as not at first sight to be apparent, or the effect is far from pleasing. In all the best Indian examples, however, these defects seem to have

been avoided with singular taste and judgment.

CHAPTER III.

CEYLON.

CONTENTS.

Great monastery and

Description of ruins at Anuradhapoora - Ruins at Mehentele
sacred tree at Anuradhapoora - Ruins of Pollonarua.

It will have been observed that none of the remains of Buddhism in India are found in the great cities. We are enabled to judge of the greatness and splendour of the buildings which have there perished from the ancient capital of the island of Ceylon, which still retains, though in ruins, the greater part of the religious monuments that adorned it in the days of its greatness.

Anuradhapoora became the capital of Ceylon about 400 years before Christ, or about a century and a half after the death of Buddha, and the fabled introduction of his religion into the island. It was not, however, till after the lapse of another 150 years that it became a sacred city, and one of the principal capitals of Buddhism in the East, which it continued to be till about the year 769, when, owing to the repeated and destructive invasions of the Malabars, the capital was removed to Pollonarua. That city flourished for two centuries; and after that, during a long period of disastrous decay, the seat of government was moved hither and thither, till the country fell into the hands of the Portuguese and Dutch, and finally succumbed to our power.

The city of Anuradhapoora is now totally deserted in the midst of an uninhabited jungle. Its public buildings must have suffered severely from the circumstances under which it perished, exposed for centuries to the attacks of foreign enemies. Besides this, the rank vegetation of Ceylon has been at work for 1000 years, stripping off all traces of plaster ornaments, and splitting the masonry in many places.

But the very desolation of its situation has preserved these ancient monuments from other and greater dangers. No bigoted Moslem has pulled them down to build mosques and monuments of his own faith;

no indolent Hindu has allowed their materials to be used for private purposes or appropriated as private plunder; and no English magistrate has yet rendered them available for mending station-roads and bridges. We may be sure, therefore, that these ruins deserve the greatest attention from the student of Buddhist architecture, and that a vast fund of information may be drawn from them when once they shall have been sufficiently explored and described.

For ten centuries Anuradhapoora continued the capital of Ceylon. Alone of all Buddhist cities it retains something like a complete series of the remains of its greatness during that period. We possess, moreover, in the Mahawanso and other Ceylonese scriptures, a tolerably authentic account of the building of all these monuments, and of the purposes to which they were dedicated.

Among the vestiges of former grandeur still to be found at Anuradhapoora, are the ruins of seven dome-shaped topes or dagobas, of one monastery, of a building erected to contain the sacred Bo-tree, and several other ruins and antiquities. Among these is the great mound, called the tomb of the usurper Elaala, but more probably it is a tope erected by the king Dootoogamoni to commemorate the victory over that intruder which he gained on this spot about the year 161 B.C. As it is now a mere mound, without any distinguishable outline, it will not be again alluded to.

Two of the topes are of the largest size known one, the Abayagiri, was erected 88 B.C.; its dome is exactly hemispherical, and described with a radius of 180 ft., being thus more than 1100 ft. in circumference, and with the base and spire making up a total elevation of 244 ft., which is only 16 ft. less than the traditional height of 120 cubits assigned to it in the Mahawanso.' It was erected by a king Walagambahu, to commemorate his reconquest of his kingdom from some foreign usurper who had deposed him and occupied his throne for about 16 years.

The second tope is the Jetawana, erected by a king Mahasen, A.D. 275. In form and dimensions it is almost identical with the last described, though somewhat more perfect in outline, and a few feet higher, owing probably to its being more modern than its rival. These two were commemorative monuments, and not relic-shrines.

Next to these, but far more important from its sacredness, is the Ruanwelle tope, erected by king Dootoogamoni, between the years 161 and 137 B.C., over a very imposing collection of relics, of which a full account is given in the 31st chapter of the Mahawanso. Its dimensions are very similar to those of the two last described, but it has been so much defaced, partly by violence, and partly, it seems, from a failure of the foundations, that it is not easy to ascertain either its original shape or size. The same king erected another smaller tope, 260 ft. in diameter. It is now known as the Mirisiwellya. Like the last described it is very much ruined, and not particularly interesting, either from its form or history.

The cubit of Ceylon is nearly 2 ft. 3 in.

Besides these four large buildings there are two considerably smaller ones, known as the Thuparamya and Lanka Ramaya, very similar to one another in size and arrangement. The first named is represented in woodcut No. 31. The tope itself, though small and

Its

somewhat ruined, is of a singularly elegant bell-shaped outline. diameter and height are nearly the same, between 50 ft. and 60 ft.; and it stands on a platform raised about 9 ft. from the ground, on which are arranged three rows of pillars, which form by far the most important architectural ornament of the building. The inner circle stands about 2 ft. from the mound, and the other two about 10 ft. from each other. The pillars themselves are monoliths 26 ft. in height, of which the lower part, to the height of 9 ft., is left square, each side being about 1 ft. The next division, 14 ft. 6 in. in length, has the angles cut off, as is usual in this style, so as to form an octagon; the two parts being of one piece of granite. These sustain a capital of the same material, 2 ft. 6 in. in height.

Accounts differ as to the number of the pillars, as Mr. Knighton says there were originally 108; whereas Capt. Chapman counted 149, and states the original number to have been 184.2

This relic-shrine was erected by the celebrated king Devenampiatissa, about 250 years B.C., to contain the right jawbone of Buddha, which-say the Buddhist chroniclers-descending from the skies, placed itself on the crown of the monarch. As contemporary with Asoka, it belongs to the most interesting period of Buddhist history, and is older than anything now existing on the continent of India so far as we at present know; and there is every reason to suppose it

J. A. S. B. for March, 1847, p. 218.

2 Transactions R. A. S., vol. iii. p. 474, and J. R. A. S.

now exists as nearly as may be in the form in which it was originally designed, having escaped alteration, and, what is more unusual in a Buddhist relic-shrine, having escaped augmentation. When the celebrated Tooth relic was brought hither from India at the beginning of the fourth century, it was placed in a small building erected for the purpose on one of the angles of the platform, instead of being placed, as seems generally to have been the case, in a shrine on its summit, and eventually made the centre of a new and more extended erection. Perhaps it was an unwillingness to disturb the sacred circle of pillars that prevented this being done, or it may have been that the Tooth relic, for some reason we do not now understand, was destined never to be permanently hid from the sight of its adorers. It is certain that. it has been accessible during the last two thousand years, and is the only relic of its class that seems to have been similarly preserved and exhibited.

The Lanka Ramaya is extremely similar to the last, though considerably more modern, having been erected A.D. 221, and looks of even more recent date than it really is, in consequence of a thorough repair it has undergone within the last few years, which has nearly obliterated its more ancient features.

There is still another, the Saila tope, within the limit of the city, but so ruined that its architectural features are undistinguishable, though tradition would lead us to suppose it was the oldest in the place, even belonging to a period anterior to the present Buddha. The spot at all events is said to have been hallowed by the presence of the preceding one.

Besides these, there are on the hill of Mehentele, a few miles to the north-east of the city, two important relic-shrines: one of the first class erected on its summit to cover a hair that grew on the forehead of Buddha over his left eyebrow. The other, on a shoulder of the hill immediately below this, is of the same class as the Thuparamya; a small central building surrounded by concentric rows of granite pillars, which, as appears to have been the principle of this mode of decoration, rose to half the height of the central mound.

There are besides these a great number of topes of various sorts scattered over the plain, but whether any of them are particularly interesting, either from their architecture or their history, has not been ascertained, nor will be till the place is far more carefully surveyed than it has yet been.

There is another ruin at Anuradhapoora, which, if a little more perfect, would be even more interesting than these topes. It now goes by the name of the Maha Lowa Paya, or Great Brazen Monastery. We have a full account in the Mahawanso of its erection by the pious king Dootoogamoni (161 B.c.), according to a plan procured from heaven for the purpose, as well as a history of its subsequent destruction and rebuildings.

When first erected it is said to have been 100 cubits or 225 ft. square, and as high as it was broad; the height was divided into nine stories, each containing 100 cells for priests, besides halls and other