Hi Rand,
Reference to your question I can say that the interlocking figures are a prevalent featue in Ceylonese temple paintings and in combination with the other features strongly suggest Ceylonese origin for the hilt.
What follows is an extract from the paper SOME MEDIEVAL REPRESENTATIONS OF SINHALA WRESTLERS AND GLADIATORS (1937) by P E P Deraniyagala.
"Wrestling scenes are depicted either in a circle, as a square, or with the figures standing. Sinhala artists frequently employ ingenious combinations of the female figure to depict the chariot wheel, chariot, vase, palanquin, arch, swastika, flowring creeper, elephant and horse, but no such use of the combatant male figure has been recorded."
As you can see Deraniyagala uses the term "Sinhala artists" thus excluding Hindu art. As for me, my opinion is consistant with Deraniyagala's. This feature is predominantly a Sinhala motiff and I would certainly be interested in different opinions. Please remember that there was much cross fertilization in the region. The traditional names for these knots are based on the number of figures and their gender. Never have I seen these with males and females in combination in a single design.
I have added an image with four wrestlers (male) from the temple of the tooth in Kandy taken from the above paper.
The other image from the well preserved molding above the window of the Hanguranketha Temple shows a female figure with arms pronated holding creepers or floral designs similar to the knife hilt under discussion. Following Deraniyagala's suggestions, the interlocking figures in the knife under discussion could be a cart wheel with the outer circle suggesting the outer rim of the wheel and the inner hollow square suggesting the aperture intended to receive the axle head.
Regards.
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