Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c7.58

c7.58

*Concerted action* The capacity for communal action is shown in the frequent cases of combination amongst villagers, to erect and endow *vihāras*. This proof of the possibility of united action even apart from Royal or viceregal patronage, is of particular promise for the future. Thus, in Tumpane, the western division of the Central province, there were but few *vihāras* before the British accession, and the majority now existing have been built by villagers since 1815, and endowed by them with small parcels of land. The villagers in such cases had the right of selecting the incumbent on a vacancy, and also of ousting one who failed to perform his duties. Thus, to take a special case, Yātivavala *vihāra* in Hārispattuva, was built in Kīrti Śrī’s reign by the villagers, who dedicated small pieces of land consisting of nine fields and four gardens. The King is said to have given an ivory image of Buddha and a *karaṇḍuva* to the vihāra on its completion. The incumbency did not descend in pupillary succession, as in the case of other foundations, but was in the gift of the villagers. After the rejection of an undesirable incumbent, rules were framed for the priest and for the thirteen chief men of the village, defining the duties and rights of each (Lawrie's Gazetteer, p. 973).