ANCIENT BRONZES. 
61 
Nos. 81 to 84 are four-armed guardian demi-gods, 10J in. high, 
from Puliyankulam. Beneath the four cardinal portico entrances 
or doratu at this monastery cellas like those at Vijayarama were 
opened. Each contained a bronze figure of its proper guardian 
god, but not double-bodied, and unaccompanied by the animals. 
(Bell, Annual Report, 1896, Sessional Paper XLI., 1904, page 3.) 
Nos. 85, a wheel-shaped object, the Dharmachakra, mounted on a 
stand, 8 in. high, with a thin plate of silver on each side ; 86, 
an object shaped like a parasol, 6^ in. high ; 88, a small bronze 
label with Sinhalese inscription, were also found at Puliyan¬ 
kulam.* 
92. Miniature Sri Patula,f sacred footprints in relief, like a seal, 
1| in. long, from the “ Tamil ruins walawa ” ; this is quite unique, 
and offers a capital example of the rendering in miniature of a sacred 
symbol, which was usually executed in stone on a large scale. The 
Museum possesses a number of such stones, formerly used as 
offering slabs. 
93. Bronze bell, 6J in. high, found below Basawakkulam 
bund, south of the cross road. 
95. Sedent bronze image, over 3 in. high, from the alms-hall 
near the former resthouse. 
96. Large bronze panel, thick and heavy, 20 in. by 7 in., 
beautifully embossed, with traces of gilding. This is one of the gems 
of the collection, and will probably be illustrated in a forthcoming 
work on Indian Art to be written for the Clarendon Press by Mr. 
Vincent A. Smith. 
97. Bronze statuette of a demi-god or king, 20J in. high. 
This was dug up in 1898 to the south of Thuparama Dagoba, near 
Basawakkulam. Before the discovery of the 1907 Polonnaruwa 
bronzes, this statuette was considered to be the highest artistic 
achievement in bronze in Ceylon. There is the usual wealth of 
parure without the usual stiffness; on the contrary, the pose is elegant 
and the proportions just. It is probable that it will afford another 
illustration for the work to which allusion has been made. 
98. Thirty-nine flat sheets of bronze (only one of which is 
exhibited), each 5 in. square, with a round hole in the centre, 
found south of the south pavilion near Basawakkulam. 
99-101. Two sedent images of Buddha and the shaft of a parasol 
fitting into the back of one of them. The smaller image is 3J in. 
* The Dharmachakra (No. 85) was found in 1896 in a brick-built cella under 
the pavement in Vihare No. 2 of the Puliyankulam monastery. 
A similar cella in the middle of Vihare No. 3, belonging to the same monas¬ 
tery, contained a metal patra , or begging-bowl. This is probably the bowl 
numbered 173 below on page 71 (Archgeological Survey, Annual Report for 
1896, Sessional Paper XLI., 1904). 
j Called also Sri Pada. Adam’s Peak is the Sri Pada kanda 
