Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c7.66

c7.66

The Royal costume in the eighteenth century consisted of an eight-cornered hat (*aṭa-mulu-toppiya*) with tree ornament (*mal-gaha*) on the top; a shirt (*kamisiya*), under a long-sleeved tunic (*bō-heṭṭaya*) of silk brocade, with openings for head and arms, the shoulders ornamented with bō-leaves, the wrists frilled; and loose trousers (*uḍaya*) frilled at the ankle, or a gold-wrought *tuppoṭiya* and belt. Attached to the tunic was a cape (*mante*) of white cotton or silk, or even thin gold plate, to protect the oiled hair. The king wore also a profusion of jewellery, and carried a jewelled cane. Special officers of the palace had charge of the royal wardrobe, jewellery, etc., and were required to be present at the king’s toilet; another officer superintended the royal bath and the people whose service it was to prepare it and himself dressed the king’s hair. All these gentlemen-in-waiting belonged to the highest families. Many pictures show the king wearing the ordinary jacket of a chief, buttoned up the front, and with a round or a four-cornered hat (Fig. 1). The full dress is well seen in the illustration of an ivory statuette of the eighteenth century, Plate XXXVI, 1; on Plate V. of Davy’s ‘Travels in Ceylon,’ 1821; and in the portrait of Vikrama Rāja Simha in the *Pattiruppuva* in Kandy, reproduced on p. 65 of ‘Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon.’ The earliest known portrait of a Sinhalese king is that of Vimala Dharma Sūriya I., in A.D. 1602, given in Spilbergen’s ‘Historiael Journal,’ 1605; and reproduced in ‘Indische Batikunst,’ by Rouffaer and Jouynboll, Vol. III., and in this book, Plate XXII. In this portrait the king is shown in crown, jacket and *mante*, but wearing a cloth (*tuppoṭiya*) instead of trousers. Rāja Simha II., according to Knox (p. 34), dressed very much in a fashion of his own. The king possessed a crown, which he seldom wore. The regalia* (*pañcakakudhabhaṇḍaya*) consisted of the white umbrella (*chatraya*), sword of state (*kaḍuva*), fly whisk, (*val vidunāva* or *camaraya*), forehead plate (*nalalpaṭaya*), and golden shoes (*miriveḍi saṅgala*) emblematic of sovereignty. The king on occasions of state, and chiefs’ and temple processions, were also attended by bearers of emblems called collectively the *ran avuda*, ‘golden insignia’; these are seen in the procession picture, Plate I. Amongst these may be mentioned the emblems of the sun and the moon, and the ornamented talipot leaf umbrella (*vaḍana talaṭṭa*). The latter represents an umbrella for use, the *chatraya* or *mutu kuḍaya* being symbolic only. Chieftains and palace officers wore a four-cornered hat (*hatara-mulu-toppiya*) with a tassel (*boralaya*) instead of the *mal-gaha*. A wavy white frill (*relipalama*) round the top of the hat was reserved to royalty and adigārs, the *mal-gaha* to royalty and Māmpiṭiya Baṇḍāras. Inferior officers wore a round hat (*vaṭa-toppiya*), and no jacket. The *tuppoṭiya* and belt (*paṭiya*) completed their dress. Nowadays the etiquette is not strictly observed, and Kandyan chiefs generally wear the *mal-gaha* and other parts of the royal costume (Pl. III). But European costume is being generally adopted, with painful effects.