226 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. of the late Mr. R. W. levers, with the work of survey and excavation at Anuradhapura, including the partial conservation of the crumbling remains, and clearing them of vegetation. This he carried on for a year and a half. 1 In 1890 a general survey was organised, and Mr. H. C. P. Bell of the same service was appointed Archaeological Commissioner. He has supplied Government from time to time with progress reports on his work, especially at Anuradhapura ; 2 but no systematic account with architectural drawings has yet been published to which the student can apply for connected and detailed information. One of the most striking peculiarities of Ceylonese art, as compared with that of the continent, was the almost total absence of sculpture known to us previous to the excavations made within the last thirty-five years. Now, however, there have been brought to light, besides carved capitals, string courses, friezes, and the like a number of statues of Buddha, his disciples and other personages. The Tamil invaders, who often ravaged the richest provinces of the island, were Brahmanical Hindus, and had no respect for Buddhist idols ; whilst the reported wealth of the shrines was a strong temptation to their destruction in search of treasure. The Sinhalese, moreover, were chiefly adherents of the Hinayana school, and had no pantheon to compare with that of the northern schools, and their principal figures would be those of the Buddha with his attendants. Further, as is the case in Burma, where is an unlimited amount of painting and carving, but little sculpture properly so called, something similar may have occurred in Ceylon. So far as we can now see, all the great topes were covered with chunam, which may have been painted to any extent, and all the viharas, as in Burma, were in wood or brick, and consequently unfitted for permanent sculpture. But there are evidences to show that most of the religious struc- tures were ornamented with figures in chunam, in more or less relief; and brick cores are met with on which representa- tions of men and animals were moulded. Besides this, such information as we have would lead us to suppose that painting was a more favoured art with the islanders than sculpture. 1 Between 1875 and 1880 the Ceylon Government had employed first Dr. P. Goldschmidt, and after his death, Dr. Edward Miiller, to copy the inscriptions ; and in 1883 a thin volume of texts and translations, with an accompanying series of plates, was issued by the latter scholar.
- These reports are printed by the
Ceylon Government as 'Sessional Papers,' and the earlier ones are accompanied by rough lithographs of plans and sketches in pen and ink. Mr. Bell, however, issues his reports for 1900 onwards, with "half tone " block illustrations. It is to be hoped the Ceylon Govern- ment, after having incurred the expense of the survey, will not fail to make the results available by adequate publication.
