Lankatilaka

The image house of Alahanapirivena has been named Lankatilaka. This vault-type monument with its main entrance facing the east is considered as the largest image house built by King Parakramabahu the Great. It comprises three sections, namely, the inner chamber, vestibule and the pavilion and the entrance door, which was of the same height as the principal Buddha image in the inner chamber. In addition to the main entrance, there is another to the right of the pavilion. There are some stone pillars a few yards away in front of the main entrance, which may be the ruins of a pavilion where offerings for the image house were prepared and from where the procession carrying the offerings began. This feature makes the Lankatilaka a unique, sacred monument.

Image Houses of the Anuradhapura period reveal that the circumambulatory path around the Buddha image in the inner chamber was an essential feature. This was usually on the ground floor. But the columns on either side of the Lankatilaka image house show that during the Polonnaruva period, there had been a circumambulatory path even on the upper floor.

Buildings belonging to the gedige (brick building) type, including the Lankatilaka, have roofs made of bricks.

There is another noteworthy feature in the Lankatilaka Shrine Room. It is the central edifice of the Alahanapirivena. During the Anuradhapura period, this place was given to the stupa. It is not clear how this change has taken place. According to Buddhist history, the stupa enshrined with relics takes the central place among sacred monuments; next comes the bodhighara and then the image house. The image house, which earlier came third in prominence, has become the first during the Polonnaruva period, which fact is confirmed by the Lankatilaka.

And image house was present. For examples, the bodhighara to the north of Rankot Vehera and the bodhighara at the sacred quadrangle may be cited. Nothing is so far known about the bodhighara of the Alahanapirivena. If Rankot Vehera and the bodhighara to its north are taken as belonging to the Alahanapirivena, then the Alahanapirivena must be understood as a full-fledged monastery.

The main entrance of this image house faces the east. It could, therefore, be assumed that the figure carved in low relief on the guard stones is that of Dhrtarastra Maharaja, the lord of the east. The woman on the lotus carved on the inner side of the balustrade is Dhrtarastra’s wife. Two attendant women flank her on either side. Just as Dhrtarastra, his wife too, carries in her left hand the pot of plenty and in the right hand a bunch of flowers which rests on her hip. Just as that of Dhrtarastra in the guard stones, her thrice-bent pose belongs to the thrice bent type.

(Heritage of Rajarata by Chandra Wikramagamage P:217, 218)

Unique Sri Lanka

Lankathilaka Image House at Polonnaruwa

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