SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 29 
THE LANKESVARA GOLD COIN. 
By C. M. FERNANDO, M.A., LL.M. (Cantab.). 
HIS coin is so called because of the fact that it bears upon 
it, in Nagari characters, the legend “Sri Lankesvara.’’ 
‘Sri’ is an honorific word applied to royalty and the priesthood 
‘“*'Lankesvara” is compounded of the two words “ Lanka” and 
‘“‘Isvara,” and signifies “the Lord of Lanka.” There are five 
different types of this coin in the Colombo Museum. These and 
the two coins of Parakrama Bahu are figured in the plates appended 
to this article.” 

Fig. 1.—Sri Lankesvara Type. 
On the obverse of the Lankesvara coin is a standing figure of the 
king. The two curved lines on either side of the legs depict the 
folds of the *‘ dhoti,” or cloth in which he is clad. What appears 
on the head to be a sort of “‘ conical cap,’ as described by Rhys- 
Davids,f is in fact the “‘ konde,” or knot of hair. The konde has 

Fig. 2.—Sri Lankesvara Type. 
from the earliest times been a distinctive feature of the Sinhalese 
*race, and has been so mentioned by ancient writers. Ptolemy speaks 
of the eee length of hair worn by the people of he 


* Prepared from copies made by Mr. F. P. Kandappa, eee of the 
Colombo Museum. 
+ Numismata Orientalia, Part VI., p. 25. 
