Korawakgal or Makara Wingstones/ Wingslabs (Sinhala: කොරවක්ගල), erroneously called balustrades, are two stones slabs (plain or decorated) placed on the sides of the steps leading to the door or the entrance of Buddhist edifices in Sri Lanka (Perera, 1973). It supports the stairs from either side and gives the flight a pleasing appearance (Wikramagamage, 2004). It is also one of an association of three aspects of sculpture that adorned the entrance to buildings in ancient times; the other two being the Muragala (guard stone) and Sandakada Pahana (moonstone).
Korawakgal were originally built in bricks and later in stone embellished with geometrical patterns, designs of creepers, and faces of dragons (Makara), lions and elephants (Wikramagamage, 2004).
References
1) Perera, A.D.T.E., 1973. Unique Carvings on a Makara Wingstone from an ancient shrine at Anuradhapura. Journal of the Sri Lanka Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 17. pp.28-36.
2) Wikramagamage, C., 2004. Heritage of Rajarata: Major natural, cultural, and historic sites. Colombo. Central Bank of Sri Lanka. p.139.
This page was last updated on 3 October 2022