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Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c34: Appendix II. Addenda et Corrigenda

Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c34

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Appendix II. Addenda et Corrigenda

c34.1

P. 7. *Jeṭṭhatissa.* According to the Pūjāvaliya (translation, p. 25), Jeṭṭhatissa ‘constructed images with his own hands from ivory, sandal wood, *kihiri* wood, and stone, and established them as examples to be imitated thereafter for the benefit of Lanka.’

c34.2

P. 9. *‘Bird-shaped houses.’* According to a footnote on p. 2 of the Appendix of a Petition to H.M. Edward VII., printed in 1905, and signed by the Mahānāyakas of Malvatte and Asgirya, and other priests, on behalf of the Saṅgha, against the Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance then before the Legislative Council, one of the dwellings permitted to a priest is an *adhyoga*, which is stated to be a ‘house covered with a roof resembling the wings of a *gurulu*’ (*guruḷa*, mythical bird). The roof which, so far as I know, now best answers such a description, is that of the porch at Laṅkātilaka. Perhaps such roofs, raised above the walls, tiled as if with feathers, and having a double slope, may not unnaturally be likened to the wings of a great bird. I conceive that the idea of such an injunction must have been to prevent priests from living in ordinary dwelling houses, which had thatched roofs.

c34.3

—*Parākrama Bahu II.* also repaired the palace at Attanagala, saying, ‘To effect repairs of old buildings is a meritorious deed, which confers long life and prosperity. Do such a meritorious deed in my name also’ (Pūjāvaliya, translation, p. 48).

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P. 10. *They rest not a minute in one place.* Compare the *Secretum Secretorum* (translation, J.R.A.S., 1908): ‘He who makes many movements is vainglorious and deceitful, and whoever is quiet in his demeanour . . . is perfect of understanding and thoughtful in mind.’ P. 12. Some particulars of the life of Veḷiviṭa Piṇḍapātika Saraṇaṅkara, the Saṅgha Rāja, are given on pp. XXI. and 109 of Wickremasinghe’s ‘Catalogue of Sinhalese mss. in the British Museum.’ See also Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. XVII., vv. 50-62. P. 13. *Rajakāriya.* Knox describes the immoderate demands made upon the people at a previous period, the reign of Rāja Simha II. But Bennett confesses that prior to 1832, under British rule also, “the people had grounds for discontent, from the incessant calls for their services and labour (occasionally exceeding the duties which they had formerly been liable to under the Malabar dynasty), and which had been enforced regardless of the ancient customs of the country, or the claims and conditions of individuals” (‘Ceylon and its Capabilities,’ p. 423). See also the ‘Manual of the North Central Province,’ p. 140: “although we continued the Rājakāriya we omitted to have it applied to agriculture. . . . A more unfortunate system could hardly be devised for agriculture, as it allowed the works to fall into ruin and discouraged cultivation.” Rājakāriya is often described as forced labour, and regarded as having been an intolerable tyranny;

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but properly understood, it was hardly more than a system of commanding public assistance in works of public utility, analogous to the rates of a municipality. It was only “the perversion of the compulsory labour from one of its chief original purposes, and the neglect to enforce it for legitimate works under the later kings, and by the British Government adopting their system, which occasioned the decay of agriculture and the wasting of population.” P. 20. *A Government Agent’s report.* This is a report by Mr. Liesching, quoted, ‘Manual North Central Province,’ p. 43. P. 21. *Character of the Sinhalese.* Cf. A. O. Brodie, J.C.B.R.A.S., III., p. 161: “The people of Nuwara Kalāwiya are the most gentle I have had the fortune to meet. . . . Serious assaults, robberies, murders, are all but unknown, and during three years I have not had to punish one native of the district for pilfering.” Also Davy, ‘Travels in Ceylon,’ 1821, p. 289: “Amongst few people, I believe, are family attachments more strong and sincere: there is little to divert or weaken them; and they are strengthened equally by their mode of life and their religion.” At the present day, it is mainly in the low-country, where European influence has been long felt, and the social culture of the race has been destroyed, that crime is prevalent. P. 22. *The five servants.* We read in the Mahāvaṃsa (Ch.

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LVII.) that the heads of the five trades were chosen as messengers to carry a welcome from Kitti Śirimegha to his son Parākrama, afterwards Parākrama Bāhu I. (1164—1197 A.D.), an indication of the social importance of these master craftsmen at the time. The ‘five servants’ are also referred to (Mahāvaṃsa Ch. LVII.), as granted to a certain ecclesiastic, together with workmen skilled in all manner of works, to minister unto him. P. 27. *Gabaḍāgam.* Knox (pp. 43-44) thus describes the royal manors: “Many Towns are in the King’s hand, the Inhabitants whereof are to Till and Manure a quantity of the Land according to their Ability, and lay up the Corn for the King’s use. These Towns the King often bestows upon some of his Nobles for their Encouragement and Maintenance, with all the fruits and benefits that before came to the King from them. In each of these Towns there is a *Smith* to make and mend the Tools of them to whom the King hath granted them, and a *Potter* to fit them with Earthenware, and a *Washer* to wash their Cloaths, and other men to supply what there is need of. And each of these hath a piece of Land for this their Service, whether it be to the King or the Lord; but what they do for the other People they are paid for. Thus all that have any Place or Employment under the King, are paid without any Charge to the King." P. 29.

c34.4.4

*Tavalam merchants.* Those travelling from Galle and Hambantoṭa to the Kandyan provinces carried salt, salt fish, cotton handkerchiefs and cloth; and brought back ivory, beeswax, cotton, pepper, coffee, cardamoms, honey, turmeric, deer horns, skins, ghee, and various vegetable drugs (Bennett, ‘Ceylon and its Capabilities,’ p. 293). —*Husbandry.* "Every man is a cultivator or proprietor of land, and I do not suppose there is one Sinhalese villager who is to any extent dependent on a trade for a livelihood" (A. O. Brodie, J.C.B.R.A.S., III., 14). P. 35. *Women.* For the story of a woman archer, see Lawrie, Gazetteer, p. 622. P. 36. *Dedications by women.* Ambamalla Vihāra "was built at her own expense by a woman of the village" (Bell, Kēgalla Report, p. 67). P. 38. *Perahera.* The potters during the five days of the ran-doli perahera took part in the procession, carrying earthen vessels with sprays of coconut flower (Service Tenures Commission Report, 1872, p. 465). P. 39. *Kārtti Maṅgalya.* "Which is celebrated only by lighting of Lamps round about the Pagoda. At which time they stick up the longest Poles they can get in the Woods, at the doors of the Pagods and of the King's Palace. Upon which they make contrivances to set Lamps in rows one above the other, even unto the very tops of the Poles" (Knox, p. 80). P. 48. *Dedications.* Cf. gift to Doḍanvela Dēvāle, Lawrie's Gazetteer, p. 175. P. 52.

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*Method of tying books.* For an early representation of a book apparently tied as here described see Arch. Onderzoek op Java en Madura, 1: Tjandi Djago, Pl. 3 (Çyāmatāra). P. 53. *The King's letters.* "In those letters or dispatches which were sent by the King to the Dutch Government, the monarch seemed particularly anxious to display his magnificence in the richness and splendour with which they were executed. The writing was enclosed in leaves of beaten gold in the shape of a cocoa-tree leaf. This was rolled up in a cover richly ornamented, and almost hid in a profusion of pearls and precious stones. The whole was closed in a box of silver or ivory, which was sealed with the Emperor's great seal" (Percival, ‘Account of Ceylon,’ 1805, p. 206). P. 54. *Caste.* For interesting mythical accounts of caste, see the Janavamsa, translation by H. Nevill, Taprobanian, Vol. I., 1886. P. 55. *Koṭṭalbadde Nilame.* Knox tells a romantic story of a European who entered the King's service for love of a Sinhalese woman, and was made ‘Courtalbad’ (Koṭṭalbadde Nilame), ‘which is chief over all the Smiths and Carpenters in Cande Uda’ (‘An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, p. 181). P. 56. *Rewards of Craftsmen.* It is mentioned in the Dambulla gal-sannasa that Vimala Dharma Sūrya II., upon the occasion of fixing a bell on the rock in front of the Mahārāja Vihāra at Dambulla, rewarded the artificer, Mahena Galladdā, with an amuṇam of land and 200 fanams in money. P. 59.

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*Names of artificers.* At Dēvanagala, the gal-vaḍuva has recorded his name and village in a rock inscription (Bell, Kēgalla Report, p. 59). P. 60. *Social position of craftsmen.* The following story affords some evidence on this point: the son of the deported king, Vijaya Bāhu (afterwards Śrī Parākrama Bāhu VI., who reigned at Koṭṭe, 1415—1462 A.D.), in order that he might escape the messengers of Alakeśvaraya, was placed in the joint charge of the gamarala of Polvatte near Ambuḷugala, and of a blacksmith. "At night," says the Rājāvaliya, "he would go to the house of the gamarala, but in the daytime used to play with the child of the blacksmith. . . . In this manner the prince lived till he attained the age of sixteen." —*The King's smiths.* The craftsmen here referred to are not the paṭṭal hatara men, but those who work for the tenants of royal villages (manors): “In each of these Towns there is a Smith to make and mend the Tools of them to the King hath granted them, and a Potter to fit them with Earthenware, and a Washer to wash their Cloaths, and other men to supply what there is need of. And each one of these hath a piece of land for this their Service” (Knox, p. 44).

c34.5

P. 61. *Number of the craftsmen.* Out of 51 tenancies in the Nivitigala nindagama, three were those of blacksmiths, three of silversmiths, and four of potters. (Service Tenures Commission Report, 1872, p. 469).

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Out of 117 villages in Nuvara Kalāviya, four only were smiths’ villages, and five potters villages, the extent of these amounting to 80½ acres in a total of 790 acres (loc. cit. p. 457).

c34.7

P. 63. *Former greatness and continuity of Indian art and craft.* “Too little effort has been spent in reconstructing the idea of that great splendour and activity which must have existed, in order to leave such wreckage as it has to a later age.” These words of Okakura (‘Ideals of the East, 2nd ed., p. 76), though written originally in a slightly different connection, hold good here also, for the surviving arts and crafts in India are indeed but the wreckage of a former magnificence.

c34.8

It may be noted in passing that Okakura’s reference to the cast iron pillar of Aśoka at Delhi is mistaken; the pillar referred to is of wrought iron, and belongs to the time of Chandragupta II.

c34.9

P. 64. *No artificers ever change their Trade.* Cf. Dekker, ‘Shoemaker’s Holiday’: “Had I a son or a daughter should marry out of the generation and blood of the shoemakers, he should pack.”

c34.10

Pp. 65, 95, and Fig. 33, II. *Sīna mala.* Cīnapaṭṭaṇa is a name for Madras,—(Grierson, J.R.A.S., 1908, p. 358.)

c34.11

P. 66. *Vain imagining.* Cf. Sukrācārya, Sukranītisara: “Some are of opinion that that which pleases the fancy is beautiful; but the measurements which do not agree with those given in the śastras, cannot be pleasing to the wise.”

c34.12

P. 69. *Teaching of drawing in India.* It is stated by Mr. Thurston (Journal of Indian Art, Vol. X., p. 46) that the children of the Gudigars (sandal-wood carvers) “are early taught to draw their beautiful scrollwork and designs on a slate.” It is of the utmost importance that these old methods of training in design should be investigated before it is too late. Indifference on the one hand, and ‘art schools’ on the other, are rapidly sweeping them out of existence. Supposing there to be recognized any excellence in Indian design, one would have thought the first steps taken for the preservation of Indian art would have been to study the methods of Indian designers; but so far from this, those methods have been completely ignored.

c34.13

P. 70. *Netra maṅgalya.* See also Bṛihat Saṃhita, II., Ch. XIII., “On the Fixing of the Images in Temples,” and also Mānasāra, Ch. LVIII. (fide Rām Rāz, ‘Essay on Hindu Architecture,’ 1834, p. 5).

c34.14

I am reminded by Mr. Parsons that the eyes of many images of Buddha at Anurādhapura were separate structures, the ‘iris’ of blue glass or enamel, the ‘sclerotic’ of quartz. There are examples of these artificial eyes in the Colombo Museum, where also the large Buddha in the grounds has eye cavities.

c34.15

P. 74. *Nanamura maṅgalya.* The grossest of all these ceremonies appears to be that of ‘shaving’ the head of an image, as reflected in a mirror, described by Davy (‘Travels in Ceylon,’ 1821, p. 125).

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—*Dorakaḍa asna.* See also Bell, Kēgalla Report, p. 132.

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P. 75. For other accounts of nētra maṅgalya ceremonies held on various occasions see Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. C., vv. 192, 273.

c34.18

P. 79. *Hands betokening (not sternness but) mildness and beneficence.* Varada hasta: the hand hanging down with palm towards the worshipper, the fingers slightly bent up—as if granting the wishes of the devotee; abhaya hasta: the other hand raised, as if signifying, ‘Do not fear.’ This is the usual position of the hands, or of two of the hands in Indian sculptures representing the gods; it is an attitude of blessing. There is in Indian art, both sculpture and painting, as also in dancing, an elaborate symbolism of the hands and fingers.

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P. 91. Fig. 28, E. *Human svastika.* Certain Celtic anthropomorphic designs closely resemble this form; see Romilly Allen, ‘Celtic Art,’ pp. 294-295.

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—*Footnote.* See also ‘Journal of Indian Art,’ Vol. X., p. 47 (five-women horse) and Vol. XII., Pl. 112 (nine-women-elephant).

c34.21

P. 113. *Rapavaliya*, v. 158, reads: “The forefinger is Yama, the third finger is Vishnu, the fourth finger is Ananga, the fifth finger is the Sun.” The position (*mudrā*) of the hands and fingers in Indian sculpture is always significant. For similar ideas in Christian art see Didron et Durand, ‘Manuel d’Iconographie Chretienne,’ Paris, 1845, quoted by R. Hendrie, ‘Theophilus,’ London, 1847, pp. 427, 428.

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P. 116. *Practical charity.* The following entries in the list of charities hung up in Burford Church, in Gloucestershire, afford an interesting parallel:

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“Two houses on ye East side of ye High Street were formerly given to repair ye Bridge and ye way leading to it.”

c34.24

“John Harris, alderman of Oxon, gave 100l. to be lent to 10 Tradesmen gratis, who are to repay it by ye yearly payment of 20s He also gave 100l. for ye Apprenticing of Poor Boys.”

c34.25

P. 117. *Wayfarers.* “The things which the people carry as their rents and taxes, are Wine, Oyl, Corn, Honey, Wax, Cloth, Iron, Elephants Teeth, Tobacco, Money” (Knox, p. 48).

c34.26

P. 119. *Plaster.* For other old recipes see Brihad Samhita, II., Ch, X. Bennett (‘Ceylon and its Capabilities,’ p. 338) states that the white stucco used in Ceylon and Southern India is a mixture of fine sand, shell lime, green coco-nut water and coarse sugar or jaggery; he states truly that ‘when laid on by experienced plasterers, it displays the polish and appearance of marble.’ The material now used, often a mere whitewash, is generally mixed with a greater or less proportion of Reckitt’s blue, entirely destroying the value of milky whiteness.

c34.27

—*Pansala.* Mr. Lewis gives the following account of the small but typical pansala at Huduhumpola near Kandy (Cave, ‘Book of Ceylon,’ p. 369):

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“The Huduhumpola pansala is built in the shape of a quadrangle opening into a spacious verandah which occupies the whole of this side of the building. The roof is supported by wooden pillars of the style already described. The usual small verandah surrounds the other three sides of the quadrangle. Opening into it are the doors of the monks’ cells, each of the usual Kandyan pattern, which is that of the main door also, only on a smaller scale, each door about eighteen inches wide. Each cell has its own kitchen attached, and there is also a larger kitchen for general use. There is a window of coupled lights with carved tops in the room facing the main entrance. The whole of the centre of the quadrangle is occupied by a preaching hall supported on carved wooden pillars more slender than those in the vestibule.”

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P. 120. *Māyāmataya.* For some account of the original work see Rām Rāz, ‘Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus,’ 1834, p. 6.

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P. 121. *Supported by a single column.* The Mahāvamsa (Ch. LXXIII.) mentions a palace supported on a single column, built for Parākrama Bāhu I.

c34.31

P. 123. *Often a face is drawn amidst the branches.* As in Fig. 151, here reproduced from Degaldoruva, showing the cannibal king seated beneath the tree, with a thorn in his foot.

c34.32

—*Human sacrifice* is illustrated in the accompanying Figure from Degaldoruva.

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The survival of the memory of human sacrifice in Buddhist stories, is evidence of their pre-Buddhist origin and great antiquity.

c34.34

Fig. 151. From Sutasoma Jātaka at Degaldoruva.

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Fig. 152. Human offerings to a tree dēvi, Sutasoma Jātaka, Degaldoruva.

c34.36

P. 124. *Ceremonial purity associated with the gods.* According to Davy (pp. 148, 149) the Diva Nilame had on certain occasions to present offerings to the image of Buddha. On these occasions he had to bathe, put on a clean cloth, and abstain from meat for at least twenty-four hours, “not from the idea that these observances would be grateful to Boodhoo, but from the persuasion that the gods, in whose keeping the temple is supposed to be, are particularly attentive to bodily purity, and resent its neglect.” P. 125. *Erection of the Magul Kapa.* Compare Bṛihad Saṃhita, I., Ch. XLIII., erection of the Indra Dvaja. With the Māyāmataya generally, compare also Bṛihad Saṃhita, II., Chs. VI., ‘House Building,’ VII., ‘Underground water currents,’ VIII., ‘On gardens,’ and XII., ‘The Entry into the Forest’ (to cut wood for images). Other parts of the Bṛihad Saṃhita (II., Chs. II., III., XI.) correspond rather to parts of Sāriputra, Rūpāvaliya, and Vaijayantaya. P. 126. *Vasu Devī.* I.e. Vāstu Dēvī, the Genius Loci (here regarded as feminine); not Vāsu Dēva = *Kṛiṣhṇa*. P. 136. *Wooden bridges.* For other references see Pūjāvaliya, translation, p. 49. A bridge at Ambagamuhoya had houses built upon it and ‘was firm enough for elephants . . . to walk over.’ The largest mentioned was of 500 cubits length, at Kehelsānāva, near Bentoṭa. P. 140. *Kuruniya.* ‘In fashion it is an handsom turned measure, some of them are made with Canes like a Basket’ (Knox). P. 142. *Vaḍu riyana.* According to Knox, this is ‘as much as will reach from one Elbow to the other, the Thumbs touching one another at the tops, and so stretching out both Elbows.’ P. 147. *Gem-cutting.* Remains from the Piprahwa Stupa in India show that as long ago as 450 B.C., or at least in the third century B.C., Indian lapidaries were familiar with the use of the lathe, and very skilful in shaping, polishing and piercing stones of extreme hardness. P. 162. *Zenith of Indian art.* Mr. E. B. Havell would regard the seventh or eighth centuries A.D. as probably the period of greatest achievement in Indian art. This would tend to throw forward by some time the suggested date of writing down of the Silpa Śāstras.

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P. 164. *Colours.* Clough gives: *pas-peheya*=the five primitive colours, white, black, blue or green, yellow and red. P. 164. *Archæological value of old paintings.* This is well illustrated by Général L. de Beylié’s use of those at Aluvihāra and Dambulla in his investigation of ancient architecture (L’Architecture Hindoue en Extreme Orient,’ Paris, 1907, pp. 373-378). While, however, it is true that early forms of architecture are preserved in these traditional paintings, it is decidedly misleading to describe them as ‘of the first century before Christ’; it is only true that they ‘sont biens la répétition des anciennes fresques.’ P. 178. *Ajaṇṭa and Sigiriya.* Mr. Vincent Smith (Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1908, II., 121) suggests that the Ajaṇṭa painters were Persians. But he seems to have been unaware of the existence of similar paintings in Ceylon. P. 186. *Dice.* Clough gives ‘*pāsaka*, dice, particularly the long sort used in playing *chaupai*.’ The game of *chaupai* (=*pacisi*) has been so long forgotten, that though I have seen many game-cloths and dice of Sinhalese make, I have not found any Sinhalese acquainted with the game, or the name of it. The game is commonly played by Tamils; indeed, all the chief games of this kind, *olinda keliya*, *nerinci* (a form of ‘noughts and crosses’ or ‘nine men’s morris’), the cheetah and fourteen dogs, etc., are essentially Indian games, and not of local origin. —*Ivory.* In 1908 the Colombo Museum also acquired a ‘ceremonial ivory shuttle,’ ornamented with lac, and said to have been granted as a *sannasa* or Royal Warrant to a family of weavers. A warrant so given as a token, is properly called *keṭa sakshiya* (or *sakkiya*); the word *sannasa* implies writing. There is also in my own collection a lac-ornamented ivory spindle. Another object is an ivory toy, consisting of a disc very deeply furrowed round the edge; such toys are said to have been played with on a piece of string by the Kandyan ladies. I have also a similar toy in copper and silver. At the Pērādeṇiya Exhibition in 1906 there was exhibited a beautiful ‘model’ of the Daḷadā Māligāva, made in ivory, with a brazen roof. The ‘model’ represented a typical structural vihāra, and not the Māligāva in any detail. It is said to have been presented to Veva Indasara Terunnānse, incumbent of the Hittettia Vihāra at Mātara by Kirti Śrī Rāja Simha in 1755 A.D. as a reward for a versified panegyric on the king’s rule. P. 194. *Knives of steel.* Probably in most cases only the edge of a cutting instrument was of steel, the remainder of iron. This is implied in a well-known Sinhalese proverb: ‘Like the rustic who got his knife by imposing on the blacksmith’—referring to a countryman who went to a blacksmith to get a knife made, and gave him only the iron for it, keeping back the steel, thinking by that means to cheat the smith, but actually cheating only himself. Other proverbs connected with smithing, etc., are: ‘To get the hand burnt in spite of possessing pincers.’ ‘The dog that has been brought up in a blacksmith’s shop is not afraid even of thunder.’ ‘Like the silversmith’s father beating his son for undertaking an urgent work.’ Subjection to petticoat government is as bad as standing behind an adze.’ ‘The iron style of a man who is too lazy to write is heavier than the staff of King Gaja Bāhu’ (a great iron rod). ‘The adze which straightens timber is itself not straight.’ P. 231. *Pottery proverbs.* Another well-known proverb, taken from a Buddhist *sūtra*, is: ‘As all earthen vessels made by the potter break at last, so is the life of man.’

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