DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27191#0284
246
BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE.
Book I.
It is also interesting as affording a hint as to the appearance
of the five or nine-storeyed monasteries mentioned in a previous
137. Sat Mahal Pras&da and Galpota, irom the south. (From a Photograph.)
page (239). This one, however, never was a residence, nor
does it simulate one, like the raths at Mamallapuram or other
buildings in the Dravidian style, which will be described in a
subsequent chapter. Its base is 28 ft. 6 in. square, each storey
diminishes in size and height—the uppermost being ruined—but
the total height is still 53 ft. Statues of stucco, in high relief,
ornamented each storey ; and there is a flight of steps, but it
reaches only to the top of the first storey.1 The style of this
peculiar tower suggests a comparison with those structures
known in Cambodia as “ Prasats,” from which it seems to be
copied ; and about the time when this one was erected by
Nissanka Malla at the end of the 12th century, Ceylon was
in pretty close intercourse with Cambodia.2
In front of it lies a splendid stone table 26 ft. 10 in. long,
4 ft. 7 in. broad, and from 16 to 26 in. thick. It is known
as the Galpota or stone book, and bears a long inscription
1 Cave’s ‘ Ruined Cities of Ceylon,’
p. 154; Mr. Bell’s ‘ Report for 1903.’
2 Compare illustrations of Prasats in
Lajonquiere, ‘ Inventaire Descriptif des
Monuments du Cambodge,’ tome i. pp.
xx., xxii., 199, 201, 218; Aymonier,
‘ Le Cambodge,’ tome ii. p. 427, etc. ;
‘ Mahawansa,’ ch. 76, vv. 21, 22.
BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE.
Book I.
It is also interesting as affording a hint as to the appearance
of the five or nine-storeyed monasteries mentioned in a previous
137. Sat Mahal Pras&da and Galpota, irom the south. (From a Photograph.)
page (239). This one, however, never was a residence, nor
does it simulate one, like the raths at Mamallapuram or other
buildings in the Dravidian style, which will be described in a
subsequent chapter. Its base is 28 ft. 6 in. square, each storey
diminishes in size and height—the uppermost being ruined—but
the total height is still 53 ft. Statues of stucco, in high relief,
ornamented each storey ; and there is a flight of steps, but it
reaches only to the top of the first storey.1 The style of this
peculiar tower suggests a comparison with those structures
known in Cambodia as “ Prasats,” from which it seems to be
copied ; and about the time when this one was erected by
Nissanka Malla at the end of the 12th century, Ceylon was
in pretty close intercourse with Cambodia.2
In front of it lies a splendid stone table 26 ft. 10 in. long,
4 ft. 7 in. broad, and from 16 to 26 in. thick. It is known
as the Galpota or stone book, and bears a long inscription
1 Cave’s ‘ Ruined Cities of Ceylon,’
p. 154; Mr. Bell’s ‘ Report for 1903.’
2 Compare illustrations of Prasats in
Lajonquiere, ‘ Inventaire Descriptif des
Monuments du Cambodge,’ tome i. pp.
xx., xxii., 199, 201, 218; Aymonier,
‘ Le Cambodge,’ tome ii. p. 427, etc. ;
‘ Mahawansa,’ ch. 76, vv. 21, 22.