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Forest Deity of Ceylon. The javelin and the apparent bident which appear on several coins also point to the latter gods or Durgā as being the deity who is commonly represented. In some unworn coins of Wijaya-Bāhu, also, a weapon with a long sharp-pointed head is distinctly shown at the side of the article held in the right hand of the standing figure; it resembles the weapon at the side of Skanda on coin No. 9 of Plate VI, C. A. I., and No. 15 of Plate XXI, Ind. Mus. Cat. In the Pandiyan coin No. 143, Plate IV, of Elliot's Coins of S. India a similar figure who has the trident at his side must be Šiva or one of his sons.

In the same manner as in the later Sinhalese coinage, the king is delineated on one face of many Indian coins, and a deity on the other. In the Gupta coinage the latter is often Siva or a goddess; but Skanda also appears in other coins, and he would be specially appropriate for the Ceylon money on account of his local connection with the island. As for the bangles and anklets, all the Dwarpal in Ceylon have them.

That the figure is a deity is also indicated by the presence of the arched line or circlet of 5, 7, or 9 beads which in some cases passes round and over the head of the standing figure, but not over the head of the seated person. Each of the Dwarpal in Ceylon, with the exception of figures of Bhairava, is protected by the expanded hoods of a Cobra which has 5, 7, 9, II, or in one instance 13 heads; and in several of these carvings which are somewhat worn the heads stand out from the arched line of the hoods like large beads. Thus it is possible that the beads round the head of the standing figure symbolise, if they do not actually represent, the many-headed cobra guarding or sheltering him.

Where one bead is shown on each side of the neck it is merely the ear-pendant. When near the waist it is the fold of the sash which holds up the cloth. The arched line which passes overhead in some coins may be a' chatta' or umbrella, with a scalloped fringe in some instances.

I conclude, therefore, that in all cases the standing figure shown on the Sinhalese coinage, whether ancient or more recent, is a guardian deity and not the king.

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In the later coinage the peculiar article held by him, which some have supposed to be a weapon, is a double 'trisūla resting on a circle or lotus that is represented by the bead under it, exactly as it is seen in the post-Christian Ajōdyā coin No. 15, on Plate XIX of the Indian Museum Catalogue. The double trisūla is also found on the early Yaudeya coin No. I of Plate VI of C. A. I., which is said by Sir A. Cunningham (p. 76) to date from about the first century B.C.; and on the Eran coin No. 19 of Plate XI of that work. It also appears on the Andra coin numbered 14, in Plate II of Sir W. Elliott's Coins of Southern India. This design is not recognisable on the oblong coins that I have seen.

Whether it was developed from the Greek caduceus, which occurs (or a symbol like it) on some Indian punch-marked coins, is uncertain; whatever its origin, it may have been perpetuated in its present form not only as a lucky emblem, a form of trident, a weapon greatly feared by demons, but also as a monogram that might be interpreted jaya, ' victory,' if the lower part be read as the letter ja and the upper part as ya as its shape on the Ajōdhyā coin seems to indicate. In the latter meaning it would be a particularly appropriate emblem for any guardian deity. The word jaya itself is found on coin No. 14 of Plate XX of the Ind. Mus. Cat.

With respect to the female deities who appear on the oblong coins, the weapons which some hold must identify them with some form of Durgā, as the slayer of the Asuras or demons. Skanda was also the later champion and leader of the Gods against the demons.

The standing figure, whether male or female, would thus, like the Swastika, be thought to have special protective power against all classes of evil spirits; and that the oblong coins were credited with the possession of beneficial qualities is proved by finding some that were drilled for suspension on the neck as amulets.

The only other distinct symbol on the obverse of these coins is that on Nos. 27 and 32, and perhaps 44, the bead on the post, which has been sometimes termed the disk on the altar. It is found in the reliefs carved on a pillar at the side of one

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