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



temple, the visitor is impressed with the idea that the priests 

 have shown less solicitude for the temple itself or the 

 convenience of worshippers, than for their personal comfort 

 and ease ; for, while the sleeping and cooking apartments 

 take up nearly two-thirds of the rock-roofed interior, only 

 an insignificant segment of it is walled off to serve the pur- 

 pose of a vihare. 



The temple was built, it is said, during the reign of King 

 Devanampiyatissa, who endowed it with considerable im- 

 movable property. Its present appurtenances extend over 40 

 amunams of high and low land. A stone pillar, about three 

 feet high, resembling a milestone, stands on the right of the 

 entrance to the temple, and is said to contain the dedication. 

 The front of the stone exhibits a rude engraving of a crow and 

 a dog, and below three rows of an inscription in ancient 

 Sinhalese characters, which the natives invariably style 

 " ndgara" and believe indicate some hidden treasure. The 

 back of the stone contains nine rows of an inscription in a 

 good state of preservation. The figures of the animals 

 signify, according to the interpretation of the natives, a 

 curse, threatening that whosoever shall violate the property 

 of the priesthood shall be punished by being re-born in the 

 ignoble shape of one of these animals.* 



Inside the temple there is a small image of Buddha, about 

 ft. in height, in a sitting posture, with two other smaller 

 ones on either side, and the central figure is surmounted by 

 a makara torana. The roof is painted with the Su-visi- 

 vivaranaya, and the walls with Rahat priests and other 

 fantastic devices. There is a bo-tree in the premises, which 

 is said to have been raised from a twig brought from 

 Anuradhapura. 



About half a mile from the temple lies a square column of 

 granite, under the outspreading branches of an old and 

 venerable nuga-tree. The column is about eight feet in height 



* See G-oldschmidt's ''Report of Inscriptions found in the North-Central 

 Province." (Sessional Paper IX.. 1875.) 



