Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c9.6

c9.6

The rewards given to craftsmen on the completion of a large undertaking, such as the completion of a vihāra, consisted usually of rice, cloth, cattle, gold, silver, lands, etc. The following instances quoted from various sannas afford an idea of the amount of wealth expended in such ways by the State or private patrons: Laṅkātilaka, 1342 A.D., paddy, gold, silver, and cloth valued at 3,600,000 gold masas [£120,000]; Mẹdavala, all necessaries, and a remuneration of 15,600 fanams; Asgiriya (Alut vihāra) 65,050 ridis [£2168] and cloths, etc.; Niyangampaha vihāra, repairs and temporary building, 270 ridis [£9]; Palkumburā vihāra, 25,000 fanams. The cost of certain repairs is carefully specified in the Pusulpitiya vihāra sannasa: “these are the works I, . . . Pānabokka Djammajoti, have done in the Pusulpitiyē Vihāra, which I got from my teacher Aluḍeniya, to wit:—New carved rafters to the lower roof of the main vihāra room, tiled both the stories, constructed a small vihāra five carpenters’ cubits long near the ḍagaba, a granite image of one cubit in height which was in a dilapidated state was restored, I performed the Nētra-pinkama, constructed a place for flower-offerings to the bō-tree, built another small vihāra in front of the main vihāra and above the rock on which the sacred foot is sculptured, another hall five cubits long, two rows of rooms of eleven cubits, a hall of fifteen cubits, and another central hall for the accommodation of officiating priests. The whole cost of the work is 2,857 ridis [£95], besides items which may have escaped my recollection” (Lawrie, p. 749). Dehigama vihāra was repaired in 1786, at a cost of 1300 masu [£43], besides materials from the royal stores, and thirty amuṇu paddy to feed the workmen; the repairs of two portals and the seated image, also the painting of one hundred images of Buddha and thirty-two images of rahat priests, and other matters on the walls, and the erection of a stone ḍagaba nine cubits high. At Gaṅgārāma, according to the Mahāvaṃsa, 16,150 pieces of money (say £538) were spent at the dedication feast; which probably includes the gifts to workmen, of which mention is also made: “the carvers of the statue of Buddha and others did he satisfy by presenting them with gifts of elephants, cattle, and divers things that had life and that had not life” (Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. C.). Craftsmen at the present day require a daily wage of Rs. 1 to Rs. 3 if working in Kandy; good painters at the Māligāva receive Rs. 2. The difference in amount depends more on the feeling of the craftsman for his employer than upon his superiority or otherwise. If executing a commission at home, he prefers to leave the amount of his reward to the patron’s judgment, to fixing a price beforehand, but he is likely to be weeks or months in carrying out a piece of work which could be finished in a few days if he were persuaded of the need for hurry, which he usually cannot be. These particulars apply only to the *Artificers* real hereditary landed craftsmen, not to every low-country journeyman working for the jewellers' shops in Kandy.