their charm gone, are the rescued statues of the king and the Buddhas above mentioned. Opposite the south altar, stately in its blackened and worn stone, is the statue of another king, supposed to be Bhatikabhaya (19 B.C.), who alone of all laymen was allowed, on account of his sanctity, to penetrate into the relic - chamber. Major Forbes gives another account, saying that the king wore holes in the pavement with his knees by his continued prayers that he might obtain entrance to the relic-chamber, so that, at last the gods showed him an underground and secret way. The entrance to this, covered by a stone slab at a considerable distance from the outer enclosure of the dagaba, was pointed out to Major Forbes by a priest who greatly desired to obtain his favour. This same priest, however, on subsequent occasions denied all knowledge of such an entrance, nor could it again be found.

How long has this mighty dagaba stood in its present position, and who was responsible for building it? We learn all about that in the Mahawansa. It was the conception of the great King Dutugemunu, and he determined, as in the case of the Brazen Palace, that the labour should be paid for.

When the question of the shape of the great stupa was under discussion, the king asked the bricklayer what he suggested. "The bricklayer, filling a golden dish with water, and taking some water on the palm of his hand, dashed it against the water (in the dish); a great globule in the form of a coral bead rose to the surface, and he said, 'I will construct it in this form.'”

The foundations were solidly laid, for round stones were brought and well beaten in, and then trampled further by elephants wearing leathern pads on their feet. Many surreptitious attempts were made by monks and others to contribute unpaid labour in the form of a brick or handful of earth, so as to gain merit, but when discovered they were always defeated, generally by payment of the doer, which destroyed his "merit," for the king was determined the great monument should be made by paid labour only.

There was a tremendous ceremony at the deposition of the relics in Ruanweli, which included the largest and most important collection of relics ever enshrined together in one place. Hence the peculiar sacredness of Ruanweli. At the ceremony bands played and flowers and incense were offered, and the people assembled in glad thousands, for then, as now, they loved a pinkama. The king gave the priesthood "robes, cane-sugar, buffalo butter," and many other things.

When the sacred relics had been enshrined in a receptacle of great magnificence, the king deposited also all the regal ornaments he had on his person, then the priests closed the receptacle with a stone, after which the people were allowed to put any relics they wished on the top of the shrine. Ruanweli is not the largest of the Anuradhapura dagabas, coming third in size. The height of the drum, or body, at the present day is 178 feet 8 inches. It is capped by a modern copper spire.

When the construction of the spire and the plastering of the dagaba alone remained to be completed, the king became very ill. Sending

for his brother Tissa, he told him to finish the mighty work. The prince wanted to show his brother what the dagaba would look like when finished, so he had a case made of white cloth and fixed it on a temporary bamboo frame in the shape the dagaba would eventually assume. Then he told the king that the work was finished.

And the king, who knew by this time that he was dying, was carried to gaze on Ruanweli and the Brazen Palace, and he looked long and earnestly, first at one and then the other of his most mighty works, from a spot where he had a full view of both, and "was filled with joy." He sent for the great warrior Theraputtabhaya, who had fought twenty-eight pitched battles by his side, and among other things said to him, "Now, single-handed I have commenced my conflict with death." Then, according to the cheerful Buddhist custom, all the good deeds of the dying king were recited, among them that he had "maintained at eighteen different places hospitals provided with suitable diet and medicines prepared by medical practitioners for the infirm." And with his eyes fixed on Ruanweli he died in the year 137 B.C. after a reign of twenty-four years. The very stone on which he lay when dying, a straight, tomb-like slab, is still pointed out on the east of the Pilgrims' Road, abreast of Ruanweli. It may be so. From this place both the Brazen Palace and the great dagaba could be seen in turn. The king turned on his "left side" to look at the one and on his "right side" to look at the other, and the positions correspond. With monuments of equal antiquity and undoubted authenticity

still in situ, who is to say that this is not probable?

Of King Bhatikabhaya (19 B.C.), who penetrated to the relic-chamber, we are told: "This ruler of men, remitting the taxes due to himself, caused to be planted within the space of one yojana' environing the town, the small and large jessamine plants." With these he festooned Ruanweli, "from the pedestal ledge to the pinnacle, with fragrant garlands four inches thick," and, having stuck flowers in between, he made the whole one immense bouquet. It is said also that he covered the stupa with a paste made of red lead and stuck the flowers in by their stalks so as to preserve them.

All

A line drawn northward across the beautiful park-like space would connect Ruanweli with Thuparama, which can be seen gleaming in the distance, much smaller, and resembling in its shape the bell-shaped pagodas of 'Burma. round this space, which is not large in extent, runs a road known as the Inner Circular Road. To the west of Ruanweli is a most beautiful vihara, raised, as all were, on a platform, and approached by a moonstone and carved steps.

The moonstones of Ceylon are unique; in no other country in the world are they found in this shape and style. In whose fertile brain they first originated it is not known, but it must have been a native of the island, for though many details

1 The length of a yojana has been variously estimated, but Mr. H. Parker (Ancient Ceylon, Luzac, 1909), an excellent authority, puts it at about 8 miles, which is not actually a measured length, but "probably the length ascertained by the time in walking from one place to another."

of architecture were borrowed from India and influenced by Indian thought, the only representative of these stones in India is a poor thing without the peculiar animal symbols which are a feature of the Cingalese type. It is unfortunate that these stones are known by the same name as the milky-blue jewel, also found only in Ceylon, because much confusion has resulted, though the two bear no relation whatever to each other. The architectural moonstones are semi-circular slabs of stone, set at the foot of a flight of entrance steps, and wonderfully carved. To the fact that most of those who passed over them went barefoot we probably owe the fact of their wonderful preservation. The stone is divided into concentric rings, first and outermost a narrow, conventional design, then a wider band in which a procession of animals-elephant, horse, lion, and bullock-follow one another round; there are two complete sets of these animals, and the elephant being thrice repeated, beginning and ending the procession, makes nine figures in all. The elephants are excellently executed, full of fire and life, and differing from each other in detail. The bullocks are not bad, but the horses are poor and the lions almost grotesque. The artist must have seen horses, lions he can never have seen, but it is odd that the lion should figure so prominently in Cingalese tradition and carving, when the living animal is in no way associated with the country, and, so far as we know, never has been.

Inside the animal frieze of the moonstone is another floral scroll of artistic design, and within