DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27191#0283
Chap. VIII.
POLONNARUWA.
245
and still further to the right another of Buddha, lying down
in the conventional attitude of his attaining Nirvana. This
figure is 46 ft. long, while the standing one is only 23 ft. high.1
These Nirvana figures are rare in India, but there is one in
the most modern cave at Ajanta, No. 26, 23 ft. 3 in. long (Wood-
cut No. 29 on page 101), and others in the latest caves at Nasik
and Salsette. None of these, however, so far as I know, ever
attained in India such dimensions as this.
Not far south of the Gal Vihara stands one of the principal
religious groups of the city, consisting first of the Jetawanarama
Temple, built of brick, 170 ft. long by 70 ft. wide, with walls
12 ft. in thick'ness covered with chunam, and still about 70 ft.
high. It was divided into two halls, the inner or shrine being
wider than the outer or eastern one, and containing an erect statue
of Buddha built of brick, 58 ft. in height, much injured. The
entrance is flanked by two polygonal turrets, on the bases of
which were dwarpalas or yakshas in high relief, and the highly
carved stone steps at the entrance were each 20 ft. long. On
the north side of it is the Kiri Dagaba—about 70 ft. in diameter
and nearly 100 ft. in height—with two smaller topes, standing on
raised platforms; the whole space, measuring 577 ft. by 500 ft.,
was apparently at one time entirely filled with objects of
religious adoration. The whole certainly belongs to the age
of Parakrama Bahu I. It was, however, built of brick, and
plastered, which gives it an appearance of inferiority even
beyond what is due to the inferior style of that age.
Next in importance to this is the Rankot Dagaba, about
500 yards south of the Jetawanarama, 186 ft. in diameter, and
of about the same in height. This, though only half that of
some of those in the older capital, is still larger than any
known to exist on the continent of India. It is ascribed to
Kirt! Nissanka Malla, a Kalinga prince, at the end of the
12th century, and is in fair preservation. Its base is surrounded,
like those in Burma, by eight small brick shrines—two at each
of the cardinal points — having conical roofs, and between
each pair is an dsana, or seat for a Dhyani Buddha.
At some five furlongs south from this stands the Sat Mahal
Prasada (YVoodcut No. 137), which is one of the most interest-
ing buildings of the place, as it is one of the most perfect
representations existing of the seven-storeyed temples of Assyria.
1 There are two colossal statues of
Buddha, one at Steseruwa, in the North-
Western Province, 39 ft. 3 in. high, the
other at a place called Aukana, to the
east of the Kalawrewa tank, in the North
Central Province, 39 ft. high. They are
extremely similar to one another, and—
except in dimensions and position of the
arms — to that at the Gal Vihara. —
‘Sessional papers,’xl., 1904, pp.6and 12.
A descriptive inventory of the monu-
ments of Ceylon is a great desideratum.
POLONNARUWA.
245
and still further to the right another of Buddha, lying down
in the conventional attitude of his attaining Nirvana. This
figure is 46 ft. long, while the standing one is only 23 ft. high.1
These Nirvana figures are rare in India, but there is one in
the most modern cave at Ajanta, No. 26, 23 ft. 3 in. long (Wood-
cut No. 29 on page 101), and others in the latest caves at Nasik
and Salsette. None of these, however, so far as I know, ever
attained in India such dimensions as this.
Not far south of the Gal Vihara stands one of the principal
religious groups of the city, consisting first of the Jetawanarama
Temple, built of brick, 170 ft. long by 70 ft. wide, with walls
12 ft. in thick'ness covered with chunam, and still about 70 ft.
high. It was divided into two halls, the inner or shrine being
wider than the outer or eastern one, and containing an erect statue
of Buddha built of brick, 58 ft. in height, much injured. The
entrance is flanked by two polygonal turrets, on the bases of
which were dwarpalas or yakshas in high relief, and the highly
carved stone steps at the entrance were each 20 ft. long. On
the north side of it is the Kiri Dagaba—about 70 ft. in diameter
and nearly 100 ft. in height—with two smaller topes, standing on
raised platforms; the whole space, measuring 577 ft. by 500 ft.,
was apparently at one time entirely filled with objects of
religious adoration. The whole certainly belongs to the age
of Parakrama Bahu I. It was, however, built of brick, and
plastered, which gives it an appearance of inferiority even
beyond what is due to the inferior style of that age.
Next in importance to this is the Rankot Dagaba, about
500 yards south of the Jetawanarama, 186 ft. in diameter, and
of about the same in height. This, though only half that of
some of those in the older capital, is still larger than any
known to exist on the continent of India. It is ascribed to
Kirt! Nissanka Malla, a Kalinga prince, at the end of the
12th century, and is in fair preservation. Its base is surrounded,
like those in Burma, by eight small brick shrines—two at each
of the cardinal points — having conical roofs, and between
each pair is an dsana, or seat for a Dhyani Buddha.
At some five furlongs south from this stands the Sat Mahal
Prasada (YVoodcut No. 137), which is one of the most interest-
ing buildings of the place, as it is one of the most perfect
representations existing of the seven-storeyed temples of Assyria.
1 There are two colossal statues of
Buddha, one at Steseruwa, in the North-
Western Province, 39 ft. 3 in. high, the
other at a place called Aukana, to the
east of the Kalawrewa tank, in the North
Central Province, 39 ft. high. They are
extremely similar to one another, and—
except in dimensions and position of the
arms — to that at the Gal Vihara. —
‘Sessional papers,’xl., 1904, pp.6and 12.
A descriptive inventory of the monu-
ments of Ceylon is a great desideratum.