Photograph of the Gal-pota (stone book), on the east side of the Hatadage at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, by Joseph Lawton, albumen print, 1870-1.

Stone block with two male figures either side with ruins and trees. The surrounding ruins are the remains of the Héta-dágé at Polonnaruwa.

This photograph was one of a set purchased by the museum from Lawton and Co. in 1882. See Photograph Register 81259-86096, Modern Volume, 13.
The register entry is dated to 24.4.82, and the cost is noted as £16.43.4

The photograph was initially part of the photographic collection held in the National Art Library. The markings on the mount are an indication of the history of the object, its movement through the museum and the way in which it is categorised.

The mount is white. On the right hand side is a label which reads: A.in.POLONNARUWA. A label printed with title is pasted underneath the photograph. The title is handwritten on the bottom left hand corner of the mount. The museum number is written in the bottom right hand corner.

Historical significance: The Gal Pota, or ‘Book of Stone’, lies just to the east of the Hatadage. An inscription indicates that it weighs 25 tons and was brought over 90 km from Mihintale. This stone carving is in the form of a palm leaf book, typically used to record Buddhist texts and royal genealogies. The inscriptions on the stone praise the achievements of King Nissankamalla (1187-1196), including his conquests in India

Just north of present-day Polonnaruwa, 140km north of Kandy, are the ruins of ancient Polonnaruwa, the medieval capital of Sri Lanka between the 11th and 13th centuries.

When the Chola kings of southern India invaded Sri Lanka in 993 AD, they conquered the city of Anuradhapura and moved the capital to Polonnaruwa. This was strategically located for defence against attacks from the unconquered Sinhala kingdom of Ruhuna, in the southeast. The Sinhalese ruler Vijayabahu I evicted the Chola in 1070, however, he and his successors kept the capital at Polonnaruwa, adding enormous temples, palaces, parks, gardens and huge tanks. During the 12th century, Parakramabahu I built the Royal Palace and many of the archaeological ruins found at the site originate from this Palace complex, including city walls, clusters of dagobas, temples and various other religious buildings. By the 13th century, attacks from southern India forced the Sinhalese kings to abandon the city, resulting in Kotte (near modern Colombo) and Kandy assuming positions as the centres of power.

The architectural structures became overgrown by dense vegetation and it was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that they were uncovered and the sites excavated. The Polonnaruwa Visitor Information Centre and its museum, funded by the Dutch government, were opened in 1998/9 and offer information as to the changing state of the site from that period of excavation to the present.

This is one of a series of photographs taken by Lawton of the archaeological sites of Anuradhapura, Mihintale, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya (1870-71). This series was commissioned by the Archaeological Committee (set up by the Governor of Ceylon in 1868) and became his signature work. Photographic surveys, conducted by Lawton and competitors such as the more prolific commercial firm WLH Skeen and Co., coincided with antiquarian scholarship that emerged as a result of the deforestation necessary to lay roadways, railways and plantations in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. This process was propelled by an expansion of both the export and tourist economies. A colleague of Lawton's proposed that his involvement in the physical labour of clearing the archaeological sites that he photographed contributed to his death. After Lawton's death, many prints were produced by the firm for the tourist market, however, the original negatives were sold to a variety of different clients and are now considered to be lost.

Likely printed between 1872 and 1882

Attribution note: This is one of a series of photographs taken by Lawton of the archaeological sites of Anuradhapura, Mihintale, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya (1870-71), commissioned by the Archaeological Committee which the Governor of Ceylon set up in 1868. Two sets of these photographs were produced by Lawton: one which remained in Sri Lanka (now in such poor condition it is considered to be unusable) and a second which was sent to the Colonial Office in London (first kept in the Library of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and now in The National Archives). After Lawton's death in 1872, further images were produced by the firm under the supervision of his wife and sold largely to a tourist market. Reprints of this particular photograph appear in an album currently held in the Word and Image Department (PH.1202:85-1920) as well as in the Scott Collection (92/16/3) within the India Office Select Materials of the British Library.

The Gal Pota, or ‘Book of Stone', lies just to the east of the Hatadage (Temple of the Tooth) at Polonnaruwa. An inscription indicates that it weighs 25 tons and was brought over 90 km from Mihintale. This stone carving is in the form of a palm leaf book, typically used to record Buddhist texts and royal genealogies. The inscriptions on the stone praise the achievements of King Nissankamalla (1187-1196), including his conquests in India.

Joseph Lawton (died 1872), a British commercial photographer, was active in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) between 1866 and 1872. Though he was initially employed by the firm HC Bryde, by the mid 1860s he had established his own studio in Kandy. Lawton was commissioned by the Archaeological Committee to photograph the main archaeological sites in Sri Lanka. He created a unique series of aesthetically powerful images of Anuradhapura, Mihintale, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya.

Official photographic surveys conducted by Lawton and others documented the architecture and facilitated antiquarian scholarship. However, as a commercial photographer, Lawton made sure that his photographs were not merely documentary. His images were taken to appeal to tourists and overseas buyers seeking picturesque views of ancient ruins overgrown with creepers and gnarled trees.

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