Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/281

CHAP. VIII. POLONNARUWA. 245 and still further to the right another of Buddha, lying down in the conventional attitude of his attaining Nirvana. This figure is 46 ft. long, while the standing one is only 23 ft. high. 1 These Nirvana figures are rare in India, but there is one in the most modern cave at Ajanta, No. 26, 23 ft. 3 in. long (Wood- cut No. 29 on page 101), and others in the latest caves at Nasik and Salsette. None of these, however, so far as I know, ever attained in India such dimensions as this. Not far south of the Gal Vihara stands one of the principal religious groups of the city, consisting first of the Jetawanarama Temple, built of brick, 170 ft. long by 70 ft. wide, with walls 12 ft. in thickness covered with chunam, and still about 70 ft. high. It was divided into two halls, the inner or shrine being wider than the outer or eastern one, and containing an erect statue of Buddha built of brick, 58 ft. in height, much injured. The entrance is flanked by two polygonal turrets, on the bases of which were dwarpalas or yakshas in high relief, and the highly carved stone steps at the entrance were each 20 ft. long. On the north side of it is the Kiri Dagaba about 70 ft. in diameter and nearly 100 ft. in height with two smaller topes, standing on raised platforms ; the whole space, measuring 577 ft. by 500 ft, was apparently at one time entirely filled with objects of religious adoration. The whole certainly belongs to the age of Parakrama Bahu I. It was, however, built of brick, and plastered, which gives it an appearance of inferiority even beyond what is due to the inferior style of that age. Next in importance to this is the Rankot Dagaba, about 500 yards south of the Jetawanarama, 186 ft. in diameter, and of about the same in height. This, though only half that of some of those in the older capital, is still larger than any known to exist on the continent of India. It is ascribed to Kirti Nissanka Malla, a Kalinga prince, at the end of the 1 2th century, and is in fair preservation. Its base is surrounded, like those in Burma, by eight small brick shrines two at each of the cardinal points having conical roofs, and between each pair is an dsana, or seat for a Dhyani Buddha. At some five furlongs south from this stands the Sat Mahal Prasada (Woodcut No. 1 37), which is one of the most interest- ing buildings of the place, as it is one of the most perfect representations existing of the seven-storeyed temples of Assyria. 1 There are two colossal statues of Buddha, one at Sseseruwa, in the North- Western Province, 39 ft. 3 in. high, the other at a place called Aukana, to the east of the Kalawsewa tank, in the North Central Province, 39 ft. high. They are extremely similar to one another, and except in dimensions and position of the arms to that at the Gal Vihara. 'Sessional papers, 'xl., 1904, pp.6and 12. A descriptive inventory of the monu- ments of Ceylon is a great desideratum.