Samadhi Statue, Guard-stones and Moonstones

by ACB Pethiyagoda

This ‘Pilima Vahanse’ is said to belong to the Abeygiriya period of the third or fourth century of Sri Lanka’s history. It is not known in whose period of rule it was sculptured but is thought to be one of four similar statues facing the North, South, East and West – this faces North.

The statue was found in 1888, with the nose damaged, at the very site it is now in. Ravenhart in his “Ceylon – History in Stone” says that the repaired nose is over sharp and overlarge. Perhaps the repair was carried out by an ordinary mason who had no idea of proportions or aesthetics. This is not unusual, as there are many such instances of poor quality repairs in this country of damaged statues, stone carvings and particularly restoration of ancient temple paintings.

The Statue is 7’3″ in height, hewn from a single granite rock and said to have had two jewels for the eyes which are said to have gone missing in around 1914. The veracity of this is in question as the eves are closed with no place for jewels. The canopy over the statue was constructed in 1959/60.

Ananda Coomaraswamy wrote that the statue is “certainly the created work of art in Ceylon and is not surpassed in India”

Jawaharlal Nehru admired it when he first saw the statue in 1931. A year later, when he was in the Dehra Dun, jail a friend in Ceylon sent him a picture which he had with him in his cell and “it became a precious companion” he said.

Benjamin Rawland in his book “Art and Architecture of India” describes the statue as “The perfect embodiment of the idea of Samadhi (which) is conveyed through the very simplicity of conception; the perfect material equilibrium of the figure connotes the perfect mental state of the Sakyamuni through the massive stability of the triangular base formed by the inter locked legs mounted by the erect column body which supports the perfectly impassive mask like face.”

The Samadhi statue is symbolic of the tranquility of mind, with no attraction or repulsion from the world outside to disturb.

Guard-stones

The guard-stone or ‘doratupala/muragala’ at the top of the flight of steps which follow the moonstone leading to the Isurumuniya Rock temple was built by King Devanampiya Tissa in the Golden Age of Anuradhapura. It is one of the eight places (Atamasthana) of Buddhist worship in Anuradhapura.

The figure is of a Naga – a mythical human species closely associated with cobras whose function is to protect Buddhist temples from evil influences and to ensure peace, serenity, piety and prevent theft and sacrilege. Nagas carved on granite as guardians of places of worship built during the Anuradhapura period of Sri Lanka’s history are common. The workmanship is delicate and exquisite but bear a distinct Indian influence. In later times, such as the Polonnaruwa period the carvings are said to be inferior in quality and beauty.

The Nagas on guard stones are richly bejewelled, crowned and adorned with a halo of five or nine cobra hoods. This particular carving carries five such hoods. The chest is bare but the neck, ears, waist and ankles are decked in jewelry with a sword at the waist.

The figure is protected by three arches and in the Naga’s left hand is a vase of flowers while the right hand carries a sprig of flowers with a pot of flowers at its feet – all being symbols of prosperity. At the feet are also two Ganas or dwarfs who are believed to be attendants of Kuvera, the God of Wealth.

Moonstones

The Sinhala for the moonstone is ‘Sandakadapahana’ (sanda-moon, kanda-half, and pahana stone). It is a semi circular slab of hard granite, gneiss or limestone, depending on ready availability and is the first in a flight of steps leading to a Buddhist place of worship. These are richly decorated in concentric semi circular bands of low relief carvings of flowers, creepers, birds and animals. Many scholars regard moonstones as some of the finest examples of the ancient Sinhalese artists, which is the reason for reference to them in the Mahavamsa itself.

The moonstone is also called Irahandagala’; (ira-sun, handa-moon, gala-stone) in Sinhala. The sun comes into the word because from the earliest of times very many cultures of the world venerated the sun as giver of life, fertility and growth. The ancient Sinhala people were no different as the sun was given a predominant place in their poetry, paintings, sculpture, flags, etc.

Its importance is such that their main cultural and social celebration, the Sinhala New Year, around the April 14 each year, is related to positions of the sun. Thus the significant position of the lotus flower in the moonstone emphasizes the importance of the sun to life itself and is symbolized by the flower which blooms with the rising sun and stays open only so long as it shines.

The moonstone is therefore considered to have beneficial magical powers which ensures prosperity when people came in physical contact with it even by merely stepping on it. The moonstone was the first step to the entrance of the then temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at Anuradhapura and is described as a classic example of the “best of the class of the decorated type of moonstone…..”

The protective wrought iron fence erected round it in recent times, does not unfortunately allow a picture to be taken in bright sunlight without its shadow falling on some part of the subject at most times of the day unless taken from a considerable height, requiring specialized equipment or perhaps under conditions of overcast skies.

The centre panel of this moonstone consists of two rows of lotus petals followed by a row of geese between two rows of a creeper followed by a panel consisting of elephants, horses, lions and bulls. The outermost semi circle depicts flames of fire.

S. Paranavitana in his “Significance of the Sinhalese Moonstone” explained as follows the significance of each carved panel which according to him represents a spiritual stage in a human’s ascent to Nirvana.

“i. the arc of flower petals (palapethi) motif; the fires of worldly existence.

ii. the arc of four beasts – elephant, lion, horse and bull : the four mortal perils birth, disease, decay and death

the arc of undulating scrolls of leaves and flowers forming the liyavel piyaveli motif; desire or craving (tanha)

iii. the arc of swans or geese (hansa): the thoughtful ones who have left their worldly abodes.

the arc containing a second liyavela motif: the heavenly worlds.

iv. the arc of lotus petals turned outwards, the arc of lotus petals turned inwards and seed-cup in the centre forming together half a lotus: Nirvana.”

All moonstones do not follow this decorative arrangements as some have a panel or two more indicating that the ancient sculptors enjoyed a great deal of freedom in the expression of their art. Some are even more than a semi circle in shape while in others the innermost panel with the lotus flower are raised and are at a higher level than the other panels. Some moonstones of the later part of the Polonnaruwa period are devoid of the bull as in those times the influence of Hinduism was significant and stepping on a figure of the bull was considered sacrilegious as the cow is sacred to Hindus.

Paranvitana saw a “deep metaphysical interpretation” in the panels while D.T. Devendra thought the moonstone was a mere decorated doormat. While the choice between the two very divergent views is the reader’s, only the ancient sculptors themselves knew the reason for their labours. Some of them could have been inspired by great religious fervour while others may have carried out the task purely for material rewards. On the other hand it could have even been a mix of both. We would never know for certain.

V. Vitharana in his essay, “The Moonstone and its Fertility Associations” supports Paranavitana’s interpretation and goes further to say that moonstones are so numerous in Sri Lanka that even an approximation of the numbers is difficult to make. With excavations going on more are likely to add to these numbers.

The origin of the moonstone is traced to the time of the Buddha. It is said that the floors of the Pabbarama monastery in Savarthi built by the wealthy devotee, Visakha, were covered entirely with rich and rare cloth before she offered it to the Lord. Another wealthy lady who also wished to offer such a cloth could however not find a place to lay it on.

Ananda Thero seeing the lady’s disappointment advised her to place her offering at the foot of the stairway leading to the building where the Buddha and monks in attendance would step on after their feet were washed at the entrance to the building. This was done and since that time the first step at the entrance to places of Buddhist worship began to be beautified in various ways and in due course with stones decorated with carvings. At first the carvings were very simple and as time went on these became more elaborate resulting in the moonstones seen today.

Hence, the origin of the moonstone was in India and was later introduced to Sri Lanka with the advent of Buddhism. C. Godakumbura in his book ‘Moonstones’ describes a few seen in Andhra, Sanchi, Ajanta and Elora and goes on to say that some of those were partly decorated while others were carved fully but all these had a connection with Buddhist places of worship. Later on even entrances to palaces came to be adorned with moonstones.

Among the hundreds of moonstones available in Sri Lanka, a few of the most outstanding in beauty and technical perfection are said to be the ones described above and those at Mahasena’s pavilion in the Abayagiri area, in the premises of the Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura and the Vatadage in Polonnaruwa.

The moonstone at the entrance to the Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy was of exquisite beauty and perfection but was marred by the LTTE terrorists when they attacked the temple.

(These articles by the late ACB Pethiyagoda were first published in this newspaper in 2001 and 2002. The author was a retired tea planter who ended his career managing Ceylon Tobacco Company’s agricultural projects.)