Moonstone, a master piece of Sri Lankan Sculptures

Moonstones: is one of the unique master pieces of Sri Lankan sculpture. It is called Sandakada Pahana in Sinhala. It mostly can be found at the foot of a flight of steps to a shrine, in a semi-circular slab of stone. Some archeologists say it has come from the Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda of India, along with other forms of art and very much developed in Sri Lanka. Many different interpretations have been given by scholars based on small differences in the shapes of the moonstones. Prof. Paranavitana, one of the Sri Lankan great Archeologists, basing his arguments mainly on the Abhayagiri moonstones says that the outer circle with the flame depicts the secular world as burning in fire and the design with four animals symbolizing birth, decay, disease and death. It represents the passage of beings through a cycle of births and deaths called samsara. The creepers depict desire of craving, while the row of swans represents purity. The lotus in the centre depicts the Suddhavasa Brahma world. The flight of steps indicates the stages of attainment (patipada) which lead to the final release from transmigration (samsara).

However, the above interpretation is not accepted by some scholars. Some say the four animals and the lotus which are the two common features of the moonstone represent “never warmed” mythical lake Anavatapta. The fully opened lotus flower may well represent the lotus pool (padmakara) while the four animals namely elephant, bull, horse, and lion represent the sacred rivers namely Sindhu, Ganga, Vaksa, and Sita flowing around the lake from the four outlets of the four animals. The serpent king who is supposed to be the guardian of the lake, known as Ananta may well in this case represent the Naga King in the guard stones on either side of the moonstone.