Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c26.18

c26.18

The cotton is not usually, however, spun in the field, but taken home and dried and cleaned Yarn in larger quantities. It is freed from seeds by passing through the rollers of a small machine (*kapu kapana yantraya*) resembling a mangle (Pl. XXIX., 3). It is next carded by whipping with a bow (*pulun-talanava*), and lightly rolled into tufts ready for spinning from. The action of spinning is a charming and graceful one; it is woman's work, but weaving is done by men and women alike. A tuft of cotton is held in the left hand, and thread spun from it on to a long weighted spindle (*iḍḍa*), the end of which rests in a pod or coconut shell on the ground; it is kept turning by the motion of the right hand against the thigh, or by the fingers (Pl. VI., 3); the thread winds itself round the big end.