Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c6.56

c6.56

The list of Kirti Śrī’s buildings, restorations and dedications, could be indefinitely extended;‡ but I have not thought it necessary to detail them further, because many are referred to in other chapters, and still more, because the whole of this book, which deals with the Sinhalese art of his and his brother’s times, is really a monument to his greatness and better explains how much he did for Sinhalese art and religion than any further words could do. Kīrti Śrī lived in perfect harmony with his two brothers, who aided him in every way in his work for the people and for religion. Of himself it is said that he “meditated on the noble Law, and steadily practised the four kingly virtues, viz., giving of gifts, speaking kind words, seeking the good of others, and regarding their fellow creatures as they do themselves.” The princes, his brothers, “sought to do good in divers ways, and conducted themselves according to the king's wishes, and made themselves one with the religion and the people” (Mahāvamsa, Ch. XCIX).