chatta of the Dakkhiņamula dagaba, which appears to be this one, to be repaired along with those at some other important structures; and the sub-king Kassapa is stated to have destroyed and rifled the dāgaba during the reign of Aggabōdhi III (624-640 A.D). He appears to have restored it again after he succeeded to the throne. In such a case as this we must look to the bricks for some light upon the question as to the period when the dagaba was really built. They average 16.36 inches long, 8-18 inches wide, and 2.31 inches thick; Bt. is 18.9, and the contents 309 cubic inches. It will be seen at once that these dimensions closely agree with those of the Jētavana dāgaba; and they also unmistakably indicate a date after the Christian era. For this reason I accept the statement of the Dipavansa that the dāgaba was built near the end of the second century A.D. This is the more likely since no dāgabas of any considerable size appear to have been constructed by others than the monarchs of the country. As to the similarity of the sizes of the bricks at this work and the Jētavana dāgaba, which was erected fully a century later, it may be surmised that the dimensions adopted late in the second century continued to be employed, with slight variations, throughout the third century. This dagaba has only been partly excavated by Mr. Bell. In his Report for 1898, p. 5, he refers to three basal platforms round it and mentions that traces of one of the ornamental wāhalkaḍas had been found. A flanking pillar belonging to one of these has the usual male and female guardians on one side in false relief, and on another face a decorative tree surmounted by a bird with a crest and raised wings, like those on the pillars at the Thūpārāma dagaba. Mr. Bell states that the circumference of the dome, which is bell-shaped, is 464 feet, approximately; thus its diameter was about 148 feet at the top of the basal platforms. At the base of the outermost platform the diameter was about 179 feet 6 inches. There were no detached stone pillars round the dagaba. The tee was about 38 feet square, or very nearly a quarter of the diameter of the dome. THE KIRIBAt Dīgaba At three and a half miles north of the Ruwanwaeli dagaba, and thus outside the city, there is another now termed the Kiribat, Milk-rice,' dāgaba. Although Mr. Bell considered it to be one of the oldest of the large dagabas at Anurādhapura,' the size of the bricks dug out of the shaft that was sunk by him down its axis is conclusive evidence against its early date, if they are similar to those in the rest of the structure. They are 6.80 inches wide and 2.26 thick, Bt. being 15.4. These are the dimensions of bricks used in the repairs of the 'tee' at the little Pabulu dāgaba at Polannaruwa, and they probably belong to nearly the same period as the ruins of the so-called Wijayārāma monastery, which is near the Kiribat dāgaba. Mr Bell has proved that this monastery is a work of the ninth century A.D. The dagaba is now a mere tumulus. Mr. Bell found that it was built on a raised platform 204 feet square, paved with bricks. It had the usual three basal platforms, each about 2 feet 6 inches high and wide; and it had a diameter of 135 feet. OTHER EARLY DAGABAS THE MAHIYANGANA DĀGABA, The Mahavansa (i, p. 5) records that a dāgaba 30 cubits high was constructed by Uddhachūļābhaya, a younger brother of Dēvānam-piya Tissa, at Mahiyangana, to enclose one 12 cubits high erected there by Sarabhū, disciple of the Thēra Sariputta' immediately after the death of Buddha, in which was enshrined a collar bone (givatthi) of the Teacher. This latter dagaba was said to be built over one formed of emerald, which was supposed to hold a handful of Buddha's 'pure blue locks,' presented by him to the god Sumana, 'the chief of the devas,' that is, Sakra, on his visit to convert the Yakkhas. Duṭṭha-Gāmiņi during the early part of his war against the forces of Elāra enclosed these in a larger dagaba 80 cubits high. The chatta was repaired by Voharaka-Tissa (215-237, A.D.). 1 Annual Report for 1892, p. 5. 2 Arch. Survey of Ceylon. Sixth Progress Report, p. 9. I have not visited the place, and the only account which I have of the dāgaba, is the short one given of its state in 1848 by Sir Emerson Tennent, in which he says, ' It is a huge semicircular mound of brickwork, three hundred and sixty feet in circumference and still one hundred feet high, but so much decayed at the top that its original outline is no longer ascertainable. When Spilberg, the Dutch admiral, saw it on his way to Kandy in 1602 it was comparatively perfect, as white as marble, and surmounted by a gilded pyramid.' 1 The Mahavansa merely states that it was re-plastered by King Parakrama-Bahu VI (1410-1462 A.D.). Through the kindness of Dr. C. G. Seligmann I am able to give an illustration taken from his photographs of this dagaba, which shows its present state (Fig. No. 88). THE KAELANIYA DAGABA Another very early dagaba was erected at Kaelaṇiya wihāra by King Yaṭṭhāla-Tissa, nephew of Dēvānam-piya Tissa, probably before the end of the third century B.C. (Rāj., p. 24). It commemorated the site where Buddha was feasted by Mani-Akkhika, the Naga king of Kaelaniya. 1 Ceylon, 2nd Ed., Vol. ii, p. 421. Although the monastery is occasionally mentioned in the histories, I believe the dāgaba is only thrice referred to. The chatta was repaired by Vōhāraka-Tissa (215-237 A.D.). The dāgaba was seriously damaged in the reign of the Tamil king Magha (1215-1236 A.D.), and was restored by Wijaya-Bāhu III (1236-1240 A.D.). His son Parākrama-Bāhu II (12401275 A.D.) then paved the court-yard, or part of it, round the dāgaba. The only other record with which I am acquainted is contained in Dr. E. Müller's inscription No. 162, in which it is stated that King Dharma Parākrama-Bāhu of Kōṭṭa, who FIG. 89. The Kaelaniya Dāgaba.. according to it began his reign in 1508 A.D., caused the dāgaba to be restored and plastered. The dāgaba was again restored in its present form in 1779, probably, so far as regards the dome, according to its original shape. Its outline is of the type technically known in Ceylon as the Heap-of-Paddy' shape. It forms the end section of a wide cone with slightly convex sides, and is perhaps the earliest example of this class of dāgabas. It has no wāhalkadas. For the following particulars I am indebted to measurements and photographs which Mr. R. S. MacPhail, of the Irrigation Department, was good enough to obtain for me. The dagaba rests on three narrow circular basal platforms, the diameter at the base of the lowest one being 106 feet 101 inches. The top of this platform is 2 feet 6 inches less in diameter. The top of the middle platform is 98 feet in diameter, and that of the upper one is 92 feet 1 inches in diameter. The lowest one is 3 feet 5 inches high, the middle one 4 feet 3 inches, and the upper one 4 feet 2 inches. The total height is 88 or 90 feet,1 the former being the measurement on a photograph, and the latter being calculated from the shadow of the structure. The dome is 85 feet 7 inches in diameter at the top of its basal moulding, which is 2 feet high; it is 46 feet 8 inches high by the photograph, according to which also the tee is about 19 feet 6 inches wide and 4 feet 9 inches high. The base of the spire, similarly measured, is 3 feet 3 inches high and 13 feet 6 inches wide, above which the spire and its brass pinnacle, which is terminated by a glass point, rise 21 feet 6 inches. The illustration (Fig. No. 89) shows the general shape. THE DIGHA-VĀPI DĀGABA A large dagaba was built at Digha-vāpi by Saddhā-Tissa, the brother of Duṭṭha-Gāmiņi. This was a very important station in south-eastern Ceylon, where Saddha-Tissa was stationed for a considerable period before he became king. The dagaba was built to mark the spot where Buddha seated himself on the occasion of his last visit to Ceylon. It is not mentioned again in the histories. There is said to be a large dagaba in the neighbourhood of the tank now called Kandiya-Kaṭṭu, which is almost certainly the ancient Digha-vāpi. I have not had an opportunity of visiting the place, which, however, is likely to repay the trouble of an examination. Major Forbes 2 quoted a note of Bertolacci's regarding it, according to which the ruin was discovered in 1810. 'The size of the building is gigantic . . . the cone forming the 1 The resident monk stated the height to be 60 waḍu-riyanas, or 'carpenter's cubits,' an evident mistake for riyanas, or 'cubits.' 2 Eleven Years in Ceylon, Vol. i, p. 153, footnote. |