52 JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XIII. 



KURUNeGALA : ANCIENT AND MODERN. 



Unlike other cities and royal capitals of a by-gone age, 

 with 



Temples, palaces, and piles stupendous, 

 Of which the very ruins are tremendous, 



there is nothing to indicate or even suggest that the modern 



town of Kurunegala was once the seal of kings. Time's 



effacing finger seems to have obliterated almost every vestige, 



and written the word " Ichabod " od every part of this once 



romantic imperial capital. It has passed away — 



The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, 

 The solemn temples, the great globe itself. 

 Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, 

 And, like the baseless fabric of a vision, 

 Leave not a wreck behind. 



But for the natural landmarks, such as Eta-gala, Ibbd-gaZa? 

 and Kuruminiya-gala, in the neighbourhood of which it is 

 said " the noble-city of Hatthigiri lay," it would be impossible 

 to identify even the site which it occupied upwards of seven 

 hundred years ago. 



Judging by the physical bounds given in the Vistaraya^ 

 and the length, the breadth, and the circumference assigned 

 thereto by Kadaim-pot, the city and its immediate surround- 

 ings must have embraced an area at least ten times that 

 which is now covered by the modern town, recalling to mind 

 the well-known lines of Coleridge : — 



So twice five miles of fertile ground 

 With walls and towers were girdled round : 

 And there were gardens bright, and sinuous rills, 

 Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ; 

 And here were forests ancient as the hills. 

 Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. 



Nowhere can be found a description of the city and its 

 palaces, but an adequate idea may be formed of the magni- 

 ficence and splendour which characterised the city from the 

 graphic account which the Mahdwansa (Chapter LXXXV., 

 yv. 62 and 63) records of some of the temples. 



