The Sinhalese Kastane: Its Development, Decoration and Symbolism

[napoleon]

thank you jim for your reply,just a couple of thoughts,i dont know if there is a conection between travancore and candy,but some of the art on the capstones of the temples built by rajaraja cholan seem similar in decoration to the lion hilts on the sword in question ,also i dont know what they are called but there is a species of small dagger with elephant head pommels the trunk of which forms a knucklrbow but below this is a cross guard of far superior workmanship,they are usually cased in a plain brass sheath ,indian im sure, but its the cross guard thats relevant to the discusion, again great topic