113992242-Dravidian-Settlements-in-Ceylon-and-the-Beginnings-of-the-Kingdom-of-Jaffna-By-Karthigesu-Indrapala-Complete-Phd-Thesis-University-of-London-1965

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that Lafikpura actually won many successes in his initial campaigns
in South India We cannot, therefore, cast doubt on these statements
of the P1i chronicle. The gigantic Daxn4a-tbUpa stands
at Polonnaruva to this day, preserting the memory of the Tamil
prisoners. It was intended to sprpass al]. other monuments of its
type in Ceylon and. its circumference at the base is given in
the Chronicle as 1300 cnbits Unfortunately it has not been
possible to ascertain the dimensions of the base from the ruins
at Polonnarua, as it has not been completely excavated. The
dome stands at about fifty feet from the ground. forming an
extensive circular plateau at the top ParkramabThu must have
commanded a large force of South Indian prisoners to undertake
the building of such a stpa and the repair of other buildings.
have
These prisoners must, in the course of time,/mingled with the
Tamil population of the island. Some of them may have been
employed in vihras, as on an earlier occasion when Tami].
prisoners were enslaved and. given over to vih.ras An inscription
from the Ga1apta vihra, near Bentoa, dated in the thirtieth
1. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, 'ParkramabThu and South India', C.H.J., IV,
pp. k6-48 ; U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, pp. k82-k83.
2. Cv., 78:77 ; S.Paranavitana, The tpa in Ceylon, p. 10.
3. S.Paranavita.na , The Stpa in Ceylon, p. 10.
4 • - P - c.!..1 44 '