṭi mala, para mala, deṭi mala, katura mala, pehena mal-petta, hāli-dangaya, hin negi daggaya, de-poṭa lanuva, vaḷalu lanuva, diya reḷa, bō-kola, iri konḍu, etc. These are illustrated on Pl. XXVIII., 1. Other names which I have obtained are pannan kara, hin raṭava, maha raṭava, gal-piyum, domba mala, *bō-pata* (two triangles, apex to apex), *aṭa poṭa lanuva*, etc. The names of many Weaving patterns found on old cloths are now forgotten. Irregular patterns such as birds, cobras, *bō*-leaves and large flowers are put in by hand work (*atē vēḍa*), i.e., tapestry. The whole is thus a combination of weaving and tapestry. As the work progresses it is wound by quarter turns on a square cloth-beam (*on-kaṇḍa*) next the weaver, the tension of the warp being regulated by a cord which passes round a post (*man-kaṇuva*) at the remote end of it, and thence to the weaver's right hand, near which it is fastened. This rope is passed through a bird-shaped block (*‘kurulla’*), between the post and the web; this wooden bird bobs up and down while the work is going on. There is no thread-beam, only a rod on which the warp threads are strung, so that the warp must be stretched out at full length while work is going on (Pl. XXIX., 1). The web is kept tightly stretched at the near end by an arrangement of two crossed canes (*kaṭumal-hẹḍa*), of which the two ends next the weaver are connected by a tight thread, and the other two have pin points which pass into the web and keep it stretched; moveable thread loops regulate the tension. The warp is supported at a point not far behind the heddles, by a horizontal bar, called *alkaṇuve lẹlla*. A cloth fresh from the loom is called *alvala reḍḍa*.