have presented a noble appearance. Captain Forbes is of opinion, that the temple was about 30 feet in height from the topmost platform; and that it consisted of pillars supporting a cornice, the plan appearing to be as if eight ornamented pilasters projected two on each side from a plain square pillar. Excepting as to the height, which, including the basement wall, now scarcely exceeds fifteen feet, the description he gives of the plan of the temple is The carvings in the stones are deep, and the mouldings project out boldly. These are all covered with delicate floral tracery, which must have required great manipulative skill on the part of those who had to execute. it. The walls of the two terraces below harmonise with that on which the temple stands; the whole having evidently been designed by an architect of no mean ability. It is however questionable whether it was ever finally completed. Between the two lower walled terraces an unwalled one intervenes, and from the number of blocks of stone lying. about, some in a rough, and others in a half finished state, it seems probable that the work was stopped when near its completion, owing to the struggles with the Portuguese and the domestic wars in which the king was engaged previous to his death,* and the determination of his successor *The local tradition is, that the works were stopped at the time when Kunappu Bandara raised an army, and advanced against the king with a view to his overthrow. This happened while Rája Sinha was engaged in beseiging the Portuguese in Colombo, he having determined upon to remove the seat of Government to Kandy. The new king, moreover, being a Buddhist, would not be disposed to promote the interests of an opposing and persecuting faith. The conjecture that the temple was destroyed by the Portuguese, is not borne out by the general appearance of the place; but from the time of its abandonment up to within a very recent period, the natives have made free with its stones for buildings of their own.* Higher up the river, on the opposite side, is the Mániyangama vihára, a rock temple, the route to which is through a their expulsion from Ceylon. Kunappu Bandara was one of the royal family who escaped destruction at the hands of Rája Sinha, when he resolved upon removing every obstacle to his claims to sole sovereignty throughout the island. He had made his way to Colombo, and adopted the Christian religion, and was subsequently baptized at Goa under the title of Don John. To aid the Portuguese, by whose means, if successful, he hoped to gain the Kandian throne, he now made his way from Jaffna to Kandy, and increasing his adherents at every step, ere long threatened Sítáwaka itself. Raja Sinha was thus forced to raise the seige of Colombo in order to relieve his capital. Don John, retiring to the south and east, was pursued by the king, when the Portuguese, watching their opportunity, captured Awissawela. A desultory warfare followed, which lasted for some years. At length, in a final battle at Kadugannawa, Don John routed the forces of Rája Sipha, and that monarch, wounded by a thorn in the foot, could no longer take the field. This wound, combined with his chagrin at being defeated, caused his death in a few days; but, according to the Rája-walia, his end was hastened by the treachery of some of his attendants. *For an account of the ruins at Sítáwaka, in the times of the Dutch, see Appendix H. number of paddy fields intersected by nullahs or small ravines, to cross which we had, at the time of our visit, either to wade knee and thigh deep in water or be carried over by natives. At one place, through which a pretty broad stream was flowing, my weight proved almost too much for the two men who were my bearers for the occasion, and we were nearly toppling into the water together. In about half an hour we began to ascend the base of a mountain, and after a considerable rise, and making our way over a lengthy flight of steep steps formed of rough blocks of stone, we came to an enclosure within which was the temple. This was made out of the recess below an immense overhanging boulder, which had probably been artificially hollowed in parts.* A long wall built up to the rocky roof, and divided so as to form one main hall, wherein was a recumbent figure of Buddha thirty or more feet in length, with several smaller apartments for the use of the priests; and wing walls at each end, forming a large open verandah; was the rude architectural device for constructing a temple here. The situation was nevertheless very picturesque; above and around, the rocky mountain; streams and small waterfalls running and murmuring and leaping in mimic cascades as they pursued their course over and among the rocks: immediately in front a broad level King Walagambáhu, after his recovery of the throne, "caused the houses of stones, or caves of the rock in which he had taken refuge in the wilderness, to be made more commodious."-UPHAM'S Rájawalia, p. 224. platform, on which was erected a bana-maduwa,* where several old men and women and young children were assembled to listen to the priest reading bana; beyond this a stretch of cultivated paddy fields, bordered by forest trees, or topes of cocoa-palms, and mountain ranges rising in the distance on the other side of the valley through which the Sítáwaka-ganga wound its way. It was a scene to which might be well applied the following lines by the author of "Pleasures of Memory:" แ Above, below, aërial murmurs swell, From hanging wood, brown heath and bushy dell! A thousand nameless rills, that shun the light In addition to the colossal figure of Buddha, there were several smaller ones, many of bronze, not an inch in height. The principal priest, Dhammadassi Maha Terunwahansé, paid us every attention; honouring us in the presence of the people by spreading white cloths on the chairs he brought out for us to rest on. We learnt from him that the temple. was one of those founded by king Walagambáhu; that one of its chief benefactors had been king Kirti Srí, the same A pagoda-like building, generally temporary, in which the priests read or preach Bana, i. e. the word of Buddha. White is the royal colour of Ceylon; and the reception of strangers with the spreading of white cloths is one of the highest compliments a Siphalese can offer. who restored the custody of the Srí-páda to the Buddhists, and who had given this temple the handsome pair of elephant's tusks, each six feet in length, which were displayed in front of the recumbent figure of Buddha. In an outer hollow he pointed out to us a small shrine dedicated to Mahasen, the divinity to whose temple at Kataragama, Hindus from all parts of the East flock with fanatic enthusiasm during the annual pilgrimage in the months of June, July, and August; at which time Moors and Veddahs also take a part in the processions held in his honor. We could not however make out whether there was any particular connection between this place and the temple at Kataragama, The internal decorations of this temple, the appearance of the priests, and the colossal image, so closely correspond with the description given by Captain T. A. Anderson, formerly of the 19th Regiment, in his now rare poem "The Wanderer in Ceylon," that I do not hesitate to quote him. "The vaulted roof is studded o'er |