Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c32.17

c32.17

There is thus some literary evidence, tending to show that images were believed, in later times, to have been made long before the Gandhāra period. It will be noticed that the literary references speak always of precious metals, or impermanent materials such as wood or cloth. Had they spoken of early stone images the anachronism would be evident. This adherence to actual possibilities is a point in favour of the literary references.