62 
SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
high, the larger.seated on a lotus is 9 in. high and a work of great 
distinction. They were found in the Toluvila pilima-ge, or image- 
house. 
107. This is a small broken bronze plate from the south-east 
corner of Pirivena near Thuparama. 
110. Flower-shaped bronze gejja, or tinkling bell, from the 
Thuparama area. 
126. Bronze bell upwards of 1J in. high, from the site of the 
Buddhist railing at Abhayagiriya. 
130-132. Bronze bowls, 4f-5 in. in diameter, from the kovil 
west of the Y road. 
133. Four-armed bronze image, 3| in. high, from the Sangili 
Kanadara tank. 
134-135. Portions of large bronze lamp stands, with iron core, 
from Etakada, Kadawat korale. One of the pieces is about 2J ft. 
in length. 
138. Colossal bronze cauldron, diameter 3 ft. 7 in., depth 
8J in. It was used for one of those purposes for which cauldrons 
generally are employed, but nobody knows whether it was for 
dyeing priests’ robes or for cooking their food. It was found when 
digging the foundations of the resthouse. Two handle-rings, 
7 in. across, are linked at the sides. It is exceedingly heavy, 
three-quarters to 1 in. thick bronze. 
140. Reliquary over 2 in., shaped like a dagoba, from inside the 
Aralagam Vila Dagoba. 
For many years the Museum has possessed a number of miniature 
bronzes from Anuradhapura, which have been labelled “ Hindu 
Emblems.” These include four small engraved rectangular plaques 
from Ruwanweli Dagoba, a cobra, trisul, vajra, sceptre, fishes, crabs, 
tortoises, a shell, a perforated ring, and above all a swastika. The 
sign of the swastika is not common in Ceylon, though it does occur 
incised upon stone and pottery. It is a symbol of pre-Buddhist 
origin and worldwide distribution, but it must be very rare as a 
separate portable charm. In this condition it appears to represent 
the limitless immensity of space reduced to the dimensions of a 
pocket amulet. Its typical shape is that of a Greek cross with 
the ends of the beams bent at a right angle in one direction either 
to right or to left. In the preface to the second reprint of the 
“ Report on the Old Records of the India Office ” (London, 1891), 
Sir George Birdwood gives an explanation of the ritualistic 
significance of the swastika in Hindu symbolism. He says that 
the “ right hand swastika is, among modern Hindus, a symbol of 
Ganeesa, and is commonly placed by them, instead of the image 
of Ganeesa at the head of invoices and other papers. It is also the 
symbol of the sun in his diurnal course ” from East to West, and it 
