CHAP. VII.] 



THE FIXE ARTS. 



481 



sacred. Dutugaimunu, according to the Mahawanso, 

 when about to build the Euanwelle dagoba, consulted a 

 mason as to the most suitable form, who, "filling a 

 golden dish with water, and taking some in the palm of 

 his hand, caused a bubble in the form of a coral bead to 

 rise on the surface ; and he replied to the king, ' In this 

 form will I construct it. ' " l Two dagobas at Anaraja- 

 poora, the Abay-a-giri and Jeyta-wana-rama, still retain 

 their, original outline, the Euanwelle, from age and 

 decay, has partly lost it, the Thupa-rama is flattened on 

 the top as if suddenly brought to a close ; and the Lanka- 

 rama is shaped like a bell. 



Monasteries and Wiharas. According to the annals 

 of Ceylon the construction of dwellings for the de- 

 votees of Buddha preceded the erection of temples for 

 his worship. Originally the anchorite selected a cave 

 or some shelter in the forest as his place of repose or 

 meditation. 2 In the Eajavali Devenipiatissa is said to 

 have " caused caverns to be cut in the solid rock at 

 the sacred place of Mihintala ; " 3 and these were the 

 earliest residences for the higher orders of the priest- 

 hood in Ceylon, of which a record has been preserved. 

 A less costly substitute was found in the erection of 

 detached huts of the rudest construction, in which 

 may be traced the embryo of the Buddhist mon- 

 astery ; and the king Walagambahu was the first, 

 B.C. 89, to gather these scattered residences into groups 

 and " build wiharas in unbroken ranges, conceiving 

 that thus their repairs would be more easily ef- 

 fected." 4 



1 Mahawanso, ch. xxx. p. 175. 



This legend as to the origin of the 

 semicircular form of the dagoba is at 

 variance with the conjecture of Major 

 FORBES, that these vast structures 

 were merely an advance on the 

 mounds of earth similar to the barrow 



VOL. I. 1 



of Halyattes, which in the progress of 

 the constructive arts, came to be con- 

 verted into brickwork. Eleven Years 

 in Ceylon, v. i. p. 222. 



z Mahawanso, c. xxx. p. 174. 



3 Rajavali, p. 184 



4 Mahawamo, ch. xxxiii. p. 207. 



