04 : The Mystery of the Pothgul Vehera Statue | Royal College History Club

Описание: 04 : The Mystery of the Pothgul Vehera Statue

Although several scholars believe it to be the statue of a king, the Pothgul Vehera pilimaya in Polonnaruwa, near the Parakrama Samudra, has been the subject of fierce debate over the decades. Senarat Paranavitana believed it to be of a king, most probably Parakramabahu the Great.

Colonial officials such as S. M. Burrows and H. C. P. Bell had earlier pointed out that it was not of a king, but Paranavitana argued the item the statue is holding was the yoke of a cart meant to symbolise the king's status as the arbiter of justice in his land. Paranavitana further argued that there was no religious expression on the face of the statue.

On the other hand, the late Siri Gunasinghe pointed out in an article written in 1958 that the statue approximated to Agastaya, an Indian rishi, based on comparisons with similar images at the Tivanka Image House not too far away. His argument was that the item being held by the statue was a book.

The debate over the image continues to erupt, with some arguing that it is of Kapila, a rishi who, while not mentioned in the Mahavamsa, is nevertheless present in the narratives. After all, as the Mahavamsa puts it, the king of Polonnaruwa dedicated a cave as the site of Kapila Viharaya. It may be that this Kapila Viharaya was the dwelling space of the subject of the statue.

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