Kataraya

Katâraya (Sinhala: කටාරය) are a unique feature of monastic caves (guhā-vihāra) and cave temples in Sri Lanka. It refers to a drip line or ledge carved around the mouth of a cave shelter to preserve the interiors and meditating monks from rainwater.^[1]

This ledge protected the interior of the cave from rain water runoff flowing down the external face of the rock.^[2] The donor's name or religious inscriptions were often carved on the face of this ledge.^[3]^[4] These inscriptions have then been used to date when the temples were established. The earliest cave temples have been dated to the Anuradhapura period, around the 2nd century CE.^[5] Immediately below the kataraya, a timber framed, terra-cotta tiled, lean-to roof supported on carved wooden pillars or stone columns (kuluna) with wooden brackets (pekada) forming a protected walkway or verandah (pilla) would be erected.^[2]

R. L. Brohier in his 1973 work, Discovering Ceylon described it as being a "primeval gutter serving as a run-off for the rain which would otherwise trickle down the rock to its base, making the cave inhabitable during the wet season of the year."^[6]

References

^ Mahadevan, Iravatham (2003). Early Tamil Epigraphy from the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. Harvard University Press. p. 133. ISBN 9780674012271.
^ ^a ^b De Vos, Ashley (September 1973). "International Symposium and Training Workshop on the Conservation of Adobe". A Survey of the Painted Mud Viharas of Sri Lanka. Lima, Peru: UNESCO Regional Project on Cultural Heritage and Development.
^ Burrows, Stephen Motnagu (1885). The Buried Cities of Ceylon: A Guide Book to Anuradhapura and Pollonarua : with Chapters on Dambulla, Kalawewa, Mihintale, and Sigiri. A.M. & J. Ferguson. p. 20.
^ Madhyama Saṃskr̥tika Aramudala (2004). The cultural triangle of Sri Lanka. UNESCO Publishers. p. 140. ISBN 9789231028748.
^ Coningham, Robin (1999). "Anuradhapura: The British-Sri Lankan Excavations at Anuradhapura Salagha Watta". Archaeopress: 26. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ Brohier, Richard Leslie (1973). Discovering Ceylon. Colombo: Lake House Investments. p. 90.

[1] Mahadevan, Iravatham (2003). Early Tamil Epigraphy from the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. Harvard University Press. p. 133. ISBN 9780674012271.

[Adobe-2] De Vos, Ashley (September 1973). "International Symposium and Training Workshop on the Conservation of Adobe". A Survey of the Painted Mud Viharas of Sri Lanka. Lima, Peru: UNESCO Regional Project on Cultural Heritage and Development.

[3] Burrows, Stephen Motnagu (1885). The Buried Cities of Ceylon: A Guide Book to Anuradhapura and Pollonarua : with Chapters on Dambulla, Kalawewa, Mihintale, and Sigiri. A.M. & J. Ferguson. p. 20.

[4] Madhyama Saṃskr̥tika Aramudala (2004). The cultural triangle of Sri Lanka. UNESCO Publishers. p. 140. ISBN 9789231028748.

[5] Coningham, Robin (1999). "Anuradhapura: The British-Sri Lankan Excavations at Anuradhapura Salagha Watta". Archaeopress: 26. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[6] Brohier, Richard Leslie (1973). Discovering Ceylon. Colombo: Lake House Investments. p. 90.

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