Architecture of ancient Sri Lanka
Ancient Sri Lankan architecture is also significant to sustainability, notably Sigiriya which was designed as an environmentally friendly structure.
Monasteries were designed using the Manjusri Vasthu Vidya Sastra, a manuscript which outlines the layout of the structure.
The text shows much originality and there is nothing similar in the existing Indian treatises, which deal only with Hindu temples.
[2] The roof and walls were plastered white and finished with decorative paintings, these are evident in the cave temples of Dambulla.
The Kaludiya Pokuna, Mihintale cave temple was constructed with brick walls, granite window openings, and ceilings.
The four vahalkadas face the cardinal points, ornamented with figures of animals, flowers, swans and dwarfs.
The pillars on either side of the vahalkada carry figures of lions, elephants, horses or bulls, depending on the direction of the structure.
[2] The stupas were covered with a coating of lime plaster, plaster combinations changed with the requirements of the design, items used included lime, clay, sand, pebbles, crushed seashells, sugar syrup, white of egg, coconut water, plant resin, drying oil, glues and saliva of white ants.
[2] The fine plaster at Kiri Vehera used small pebbles, crushed seashells mixed with lime and sand were used in the stupas from the 5th to 12th centuries.
The weight was taken by a ring beam supported on the inner row of stone columns, the radiating rafters met in a cartwheel-like design.
These meditation houses achieved a very high degree of perfection in their architecture, the design combined square and rectangular shapes and yet maintained symmetry, indicating the architects' sophisticated knowledge of geometry.
The basements of these buildings were constructed of monumental blocks of stone, cut to different sizes, carefully dressed and very finely fitted together.
The brick shrine with vaulted roof, as seen at Thuparama, Lankatilaka and Tivanka Pilimage, is also considered unique to Sri Lanka.
Roland Silva remarked in 1984 that such an extensive floor space would stagger the designers in Sri Lanka "even today".
A flight of steps led to a central building where there was an imposing pillared hall with a dais at the end.
The innermost royal abode, which was originally a storeyed structure, had a magnificent 360 degree view of the city gardens and countryside below.
A flight of long narrow steps led to an oblong shaped pond that had graduated gangways.
The water was conducted by underground pipelines from the canal nearby and led into the bath by two makara gargoyles.
Also there are significant series of ponds and pools which contains water fountains at the Sigiriya citadel, which marvels the hydro engineering in the ancient Sri Lanka.
Parakramabahu's council chamber was a three-tiered oblong structure built on a broad terrace, facing north, and consisted of an entrance provided with two flights of steps, having a gangway in between at ground level.
The outer court accommodated a refectory, a hot water bath, storerooms and dispensary.
The provision of two open courts in addition to windows ensured maximum ventilation and free circulation of air within the building itself.
A house dated to 450 BCE, built of warichchi (wattle and daub) has been discovered near Kirindi oya.
In medieval times, the rich had large houses built of stone, mortar and lime, with tiled roofs and whitewashed walls.
Lifting and placing of slender stone slabs, twenty feet long, would have needed knowledge of structural mechanics.
Water dripped onto it from several pipes, creating the effect of rain and sending in a cooling breeze.
The platform carrying the mirror wall at Sigiriya and the brick flight of steps stand on steep rock.
The lowest step of an imposing granite stairway that led to the upper storey of Parakramabahu's palace can still be seen.
Sigiriya had an elaborate gatehouse made of timber and brick masonry with multiple tiled roofs.
The palaces at Polonnaruwa and Panduwasnuwara show vertical crevices in the brickwork where wooden columns, consisting of entire trunks of trees, carried the load of the upper floors and roof.
