A peep at our engineering heritage

Saturday, 20 July 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By D.C. Ranatunga A VISIT to the newly-opened ‘National Engineering Heritage Gallery’ in the National Museum in Colombo is fascinating. It displays the engineering and technological skills of the ancient Sinhalese. The National Engineering Heritage Gallery presents the engineering knowledge and the technology used in the days of the ancient kings from the Anuradhapura period (3rd century BC) onwards in building stupas, tanks and other archaeological marvels. In the Gallery are selected sites where construction technology and other allied subjects are discussed. Three sites selected are the Jetavana stupa, Sigiriya and the engineering marvel – the ‘Bisokotuwa’. In addition to models and enlarged photographs, large panels discuss the technology used and the visitor is taken through audio- visual presentations of each.

The project has been sponsored by Sampath Bank as part of its CSR program, working closely with the Institute of Engineers of Sri Lanka. Though there was lot of talk about the engineering skills of the ancient Sinhalese, this is the first time that a gallery has been set up to show and demonstrate these in one place. Lot of effort had gone into the planning of the gallery and a walkthrough gives a lot of insight into the knowledge that the ancient Sinhalese possessed. Take the example of the Jetavana stupa in Anuradhapura. The model of the stupa has been cut in half. One half shows the stupa as we see it today and the other half is open detailing out the construction technology used. The Jetavana Dagoba, built by King Mahasena towards the end of the third century, is the largest stupa in Sri Lanka with a diameter of 367 feet at its base and even in its ruined condition stood at a height of 232 feet. It has the distinction of being the world’s largest brick building of all times. The designs of stupas in Sri Lanka closely followed those of India where the best examples are at Sanchi. Discussing the structure of a stupa, Professor Senerat Paranavitana says: “The main feature of the stupa was the bubble-shaped dome which rose from a triple-based platform. The dome was surmounted by a square wood or stone railing which later became a cube of brick masonry. A stone pillar embedded in the dome rose above the railing. The stupa was crowned by an umbrella (‘chattra’) or a series of umbrellas. The railings and gateways of the early stupas were of wood and have perished. It is the superstructure of the stupas i.e. the portion above the dome that underwent development in later times.” During the archaeological investigations it has been found that the interior of the Jetavana stupa is constituted of different materials arranged in different orders. A panel describes these. The rings at the base are above the foundation. In the half that is opened up (in the photograph), on the right can be seen the outermost past of the dome, the zone next to the outermost past, the interior zone consisting of wall segments, and the middle part of the dome. On the left on top is the ‘hatares kotuwa’ (square chamber). The plaster can be noticed below the chamber. It has been revealed that the bricks used for the foundation were fully burnt full size bricks. Detailed specifications of these are given in the descriptive panel. When the rock surface was not even it has been levelled by using very hard clay layers. A very thin clay mortar has been used as a bonding material between brick layers. The panel descriptions and the audio visual presentation explain the whole process clearly. While the gallery is a ‘must’ for students, there is so much for everyone else to learn and admire. Pix by Lasantha Kumara