Moonstone and dried flower petals at the entrance to a shrine at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka. Each element is highly symbolic.
Moonstones are stones set at the entrance to temples and shrines. Indian in origin, they evolved in Sri Lanka into elaborate semicircular carvings, beginning with the Buddhist lotus at the heart, representing nirvana, and radiating out to flames at the perimetre, which symbolize both earthly desire and purification. In between come arcs of low-relief, usually with the four symbolic animals of Buddhism: from the elephant representing birth to the bull of death, as well as the vine of attachment to this world, the goose of wisdom and so on. In later moonstones, the bull is omitted, as a result of increased Hindu influence; the goose is also a Hindu symbol associated with Brahma.
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Photo credit: © aslphoto / Alamy / Afripics
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