99. View of Frontispiece of Stairs, Ruanwelli Dagoba. (From a Photograph.)
All this is architecturally so unlike anything we find of the same age on the continent of India, while its sculptured details are so nearly identical, that, when we come to know more about it, these differences and similarities may lead to most important inferences; but we must at present wait for the requisite information to enable us to see the bearing of these peculiarities.
Besides these four large buildings there are two smaller ones, known as the Thuparamaya and Lankaramaya, very similar to one
100. Stelæ at the end of Stairs, Abhayagiri Dagoba. (From a Photograph.)
101. Thuparamaya Tope. (From an unpublished Lithograph by the late James Prinsep.)
another in size and arrangement. The first-named is represented in Woodcut No. 101. The tope itself, though small and somewhat ruined, is of a singularly elegant bell-shaped outline.[234] Its diameter and height are nearly the same, between 50 ft. and 60 ft., and it stands on a platform raised about 9 ft. from the ground, on which are arranged three rows of pillars, which form by far the most important architectural ornament of the building. The inner circle stands about 2 ft. from the dagoba, and the other two about 10 ft. from each other. The pillars themselves are monoliths 26 ft. in height, of which the lower part, to the height of 9 ft., is left square, each side being about 1 ft. The next division, 14 ft. 6 in. in length, has the angles cut off, as is usual in this style, so as to form an octagon; the two parts being of one piece of granite. These sustain a capital of the same material, 2 ft. 6 in. in height.