Wooden wizadry at Embekke

Text and pix by Nimal Wijayatunga Eheliyagoda Spl Cor

The Embekke Devale, close to Davulagala, about three miles off Peradeniya is a typical example of ancient Lankan wood craftsmanship.

Embekke Devale complex

The devale complex has been built of wood which is a unique feature of the construction.

It was built during the period of King Wickramabahu – III who ruled the Gampola kingdom between 1357 to 1374. The creator of this wooden devale, according to legend, was a clever craftsman named Delgoda Mulachari. The devale was built for the ‘Kataragama deviyo'. It was also used as the “Magul Maduwa” during the Gampola era.

The Embekke devale complex consists of a Buddhist shrine-room, dik-ge, maha devale, palle devale and the entrance or the wahalkada.

There are 32 wooden pillars in the dik-ge and each of these pillars have been decorated with traditional designs carved in 9x9 inch squares.

The wrestlers, raban players, horse-riders, soldiers, female-dancers, birds, flowers and some other human figures were carved in the wooden pillars. There are about 128 such “embossed” figures. The entrance or wahalkada consists of 10 pillars and 40 different designs plus another 36 figures on the pekada.

The most marvellous creation of them all is the devale's roof. It is believed that very hard and durable varieties of wood, such as pihimbiya and gammalu were used in the construction of the roof.

The edges of all the planks in the roof are fixed together with only one large wooden – nail or madol-kurupawa.

The present guardians of the historic devale are very keen on preserving it for the future generations.

A female dancer	A dragon