No. 44.— 1893.] 



YAPAHUWA. 



101 



the merit is due of having first drawn attention to these 

 very beautiful ruins. 



Mr. Bailey, who seems naturally offended at the unde- 

 served slight passed on it by Tennent, expressed his opinion 

 that — 



Yapahoo is certainly the finest specimen of exquisite work, .... 

 in point of architectural beauty and richness of design far excels all 

 the ancient capitals of the Island. 



The ruins of the palace — 

 prove that in design and execution the architects of Ceylon, in the 

 thirteenth century, had certainly not deteriorated since the days of 

 their predecessors, when Anuradhapoora flourished. 



The correctness of this judgment is more than amply 

 supported by what has been disclosed by the restoration of 

 some of the ruins in 1887, by Mr. A. E. Williams of the 

 Public Works Department, to whose Report I am indebted 

 for the information as to the progress, completion, and details 

 of the work which he carried out. 



Mr. L. C. Wijesinha, the learned translator of the 

 Mahdwansa, notes — 



The names Subha-pabbata, Subhdchala, Subha-giri, are all meant 

 for the city of Ydpauwa — pabbata, achala. and giri being synonyms for 

 "mountain." Subha-pabbata would mean "the beautiful mountain," 

 and so would the Sinhalese Ydhau, contracted to Ydpau* 



And Mr. P. A. Templer, Government Agent : — 

 The proper Sinhalese name is Yasapauwa — yam meaning fine and 

 pauwa (parvata) a mountain. S and h being interchangeable, Yasa- 

 pauvia became Yahapauwa, and then Yapauwa ; the lost h being ulti- 

 mately transferred to the latter part of the name and making it 

 Yapahuwa-f The natives, even the most intelligent, have never been 

 able to give any explanation of the name, beyond a hesitating 

 reference to d pahu "back again," of which it was supposed to be a 

 corruption. 



The city was founded during the usurpation of Magna, 

 about 1225 A.D. Amongst the chieftains who " had built 

 for themselves in the great strongholds and mountainous 

 parts of the country, cities and hamlets," and " defended the 



* Mahdwansa, XC, p. 315, notes. 



t Administration Reports of the North -Western Province, 1886, p. 45a - 



