Arakan Library - BRASS FIGURE - LAMP FOUND AT OLD WESALI, ARAKAN

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BRASS FIGURE - LAMP FOUND AT OLD WESALI, ARAKAN

(J.B.R.S Vol.10, Part 2, 1920)

Of all the form of gifts to the Gods (deva danam) there is perhaps none which can equalize in merit-winning capacity that which is offered in the from of lamps or dipam, from the Sanskrit dipa “to light” Everywhere they form the accessories of temple-worship; but the particular type of lamps, conceived in the from of human statues, generally female supporting in both hands the cup which holds the oil for burning the wick, are characteristically South Indian, and commonly to be met with in all Visweswara temples of that particular part of the peninsula. Except in the temples of Annapurna at Benares where the only example of this type is to be found, there is none to be seen in the whole of northern India. In Ceylon too, though its close proximity has given it a large share of other South Indian types, no specimen of the figure lamp has ever yet been discovered.

From the earliest times the gift of figure lamps to temples seemed to have been looked upon with particular favour by the people of South India; for they firmly believed that in the symbolic expression of the burning devotion of the donors represented in the lamps, untold virtues were likely to be acquired for themselves both in this life and in the hereafter. Thus when such gifts were made they were usually accompanied by the offer of cows, buffaloes, sheep or goats from the milk of which the necessary clarified butter is extracted for the perpetual use of the lamps in the temples. One peculiarity in the construction of these statue-lamps is that they should always be placed upon pedestals. No merit is to be attached to those that are without. For it is expressly laid down in the Scare Texts that though Mother Earth has been patient under different forms of sufferings she will not allow any legs to kick her nor put up with the heat of lamps.

The antiquity of this type of lamp is undoubted. In the literature of south India which deals with the remote times of the first and second centuries frequent mentions are made of it. And indeed from this source alone it can also be gathered with some degree of certainty that the early Greeks and Romans were more or less responsible for the introduction of this type into South India, where especially at Madras and Kaveripatnam they had extensively settled down for purpose of trade. These people brought their wares from the west, and among them the figure-lamps also came. The Indian craftsmen seeing them for the first time were probably attracted by the novelty of the human motif employed in the design of the lamps. Next they imitated, and to suit their particular purpose they merely substituted their own forms of drapery and other ornamentation peculiar to the accepted canons of their own art.

The specimen found in Arakan (vide illustration) measures 9 inches in height including the pedestal. It represents a woman in the act of holding out in front of her a rather elongated pear-shaped receptacle intended to hold the oil, which by means of the wick is meant to be burnt before the images. Her features are sharp and pointed. The ears are long, prominent and well-de-fined. The hair is coiled on the crown of the head, slightly pushed back. She wears a plain necklace and an amulet on each upper arm fastened by a broad band. There is a bangle round each wrist and a similar one round the middle of each forearm. Except for these few ornaments the body is absolutely bare. A girdle encircles the waist and another lower down over the hips fastens the close-fitting drapery which folds below the knees. One end of the cloth is apparently brought round from the back between the thighs and after being slipped over the girdle it is allowed to fall in front in graceful folds. It is impossible to say whether this specimen is purely South Indian or of a mixed type. The peculiar method of wearing the hair in a topknot and the arrangement of the drapery are unlike anything met with in the collections of India. Indeed the general impression suggests that the statuette is more inclined towards either Egyptian or Assyrian than towards Indian both in design and execution. Whether it was actually made in Arakan or simply conveyed by the merchants of Southern India we have no definite means of ascertaining at present. There is a line of inscriptions (in Arakanese characters) round the upper part of the pedestal. But this shall be noticed later.

In regard to the final destruction of Wesali, The Arakanese histories are not in general agreement. Some authorities state that it took place in the second century A.D. while others are inclined to the belief that at about the middle of the tenth century Wesali simply ceased to be the capital, and was given up in favour of the newly found city of Sanbawot. But the life of the old city still continued till it was finally destroyed in the later half of the eleventh century. So, though there is nothing definite to go by in determining the age of this figure - lamps, if any reliance can be placed in the data afforded by Arakanese histories, it may confidently be assumed that it must belong to the eleventh century or earlier. It is a great pity that no competent authority has ever yet thought it fit to properly survey the site of this famous old city to whose harbour, in days long gone by, more than a thousand vessels are said to have annually put in laden with merchandise of all description extracted from the great emporiums of the Eastern world. One has simply to understand its past history… its former greatness, to enable him to form a pretty shrewd idea of the store of priceless art treasures lying buried beneath the soil.

As has already been mentioned above a line of inscription round the upper part of the pedestal records the gift, evidently made by a royal personage. It reads thus: - A-Ya-Na-Kaung-Mu-Taw (t,em*ugifa*mwf). This is more or less a facsimile of the original which in modern Burmese may be rendered A-Ya-Na-Kaung-Mu-Taw (t,emaumif;r_awmf) “the gift of Ayana.” The final syllable Taw (awmf) unmistakably suggests the donor’s rank. The inscription is of particular interest especially when considered in relation to the statuette with which it is associated. For to whatever age the latter may belong, it is difficult to get away from the inference that the Arakanese (Burmese) literature must have also been current at the time.

Some 30 years ago the late Dr.Forchammer visited Arakan, and in an admirable report on its antiquities stated with some degree of conviction that the Arakanese (Burmese) alphabet could not have been in use in the country much before the beginning of the 16th century. As a matter of fact the learned doctor saw much of Myohoung and other places; but of some reason or other he missed Wesali altogether. So the inscription under consideration accords a convincing proof of the unreliability of the doctor’s deductions; for, to say the least, it must be several centuries older than the period at which the present alphabet is authoritatively reported to have been introduced into Arakan.