The naga and hansa are met with at every turn in Ceylon and seen in many guises. The moonstone of this little vihara is undecorated save for the central half-lotus. It is a pity that the artist who executed the upper carvings did not find time to do that too. Perhaps he planned it and died before execution, and so we lost what might have been the most delicately dainty moonstone of them all. Passing on north up the Inner Circular Road, with Basawak Kulam on the left, we come to a green hillock with the remains of ruins on the summit and among them a yantra gala, a square stone with holes in it (see p. 114). To sit on the summit of this hillock and absorb the beauty and strangeness of the surroundings is an occupation that can never pall. Across the wide park-like spaces of grass, beneath the shady rain-trees, herds of cattle are driven to the feeding grounds around the tank. Black and very dark brown are most of them, but some have the fawn-coloured tint of a Jersey. They are followed by tiny calves, not so big as the great goats of the country, which represent "mutton" in a district where sheep cannot live. The herdsmen of the poorer class are clad in dust-coloured rags, with sometimes a twist of red stuff around the head. But here in Anuradhapura, where races are so mixed, headgear is very varied; the Cingalese, as a rule, wear nothing but their own abundant locks, unless they throw a cloth around to keep off exceptionally bright sun. Chignons are not entirely out of fashion for men, but those who have come under European influence often crop their thick hair. Every imaginable garment makes its appearance. In this pure atmosphere things keep clean for a long time, and a great deal of white is worn, supplemented by gay pinks, greens, blues, and reds, for the Cingalee does not share the prejudice of the Burman against blues and greens. Probably that is because he knows instinctively his dark colouring is not turned sallow by the contact, as is the honey-coloured skin of the Burman. On one side are the clerks belonging to the Kachcheri in spotless European suits of white drill; on the other is the gentleman who dresses in nothing but a skirt, possibly supplemented by a vivid-coloured scarf over his well-formed shoulders. Differing a little from him is the man who completes the skirt by a European vest or shirt, the latter of course worn outside, making a most convenient garment. The people of Ceylon have as a whole good manners; the Cingalese are gentle and polite, they stare little, and you hear no loud laughs after you have passed, best of all, there is very little touting or pestering. May it be long before they are ruined by the indiscretion of tourists, and become a nation of touts! There are few places in the East where you can sit at peace in a great shady park-like space in the midst of antiquities dating from B.C. unworried by "guides," without any one even to cast an intrusive glance. A little bay on Basawak Kulam is a favourite haunt with those who prefer mixed bathing, and probably find pure drinking water insipid. Here, close inshore, they are safe from crocodiles, even to the fat baby, who stamps with delight as its mother empties one kerosene tin after another of water over it in a deluge. Basawak Kulam has been identified with the Abhaya tank made about 300 B.C. and has therefore been in existence from the earliest days of Anuradhapura.' A large jay, with wings and tail of metallic blue, has spread himself to get warmed through by the sun on a heap of red earth. The markings on his extended wings are like those on a winged scarab of Egypt. Hideous little scavenger birds, called" The Seven Sisters," in nun-like livery, with thick heads and necks, give out metallic cries. Such is Anuradhapura as it is at present, and many of the features are the same as about the time of King Dutugemunu. But then it was a thickly populated city, as large as London. "The city covered an area of 256 square miles. The distance between opposite gates, north and south, was sixteen miles. In one street are eleven thousand houses, many of them being two storeys in height; the smaller streets are innumerable." 2 Skinner (Fifty Years in Ceylon), who, as beforementioned, visited the place on a road-making expedition in 1832, speaks of the " great north and south street" as "a forest, only defined by the wells, which, centuries ago, supplied the houses with water." The line of some of these streets can still be traced. In them the bright-robed people, with whom were mingled thousands of yellow-robed monks, passed to and fro, while lordly elephants strolled along having passage 1 Ancient Ceylon, by H. Parker. (Luzac, 1909.) made for them. Beyond the walls, from a distance, could be seen the golden roofs flashing in the sun against the thrilling blue of the sky. Inside, if it were a festival day, maybe the huge dome of Ruanweli would be one mass of flowers -lotus, orchid, and jasmine scenting all the air with an almost overpowering odour. There were great parks containing pavilions; peacocks strolled on the close-clipped grass between the flower-beds, and the vast stretches of mirror-like water were freely used for bathing. Around the bo-tree rose a temple of several storeys, and there, as to-day, were always worshippers, silent, darkfaced, offering flowers and bowing themselves in reverence. Men of the lowest caste hastened along, watering the streets from skins to lay the dust. The grand buildings set among the trees gleamed like marble and were adorned with free bold carving and bands of gold and silver, and inside there were many pillared richly decorated halls, containing possibly thrones of gold and ivory, holding in corners great golden images of Buddha looking out from inscrutable jewelled eyes. And in various parts of this great city were alms-houses where the poor received food; hospitals where complaints are tended and healed; and on the outskirts, great cemeteries for the burial of the dead. A well-known authority gives it as his opinion: Anuradhapura was not one city but two, one within the other, and the royal residences and chief monastic edifices and dagabas were enclosed within walls of great strength, and shut in by massive gates, flanked by watch towers and guard houses. Beyond these limits was the outer city set apart for the lower orders, wherein the business life of the capital was transacted. It consisted mainly of one long, wide street, composed of shops for the sale of every description of goods, and these were divided-as usual in Eastern cities into quarters for the various callings of provision-dealers, drapers, goldsmiths, artisans, and even to the retailers of children's toys, some of which have been found buried beneath the ruins of buildings. On the outskirts of the lesser city were extensive tracts set apart for the growth of innumerable flowers, solely for the decoration of temples and dagabas and for the ornamentation of the streets on great Buddhist festal days." An account of Anuradhapura at this time is given in the Mahawansa, in mentioning a visitor who had never been there before. Bathing in the Tissa tank, making offerings at the great Bo-tree and the Thuparama dagaba, and for the purpose of seeing the whole capital, entering the town and purchasing aromatic drugs from the bazaars, he departed out of the northern gate, and gathering uppalla flowers from the uppalla-planted marshes, presented himself to the Brahman." Mr. Parker,' who was in the Irrigation Department, puts the southern gate of the Inner City to the north of Thuparama, which was built in the Nandana garden (also called Jotivana) south of the city, while further south still was the Mahamegho garden which contained the Bo-tree. 1 Architectural Remains (Folio), by J. G. Smither, F.R.I.B.A., no date, circ. 1890. 2 Ancient Ceylon. (Luzac, 1909.) |