218 On the Ruins of Anuradhapura, [March, 



is that it was ordered by Dutuynimono to hold his elephant's food when 

 feeding. I should imagine that six elephants could have fed from it at 

 once without incommoding each other. 



The Thupharamaya is certainly the most elegant structure at Anu- 

 radhapura, and exceeds in beauty all the others. The rough sketch of 

 it which I annex may serve to give some idea of its present appearance. 

 A very elegant and well-executed view of its aspect before the restora- 

 tion lately effected by the high-priest may be seen in Major Forbes' 

 account of Ceylon. The dagobah itself consists of the usual semicircu- 

 lar mass of masonry standing on a square platform of flagged brickwork, 

 and surmounted by a tapering spire. The entire height of the building 

 above the plain on which it is situated, and including, of course, the 

 platform on which it stands, I estimated at fifty feet. The columns 

 surrounding it are exceedingly graceful — long, slender and well pro- 

 portioned as they are, they may give us a very favorable idea of the 

 taste of the artists by whom they were designed. They consist of two 

 distinct blocks of granite, one forming a square base and octagonal 

 shaft, both together being twenty-two feet long — the second forming the 

 capital richly ornamented with small human figures standing round the 

 lower part of the projecting ornament, which may be seen at the summit, 

 and adding about two feet to the height of the pillars. Originally there 

 were one hundred and eight of these pillars divided into four rows, stand- 

 ing round the dagobah and issuing from the platform on which it stands 

 — many of them are now fallen down, some have been removed and 

 others lie in the positions in which they fell. 



Six hundred years after the erection of the Thupharamaya a temple 

 was built beside it to contain the celebrated Dalada, or tooth-relic, 

 then first imported into Ceylon. The remains of this temple are still 

 visible, without having any thing about them greatly to distinguish 

 them. 



On looking at the Thupharamaya, the question is naturally suggested 

 to us what was the object of those pillars, and for what purpose were 

 they intended ? To this question I could never get a satisfactory answer. 

 My own impression, however, is, that if not intended as ornaments, they 

 were designed to support a roof which should stretch from the summit 

 of the spire to the outer line, so as to protect the dagobah from the 

 influence of the weather. It is, however, equally true that such a roof 



