Yapahuva, ideal place for dance research

by Subashini Pathmanathan

Yapahuva is in the Kurunegala district. It is nearly three kilometres east of Maho. The earlier glory of this ancient citadel can be found at one of the caves. This is seen from a short record in Brahmi script. The Brahmi language was in use from the 3rd century B.C to the 3rd century AD.

A scene fromYapahuwa.

Yapahuva gained prominence after the first half of the 13th century A.C, specially after the Kalinga Magha devastated the capital Polonnaruva. Kalinga Magha ruled from 1214 to 1235. Earlier Yapahuva was known as Subha-Pabbata meaning auspicious mountain. According to history during the reign of Vijayabahu 1V (1271-1273A.C) the place was called Sundarapabbata. According to historical evidence king Vijayabahu 1V commanded his younger brother Bhuvanekabahu to settle there with his strong army to prevent the South Indian invasion. Despite his heavy guard the attack came from another direction led by Chandrabhanu in co-operation with his Pandya and Chola allies. Yet numerous historical records reveal that Yapahuva had a long history.

Portuguese

In the 16th century the Portuguese referred to Yapahuva as the fortress of the Sinhalese. The first serious study of Yapahuva was done by John Bailey in 1850. In 1864 he published an article on Yapahuva. On May 5, 1877 an architect from Anuradhapura mentioned Yapahuva to the Governor W.H. Gregory by indicating that more attention should be paid to it.

Again after 15 years, the Royal Asiatic Society published two articles by F.H. Modder and J.Harward under the title 'Note on the Fortifications of Yapahuva. Yapahuva is a stone structure. There is a staircase flanked and decorated by two stone-made lions with an attractive porch set against the famed Yapahuva rock.

Still it is considered one of the finest ancient archaeological constructions of Sri Lanka during the post-Polonnaruva period.

The Archaeological Department commenced operations in 1911. The first Commissioner of Archaeological Department H.C. Bell took great interest to protect the constructions from destruction.

Today Yapahuva provides ample evidence for carved ancient sculptures of Sri Lanka. Excellent carved sculptures are seen all over. Beautiful dance figures are carved in Yapahuva. The carved figures including dancing girls, lions, swans and elephants are seen at Yapahuva.

It also provides an opportunity to compare these dance figures with the poses of Indian classical dances especially with the dancing figures of Chidambaram temple and stone carving sculptures) and Chola architectural sculptures.

However, there is no doubt that it was further modified according to the Sinhalese architecture style by local craftsmen.

Dancing figures

Beautifully carved dancing figures are seen at the staircase. Even Kirti Mukha (head of a mythical creature and a pair of Gaja Sinha are seen there). The base of the porch area is decorated with beautiful female and male dancing figures. The dancing figures depict numerous dance poses. The carved figures not only depict the dance poses but also numerous instrumental accompaniments for dance.

It implies that during that period the dances took place with instrumental music. And also it provides an opportunity for us to assume that dancing carved figures reveal some scenes of dance processions. The staircase can be divided into three different sections. At the third level, beautiful slender female figures are seen.

The stairway leading to the porch is well preserved. At both sides exquisite craftwork windows can be seen. Such excellent windows are not seen elsewhere in Lankan archaeological sites. The window in the west was removed a few years back and it is said that it was brought down to the Colombo Museum. The other was a small fragment window which was taken to one of the Yapahuva temples.

The window was fitted into a thick outer frame. Within the moulded window, 45 cut circles were crafted. These cut circles were joined with one another. Within the circles a variety of figure works was crafted with meticulous care. Different dance figures of dancers were seen. Most of these dance figures are seen in typical Bharatha Natya Arimandi Isthana position. All the dance poses are seen with a proper and perfect geometrical format position. The centre of this window circle carries a lotus figure. At the sides of the centre lotus circle four wheels are seen with eight strokes and some circles are decorated with dancing figures. Hence for the dance research, Yapahuva provides a great deal of information for researchers.