Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c29.s2.2

c29.s2.2

Country housewives take a pride in the variety of patterns they may know, and their skill in making mats. The mats are in constant use for various purposes, especially for drying grains in the sun; they are also offered to any visitor to sit upon. An inferior, but not of low caste, would receive a mat to sit on, and would be insulted if it were not offered; an equal would be given a kolombuva; and a superior, especially a priest, a larger stool or chair, covered with a white cloth. In large country houses, a number of mats are kept in store, arranged in a ‘mat-rack’ (peḍuru-āna) on the wall.