Those of you who have visited our ancient cities would have seen semi-circular slabs of stone with intricate designs at the entrances of many edifices such as the Vatadage at Polonnaruwa.

These first steps to a few steps or a flight of steps are known as moonstones. The shapes of the moonstone and designs carved on it differ from one period to another.

The average moonstone is a slab of stone usually of hard granite or limestone, materials which would have been readily available during the times of our ancient kings. The shape of the moonstone remains semi-circular up to the thirteenth century. That is the end of the Polonnaruwa kingdom.

With the progress of time however, the moonstone takes a more circular shape until finally the decoration becomes a full circle receding inward to allow the outer semi-circles also to develop into circles, by the fourteenth century. Examples of such moonstones reaching a full circle at the centre can be seen at the Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy, Dambarava devale in Kandy, Vishnu devale in Kandy, Badulla - Kataragama devale, and at the entrance of the Vishnu Devale at Dondra. A moonstone depicting a full circle and intricate carvings found from Hanguranketa is housed at the Colombo Museum.

Initially the moonstones which served as the first step to an edifice were undecorated but with time decorations were introduced with the simplest form of decoration being semi-circular lines.

Then a semi-circular row of lotus petals were done with the rows gradually increasing in numbers.

With time, the ornamentation became more profuse. Rows of creeper motifs, birds and beasts could be seen in many of the moonstones done after the fourteenth century. The outermost row in the fully developed moonstone is said to depict flames of fire.

These decorations on the moonstone follow a geometric pattern. In the oldest of these moonstones, the motifs are formed along concentric semi-circles and the inner most of them form a raised step carved with designs of lotus petals. This type of decorated moonstone was found at the Temple of the Tooth Relic not in Kandy but in Anuradhapura.

There are different types of moonstones and these differences are noted, with variations in design and shape. According to archaeological authorities, one of the best examples of decorated moonstones was found at the building called the Mahasena's pavilion in the Abhayagiri area of Anuradhapura.

It has seven semi-circular panels of decoration. A number of moonstones of similar decorations are found at the premises of the Bo-tree temple Anuradhapura.

The best known example at Polonnaruwa is a moonstone at Vatadage. Here the animals represented are the lion, elephant and the horse in three different rows. The bull is absent in this moonstone.

After the thirteenth century the decorations change with new elements being introduced into the designs. There are many beautiful moonstones you can see at various places around the country. Even the undecorated moonstones done sometimes putting together several slabs and those with inscriptions have their own beauty. Next time you came across these moonstones, note the intricate designs and shapes.