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image house lankathilaka, in polonnaruwa, the beauty spot of
lanka as the name suggests was built by king Parakramabahu,
(1153-1186) lying on the
South of Kiri Vehera with a huge standing Buddha statue with
a height of forty one feet. But, only its torso now stands. This Buddha statue
is set against a screen wall. A narrow passage appears just there. The lankathilaka
inner shrine measures 26 feet in length by 13ft 6 on breadth. On either
side of the passage, the floor has been raised to a height of 2ft 4 in and on
these raised aisles have been planted stone pillars, square in section with
capitals. On each side are 17 free standing pillars which must have supported
the upper storey, a wooden construction.
It is from the vestibule that two flights of
stairs lead up, north & south, to the upper floor. The lankathilaka image
house is ornamented with relief of buildings in the niches. The facades are
ornamented with geese & leogriphs. The chronicle describes the appearance
of the building & says that it was a charming images house of five storey
adorned with ornaments of flowers & creepers, and with figures of gods
& brahmas and embellished with buildings, turrets, grottoes, apartments
& halls, space was provided by the
architects to view the Buddha image without any interruption from the main
entrance a feature that gives a majestic appearance to the lankathilaka image
house is the two polygonal piers which flank the main entrance. Though the
preserved fragment of the present piers is 58 ft each in height, the original
must have been nearly double. The exterior walls are articulated by four
fictitious strays separated by strongly moulded cornices & divided by
pilasters in to decorative panels ornamented by representation of pavilions,
all delicately sculpted in brick with a fine coating of stucco.
The
brick built image house of lankathilaka with the standing Buddha images also
image also made out of brick was built by king parakramabahu probably on a site
of an earlier temple. In front of the lankathilaka is a pillared “mandapa” on a
stylobate 36ft 6 in squre from which bays 18ft 6 in by a ft. were thrown out on
all four sides. There are 40 stone pillars & they are chastely carved.
An
inscription on the inner side wall of the south balustrade of the image house
record that this monument was repaired later by king vijayabahu iv
between 1270-1272 AD.
