No. 63. — 1910.] AGE OF SRI PARAKRAMA BAHU VI. 7 
Of these contemporary works, one of the most important 
from the historical point of view is the Perakumbdsirita , 
ascribed to the priest Sri Rahula. It is a poetical panegyric 
of §ri Parakrama Bahu, containing details of his ancestry 
and celebrating the victories and magnificence of his reign. 
A series of poems called sandesa, or poetical epistles, composed 
during this epoch, contain references to passing historical 
events, and furnish a complete picture of the contemporary life 
of the period. A synopsis of the argument of the sandesa 
poems would afford one an idea of the general character of 
these compositions. The Sinhalese sandesa poem, based on 
the model of Kalidasa's Meghaduta, the " cloud-messenger," 
embodies, as its name implies, a message to be conveyed by 
some bird to the shrine of a god, invoking his blessing 
either on the sovereign or on a member of the royal family, or 
imploring the aid of the divinity for the triumph of the imperial 
arms. The poem generally opens with an apostrophe 
to the particular bird to whom the " message " is to be 
entrusted, next the capital whence he starts is described, and 
the bird bidden to worship the Tooth-relic and take leave of 
the king before setting forth. This affords the poet an 
opportunity to describe the fortifications, the streets, the 
temple of the Tooth, and other sacred and secular buildings 
of the city, and to sing the splendour of the court and the 
glories of the king. Next follows an account of the chief 
villages and towns, the principal landmarks and natural 
features of the country, such as temples, shrines, hospices, 
fortified posts, tanks, mountains, forests, and streams along 
the route by which the carrier bird has to fly. From these 
descriptions, though poetical, and in places highly coloured, a 
discriminating reader may glean many interesting particulars 
regarding the state of the Island and the condition of the 
people. Finally, the city whither the bird is bound and the 
shrine of the god to whom the message is despatched is 
singled out for praise. The sandesa closes with the words 
of the " request " to be breathed into the ear of the divinity, 
and a prayer for the prosperity of the realm and victory for 
the king. The majority of these sandesas were written during 
this epoch, and, as stated before, furnish valuable data for a 
