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JOURNAL, R.A,S. (CEYLON). [VOL. X. 



.and two flights of stone steps, has entirely disappeared. It 

 is situated in, and indeed forms a part of, a paddy field 

 sloping towards the left bank of the Gura-oya. On the 

 occasion of my last visit the field was under cultivation, and 

 the tender rice was shooting in several inches of water within 

 the precincts of what was once a royal palace. The work of 

 measurement having to be accomplished from the narrow 

 ridges, was attended with some difficulty and the risk of 

 partial immersion at every step. 



The plan of the palace buildings was rectangular. They 

 faced the south, and were approached from that quarter by 

 two broad stairs comprising seventeen stone steps. At the foot 

 of the upper flight, and surrounding the palace proper, stood 

 the straw-thatched lines of the king's guards. The steps 

 conducted to an open space, which formed a compound 

 running round the four sides of the main central building 

 between it and the lines of the guards. From the compound 

 there rose another and smaller flight of stone steps, conducting 

 to the verandah of the central edifice and its principal 

 entrance. The three stairs are in a line with one another, 

 and stand immediately in the front and centre of the southern 

 side of the palace. A verandah supported by carved wooden 

 pillars encompassed the central building, which was the 

 palace proper, the quarters of the king. At the north-west 

 corner, situated in the encircling compound, was the Nirdiviya, 

 and on the north side, also in the compound, a tamarind tree, 

 which is still flourishing, spread a grateful shade. The walls 

 of the main building were of chiselled stone, and the roof 

 was covered with tiles, and rose on the four sides to a central 

 ridge running east and west. 



For the above description of the external appearance of the 

 Maligawa I am indebted to Idamegedara Meddumarala Korala, 

 an intelligent headman of some eighty years of age, who 

 remembers having seen it, when it was still standing, in his 

 youth. From the same source I have also gathered that the 

 palace was erected by the king, who was styled by the 

 honorific title of " Medalasse Budu-vechcha Deviyo," between 



