Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History Part 88

Though stone is abundant in Ceylon, it was but sparingly used in the ancient buildings. Squared stones[1] were occasionally employed, but large slabs seldom occur, except in the foundations of dagobas. The vast quant.i.ty of material required for such structures, the cost of quarrying and carriage, and the want of mechanical aids to raise ponderous blocks into position, naturally led to the subst.i.tution of bricks for the upper portion of the superstructure.

[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 210; VALENTYN, _Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien_, ch. iii. p. 45.]

There is evidence to show that wedges were employed in detaching the blocks in the quarry, and the amount of labour devoted to the preparation of those in which strength, irrespective of ornament, was essential, is shown in the remains of the sixteen hundred undressed pillars[1] which supported the Brazen Palace at Anaraj.a.poora, and in the eighteen hundred stone steps, many of them exceeding ten feet in length, which led from the base of the mountain to the very summit of Mihintala.

A single piece of granite lies at Anaraj.a.poora hollowed into an "elephant trough," with ornamental pilasters, which measures ten feet in length by six wide and two deep; and amongst the ruins of Pollanarrua a still more remarkable slab, twenty-five feet in length by six broad and two feet thick, bears an inscription of the twelfth century, which records that it was brought from a distance of more than thirty miles.

[Footnote 1: The _Rajavali_ states that these rough pillars were originally covered with copper, p. 222.]

The majority of the columns at Anaraj.a.poora are of dressed stone, octangular and of extremely graceful proportions. They were used in profusion to form circular colonnades around the princ.i.p.al dagobas, and the vast numbers which still remain upright, are one of the peculiar characteristics of the place, and justify the expression of Knox, when, speaking of similar groups elsewhere, he calls them a "world of hewn stone pillars."[1]

[Footnote 1: Knox, _Relation_, vol. v. pt. iv. ch. ii. p. 165.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: COLUMN AT ANARAj.a.pOORA.]

Allusions in the _Mahawanso_ show that extreme care was taken in the preparation of bricks for the dagobas.[1] Major SKINNER, whose official duties as engineer to the government have rendered him familiar with all parts of Ceylon, a.s.sures me that the bricks in every ruin he has seen, including the dagobas at Anaraj.a.poora, Bintenne, and Pollanarrua, have been fired with so much skill that exposure through successive centuries has but slightly affected their sharpness and consistency.

[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxviii. p. 165; ch. xxix. p. 169, &c.]

The sand for mortar was "pounded, sifted, and ground on a grinding-stone;"[1] the "cloud-coloured stones,"[2] used to form the immediate receptacle in which a sacred relic was enclosed, were said to have been imported from India; and the "nawanita" clay, in which these were imbedded, was believed to have been brought from the mythical Anotattho lake in the Himalayas.[3]

[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. x.x.x. p. 175.]

[Footnote 2: The "cloud-coloured stone" may possibly have been marble, but no traces of marble have been found in the ruins. Diodorus, in describing some of the monuments of Egypt alludes to a "party-coloured"

stone, [Greek: lithon poikilon], which likewise remains without identification.--_Diodorus_, l. i. c. lvii.]

[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxix. p. 169; ch. x.x.x. p. 179.]

_Dagobas_.--The process of building the Ruanwelle dagoba is thus minutely described in the _Mahawanso_: "That the structure might endure for ages, a foundation was excavated to the depth of one hundred cubits, and the round stones were trampled by enormous elephants, whose feet were protected by leather cases. Over this the monarch spread the sacred clay, and on it laid the bricks, and over them a coating of astringent cement, above this a layer of sand-stones, and on all a plate of iron.

Over this was a large pholika (crystallised stone), then a plate of bra.s.s, eight inches thick, embedded in a cement made of the gum of the wood-apple tree, diluted in the water of the small red coco-nut."[1]

[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxix. p. 169; ch. x.x.x. p. 178. The internal structure of the Sanchi tope at Bilsah in Central India presents the arrangement here described, _the bricks being laid in mud_, but externally it is faced with dressed stone.]

The shape of these huge mounds of masonry was originally hemispherical, being that best calculated to prevent the growth of gra.s.s or other weeds on objects so sacred. Dutugaimumi, according to the _Mahawanso_, when about to build the Ruanwelle dagoba, consulted a mason as to the most suitable form, who, "filling a golden dish with water, and taking some in the palm of his hand, caused a bubble in the form of a coral bead to rise on the surface; and he replied to the king, 'In this form will I construct it.'"[1]

[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. x.x.x. p. 175. This legend as to the origin of the semicircular form of the dagoba is at variance with the conjecture of Major FORBES, that these vast structures were merely an advance on the mounds of earth similar to the barrow of Halyattes, which in the progress of the constructive arts, came to be converted into brickwork.--_Eleven Years in Ceylon_, v. i. p. 222.]

Two dagobas at Anaraj.a.poora, the Abay-a-giri and Jeyta-wana-rama, still retain their original outline,--the Ruanwelle, from age and decay, has partly lost it,--and the Thupa-ramaya is flattened on the top as if suddenly brought to a close, and the Lanka-ramaya is shaped like a bell.

_Monasteries and Wiharas._--According to the annals of Ceylon the construction of dwellings for the devotees of Buddha preceded the erection of temples for his wors.h.i.+p. Originally the anchorite selected a cave or some shelter in the forest as his place of repose or meditation.[1] In the _Rajavali_ Devenipiatissa is said to have "caused caverns to be cut in the solid rock at the sacred place of Mihintala;"[2] and these are the earliest residences for the higher orders of the priesthood in Ceylon, of which a record has been preserved. A less costly subst.i.tute was found in the erection of detached huts of the rudest construction, in winch may be traced the embryo of the Buddhist monastery; and the king Walagambahu was the first, B.C. 89, to gather these scattered residences into groups and "build wiharas in unbroken ranges, conceiving that thus their repairs would be more easily effected."[3]

[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_ c. x.x.x. p. 174.]

[Footnote 2: _Rajavali_, p. 184.]

[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. x.x.xiii. p. 207.]

Simplicity and retirement were at all times the characteristics of these retreats, which rarely aspired to architectural display; and the only recorded instance of extravagance in this particular was the "Brazen Palace" at Anaraj.a.poora, with its sixteen hundred columns; an edifice which, though nominally a dwelling for the priesthood, appears to have been in reality a vast suite of halls for their a.s.semblies and festivals, and a sanctuary for the safe custody of their jewels and treasure.[1]

[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch, xxvii. p. 103. Like the "nine-storied"

paG.o.das of China, the palace of "the Lowa Maya Paya" was originally _nine stories_ in height, and Fergusson, from the a.n.a.logy of Buddhist buildings in other countries, supposes that these diminished in succession as the building arose, till the outline of the whole a.s.sumed the form of a pyramid. _(Handbook of Architecture_, b. i. ch. iii. p.

44.) In this he is undoubtedly correct, and a building still existing, though in ruins, at Pollanarrua, and known as the _Sat-mal-pasado_, or the _"seven-storied palace_," probably built by Prakrama, about the year 1170, serves to support his conjecture. See a description of it, part x.

ch. i, vol. ii.]

Allusions are occasionally made to other edifices more or less fantastic in their design and structure, such as "an apartment built on a single pillar,"[1] a "house of an octangular form," built in the 12th century[2], and another of an "oval," shape[3], erected by Prakrama I.

[Footnote 1: B.C. 504, _Mahawanso_, ch. ix, p. 56; ch. lxxii. UPHAM'S version, p. 274.]

[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 105.]

[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii, UPHAM'S version, p. 274.]

_Palaces_.--The royal residences as they were first constructed, must have consisted of very few chambers, since mention is made in the _Mahawanso_ of the earliest, which contained "many apartments," having been built by Pandukabhaya, B.C. 437.[1] But within two centuries afterwards, Dutugaimunu conceived the magnificent idea of the Loha Pasada, with its quadrangle one hundred cubits square, and a thousand dormitories with ornamental windows.[2] This palace was in its turn surpa.s.sed by the castle of Prakrama I. at Pollanarrua, which, according to the _Mahawanso_, "was seven stories high, consisting of five thousand rooms, lined with hundreds of stone columns, and outer halls of an oval shape, with large and small gates, staircases, and glittering walls."[3]

[Footnote 1: Ibid., ch. x. p. 66.]

[Footnote 2: Ibid., ch. xxvii, p. 163.]

[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii. UPHAM'S version, p. 274.]

In what now remains of these buildings at Anaraj.a.poora, there is no trace to be found of an arch, truly turned and secured by its keystone; but at Pollanarrua there are several examples of the false arch, produced by the progressive projection of the layers of brick.[1]

[Footnote 1: FORBES'S _Eleven Years in Ceylon_, vol. i. ch. xvii. p.

414.]

The finest specimens of ancient brickwork are to be seen amongst the ruins of the latter city, where the material is compact and smooth, and the edges sharp and unworn. The mortar shows the remains of the pearl oyster-sh.e.l.ls from which it was burnt, and the chunam with which the walls were coated, still clings to some of the towers, and retains its angularity and polish.[1]

[Footnote 1: Expressions in the _Mahawanso_, ch. xxvii. p. 104, show that as early as the 2nd century, B.C., the Singhalese were acquainted with this beautiful cement, which is susceptible of a polish almost equal to marble.]

Of the details of external and internal decoration applied to these buildings, descriptions are given which attest a perception of taste, however distorted by the exaggerations of oriental design. "Gilded tiles"[1] in their bright and sunny atmosphere, must have had a striking effect, especially when surmounting walls decorated with beaded mouldings, and festooned with "carvings in imitation of creeping plants and flowers."[2]

[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 73.]

[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii. p. 274.]

_Carving in stone._--Carving appears to have been practised at a very early period with singular success; but in later times it became so deteriorated, that there is little difficulty at the present day, in p.r.o.nouncing on the superiority of the specimens remaining at Anaraj.a.poora, over those which are to be found amongst the ruins of the later capitals, Pollanarrua, Yapahu, or Komegalle. The author of the _Mahawanso_ dwells with obvious satisfaction on his descriptions of the "stones covered with flowers and creeping plants."[1] Animals are constantly introduced in the designs executed on stone, and a mythical creature, called technically _makara-torana_, is conspicuous, especially on doorways and bal.u.s.trades, with the head of an elephant, the teeth of a crocodile, the feet of a lion, and the tail of a fish.

[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii. p. 274, UPHAM'S version.]

At the entrance to the great wihara, at Anaraj.a.poora, there is now lying on the ground a semi-circular slab of granite, the ornaments of which are designed in excellent taste, and executed with singular skill; elephants, lions, horses, and oxen, forming the outer border; that within consisting of a row of the "hanza," or sacred goose; a bird that is equally conspicuous on the vast tablet, one of the wonders of Pollanarrua, before alluded to.[1]

[Footnote 1: A sketch of this stone will be seen in the engraving of the Sat-mal-prasada, in the account of Pollanarrua. Part I. ch. i. vol. ii.]

Taken in connection with the proverbial contempt for the supposed stolidity of the _goose_, there is something still unexplained in the extraordinary honours paid to it by the ancients, and the veneration in which it is held to the present day by some of the eastern nations. The figure that occurs so frequently on Buddhist monuments, is the Brahmanee goose (_casarka rutila_), which is not a native of Ceylon; but from time immemorial has been an object of veneration there and in all parts of India. Amongst the Buddhists especially, impressed as they are with the solemn obligation of solitary retirement for meditation, the hanza has attracted attention by its periodical migrations, which are supposed to be directed to the holy Lake of Manasa, in the mythical regions of the Himalaya. The poet Kalidas, in his _Cloud Messenger_, speaks of the hanza as "eager to set out for the Sacred Lake." Hence, according to the _Rajavali_, the lion was pre-eminent amongst beasts, "the _hanza_ was king over all the feathered tribes."[1] In one of the Jatakas, which contains the legend of Buddha's apotheosis, his hair, when suspended in the sky, is described as resembling "the beautiful Kala hanza."[2] The goose is, at the present day, the national emblem emblazoned on the standard of Burmah, and the bra.s.s weights of the Burmese are generally cut in the shape of the sacred bird, just as the Egyptians formed their weights of stone after the same model.[3]

[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 149. The _Mahawanso_, ch. x.x.x. p. 179, also speaks of the "_hanza_," as amongst the decorations chased on the stem of a bo-tree, modelled in gold, which was deposited by Dutugaimunu when building the Ruanwelle dagoba at Anaraj.a.poora in the 2nd century before Christ.]

[Footnote 2: HARDY'S _Buddhism_, ch. vii p. 161.]

[Footnote 3: See SYME'S _Emba.s.sy to Ava_, p. 330; YULE'S _Narrative of the British Mission to Ava in 1855_, p. 110. I have seen a stone in the form of a goose, found in the ruins of Nineveh, which appears to have been used as a weight.]