Scope and Contents From the File: A collection of platinum prints, 280 x 225 mm, mounted in a volume bound in red leather with 'The Royal Visit to Ceylon April, 1901' and the Royal Arms on the front cover. They are by various photographers and record the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later H.M. King George V and H.M. Queen Mary) 12-15 April, 1901. The prints are mounted on cardboard pages and have printed captions, which have been recorded as found. They may include language which is...

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Quarter-plate. The Jetawanarama Dagoba or Abhayagiri Dagoba. Both names used. (Fisher).

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Quarter-plate. The Thuparama Dagoba from the east side.

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Quarter-plate. The Ruanwali Dagoba.

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Quarter-plate. Inside the outer gateway. Devotees taking gifts to the sacred bo-tree.

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Half-plate. The King's bathing place.

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Half-plate (landscape format). The Ruanwili Dagoba. Statues of Buddhas and of a King. Full moon day - notice vast mass of the brickwork. (Fisher). [With suppliants kneeling at prayer in foregound]

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Quarter-plate. Front of outer entrance to sacred Bo-tree. Children - Stalls of lotus sellers.

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Half-plate. One of the altars round the terrace immediately below the Sacred Bo-tree. [With Singhalese at prayer in foreground]

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Quarter- plate. Dagoba (Bell) light kept on top here all night; Temple Room (Vihara image room). Priest holding key of temple; Elephant heads cut in the face of rock, very low relief. (Fisher)

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[No print]. Painting only.

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Half-plate (landscape format). One of the side gates. To left side of picture, in shadow above the line of elephants heads are the remains of the ancient painting of the stone work - a red, yellow and green. Colour of brick work at back is a dirty red - stonework is now for the most part a dull gray, i.e. paint has worn off. (Fisher).

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Captioned 'No. 60' on the reverse.

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Includes a number of photographs of tea estates.

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A view showing a huge statue (about 24 feet high) of Buddha carved from a rock face at the Kalu Gal Wihara, or Black Rock Cave.

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A view showing two Europeans and two Sinhalese on a wooden catamaran on the shore of the Minneriya Tank, one of the vast inland reservoirs built by Maha Sen in the third century AD. Minneriya lies a few miles north-west of the ruined city of Polunnaruwa.

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A view showing two unidentified Europeans carrying shotguns and three Sri Lankan servants.

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A view of the rest house at Polonnaruwa, a verandahed bungalow on a small incline.

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A view looking across a wide curving river towards distant mountains.

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A rather indistinct view showing cattle in a field.

Scope and Contents A view showing the Wata Dage and the Thuparama in the ruined city of Polonnaruwa. The Wata Dage, or Round House, are the circular halls built by King Karakrama. The Thuparama (left of slide) is a temple built in oblong form with a low, square tower.Polonnaruwa, situated in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka, 50 miles south-east of Anuradhapura, had been a royal residence of the rulers of Sri Lanka since 368 AD. It was only with the sacking of Anuradhapura by the Tamils in the...

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A view showing the ruins of the Jetawanarama temple with a large statue of Buddha (lacking a head) on the rear wall: 'The Jetawanarama is 170 feet long by 80 feet wide, with a height which must have been ... At least one hundred feet. The walls, built of red brick and coated with chunam [cement or plaster], are twelve feet thick, and the two huge columns flanking the entrance are almost awe-inspiring (Williams 1950, pp. 146-147).

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A view showing an unidentified ruin and various statues.

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A view looking across the overgrown foundations of buildings towards a modern bungalow, probably the rest house.

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A view looking towards the Kiri or Milk dagoba: 'so-called from its white coat of protective chunam [cement or plaster] ... To me it was the most beautiful, perhaps because it was the most simple of all the legacies of the past at Polonnaruha, and it is easy, looking at it, to reconstruct the perfection of the original, snow-white, surmounted by the hti and the spire of gold which we know it possessed.' (Williams 1950, page 147).