Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/262

228 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. In Ceylon the case is different. Though the great capitals were early deserted, the mass of the people are still Buddhists, as they have been for the last 2000 years, and there, consequently, cities are still found adorned with monuments, which, though in ruins, convey a sufficient impression of what those of India must have been in the days of her glory. Anuradhapura seems to have become the capital of Ceylon about 370 years before Christ, or about a century after the death of Buddha, and the fabled introduction of his religion into the island. It was not, however, till about B.C. 240, that it became a sacred city, and one of the principal capitals of Buddhism in the East, which it continued to be till the 9th century. Then, owing to the repeated and destructive invasions of the Malabars, an alternative capital was formed at Polonnaruwa, which gradually supplanted Anuradhapura, and became the sole capital till the I3th century. That city reached its period of greatest prosperity and extension, apparently in the reign of Parakrama Bahu I., 1153-86, and then sank during a long and disastrous period into decay. The seat of Government, after 1236, was moved hither and thither, till the country fell into the hands of the Portuguese and Dutch, and finally succumbed to our power. ANURADHAPURA. The city of Anuradhapura until within quite recent years stood almost deserted in the midst of dense and sparsely inhabited 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 had been at work for 1000 years, stripping off all traces of plaster ornaments, and splitting the masonry in many places. Now, however, it is a prosperous town of about 4000 inhabitants, the capital of the North-Central Province, and on the railway from Colombo to Jaffna. The very desolation, however, of its situation has preserved the ancient monuments from other and greater dangers. No bigoted Moslim 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 only to a limited extent have English officials rendered them available for mending station roads and bridges. 1 We may be sure, however, that these ruins 1 As in India, the ruins in Ceylon have suffered at the hands of the Public Works : thus we learn that " countless pillars and steps have been broken up to go into