Before going on to the so-called Jetawanarama dagaba itself, there are other things to see nearer at hand. There is in fact a choice of two ways and on both are objects of interest. The carriageroad, a continuation of the Outer Circular, which comes out at the back of the dagaba, and another a rough cart-road (feasible for most vehicles with care) starts from close by the stone canoes and goes off at right angles, ending up in front of the great dagaba.

By penetrating along this for a little distance a blackened sedent Buddha is passed. It is curious to note how very much more common this type is than either the standing or lying Buddha. I remember seeing only one of the former class at Anuradhapura, a very small and mutilated one at Vijayarama. The three positions denote : Buddha in meditation under the Bo-tree, as he was when he received revelation; Buddha preaching to enlighten others; and Buddha as he was when he attained Nirvana. In the Burmese representations of the seated Buddha, almost invariably the left hand lies in the lap and the right falls downwards over the knee; but in the Cingalese type both hands usually rest together in the lap. Where the statue has been mutilated, as in this case, it is not easy to judge of its original attitude.

By plunging into the jungle abreast of this figure the central block of a most beautiful vihara can be quickly seen. The steps and guards are unusually perfect. "The granite staircase of this viharé for completeness and rare beauty is, in its own line, the gem of Anuradhapura art and sculp

ture." (1911 Report.) The guard-stones are at least four inches higher than that remaining at the elephant stables, but they are without a sculptured torana. The steps are well decorated, and at the top on both sides are stone seats. Behind the vihara is a pokuna; turning left from this we come into the long thoroughfare, or passage-way. This leads to a very beautiful group of pillars, with richly carved capitals. Away to the right again others gleam amid the trees, and any one interested might wander on in this section of the jungle for long, finding many interesting memorials of the great company of monks who once made it their home. In the flickering sunlight, with the morning dew still on the leaves, alone with the butterflies and birds, squirrels and lizards, and occasionally a wild, shy creature of the woods, this desultory wandering among evidence of ancient life has a peculiar fascination. An excellent plan of all this district is to be found in the 1911-12 Archæological Report.

By retracing our steps along the central line of thoroughfare we come out again on the carttrack which leads through to Jetawanarama, and can then return to the canoes and try the other road. This, the Outer Circular Road, passes a very splendid specimen of a monastery known as the King's Palace," where there is the largest and most perfect moonstone yet discovered. The surface shines like marble, and a lively procession of thirteen, instead of the usual nine, animals prances round it. The difficulty of photographing a moonstone, which is of course always flat on the ground, and keeping it in perfect focus, is no

small one. In this case, though the stone is so much larger than usual, the task is easier because a square stone at the top of the steps provides a convenient mount from which the camera may be tilted downwards. It is only by doing so that the detail on the stone can be shown, and the illustration on p. 112 gives a section of the moonstone taken in this manner to show the delicacy of the carving and the life-like activity of the animals. The sacred geese are large, and carry a lotus in their beaks in the usual fashion.

As it is only by the examination of detail that observation is encouraged, it is well here to look closely at these fine steps, which are built after a pattern continually to be seen in these royal cities, but are more easily examined than most owing to the fact that the wing-stones, or balustrades, are missing. To begin with, each step has in the centre and at both ends a squatting dwarf in an Atlaslike posture, which suggests he is supporting the tread with enormous effort. He is on the usual model of such dwarfs, and a larger specimen of the brotherhood appears on a panel above the steps. They all have curled wigs and are girded. with cords and adorned with necklets. That they were not slaves is shown by the profusion of ornaments, bangles, and anklets which cover arms and legs. Each one grasps in one hand what looks like a stalk of a plant, but is really a conventionalised snake, thus bringing in the "snake" touch shown in the usual guard-stones in their " nagahoods." The dwarf guardian is said to represent Bhairava, defender of temples and treasures.

Though this entrance, with its many beauties,

may well encourage lingering, there are other points about this extraordinarily large and fine specimen of a monastery-for of course it was that and no palace"-that demand attention. The size of the coping stones alone calls for admiration. Eight of them are sufficient to border the immense central platform. And the largest of these attains thirty-one feet in length. Though size is not to be numbered among the attractions of the ancient specimens of sculpture to be found in Ceylon, as it was in Egypt, where the colossal dimensions of temples and the unparalleled achievements in handling blocks of stone evoke awe, yet that the Cingalese could have excelled in this way also, had they chosen, is shown in such specimens as these. As a rule, however, they rely upon grace and delicacy rather than "mightiness," and even here it is not so much the dimensions of the stones as the perfect line of the moulding which absorbs attention.

In the four corners of the court were the four usual smaller " temples." At the back, outside the wall, is the usual pond, and there are various other ruins which would repay examination. The whole of this splendidly proportioned and designed monastery was cleared out in the season of 1911-12.

CHAPTER V

THE TWO GREATEST DAGABAS

JETAWANARAMA dagaba was handed over to the Buddhist community in 1909, after which two members of the Atamasthana Committee issued a permit for five years to a Buddhist monk to work improvements" on it. There were certain conditions attached to this permit to safeguard the dagaba, and all of these were broken. One condition was no trees were to be felled on the tope or stupa, and the monk felled them all! He dug recklessly in an amateur way and broke one of the flat upright pillars beautifully carved called a stele. So the Archæological Commissioners stepped in, in 1910, with the tacit consent of the Committee, to save the venerable ruin. (1910-II Report.) But even yet there is something in the cropped condition of the dagaba, which arouses a feeling of dissatisfaction.

The guards at the south entrance are ganas, or dwarfs, a more unusual figure than the ordinary guardian and not so graceful; they follow the typical lines considered proper for dwarfs.

The chief beauty of the ruin lies in the splendid platform of hewn blocks from which the drum rises, and the bits of carving on stele and stones near the altars. Some of these are very high art