Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c34.36

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.