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| Wednesday, 10 November 2004 |
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Was the 'Pattirippuwa' a model of the 'Cosmic Mountain?' by Derrick Schokman
The "Pattirippuwa", literally "Lord's Residence," in the Dalada Maligawa complex in Kandy, was built by Chief Craftsman Devendra Mulacharya on the instructions of Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe, the last king of Kandy. Some historians believe that Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe had a god-king mentality. He had ambitions to create another legendary Alakamandawa of his royal palace complex. The Udawattakelle hill was to be the mythical Mount Mahameru (Cosmic Mountain), and the lake he created was to be the "Kiri Muhuda," which when churned produced the "Amrita" or Ambrosial food of the Immortals. The Pathirippuwa was meant to be an Octagonal model of Mount Mahameru. The curvaceous "Valakulu bemma," or cloud parapet surrounding the upper part of the construction, symbolised the "apsara" or cloud nymphs that have been associated with the construction of royal palaces in Cambodia, Vietnam and Sigiriya. The "Diya-reli bemma" with the sharp crests found below, symbolised the waves of the primeval ocean that surrounded the cosmic mountain. There, in the Pathirippuwa, the king would appear to his subjects on ceremonial occasions, or whenever he watched the brutal executions that took place on the "Mahamaluwa" or open ground in front. Originally there were three entrances from the road to the palace-temple complex: one to the palace, another to the audience hall or "Magul Maduwa" and the third to the Dalada Maligawa. In the construction the Pattirippuwa this frontal aspect was changed and replaced with a single entrance through the towered gateway over the moat, as of today. The carved elephants at the gateway were brought from the sub-palace at Kundasale. Lake The construction the lake was completed in 1812. The present island in the lake is all that is left of a wide bund that the king had provided across the lake to let him walk from his palace to the Malwatte Vihara. The island was used as a gun-powder magazine during British times. The present crenellated wall separating the lake from Dalada Vidiya was also built in the British period. It is a copy of the "diya-reli bemma" at the Pattirippuwa. This wall was constructed as a "prettying" job by Governor Sir William Gregory for the visit of the Prince of Wales (Albert Edward later King Edward VII) in 1875. The Pattirippuwa is now a library of Buddhist Texts. Library Most of the books are on olas - strips of young talipot-palm leaves, boiled, dried and made flexible strung together by a hole at the end. An iron stylus was used to write on the olas, and afterwards and ink of incense, charcoal and gum was smeared on the ola and wiped away. Alongside the steps going up into the Pattirippuwa is a little shrine room, containing a beautiful crystal image of the Buddha, which dates from the last years of Kandyan rule. The image is in a sandalwood case, overlaid with silver, gold and inset with ivory. **** Back **** |
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