A carved wooden pekada atEmbekka DevalayaA carved wooden pekada at Magul Maduwa, Kandy
Pekada (Sinhala:පේකඩ), orpekadaya, are the decorative woodenpillar heads/brackets at the top of a stone or woodencolumn (or apilaster), known askapa, supporting a beam ordandu. It is a unique feature of Kandyan architecture.[1]
The pekada is a cubic intermediate structural element injoinery and the interface between a beam and a column, which transfers the load from the roof to the ground. It is a separately carvedcapital or bracket which intervenes between a pillar and a beam which it is to carry.[2] The pekada is made of two pieces, fitting together, and when these are crossed together, the four faced bracket is completed; the top of the pillar itself ismortised into the bracket through the centre of the parts crossed.[3] This form of arrangement allows a certain amount of flexibility whilst maintaining the structural stability of the beam and pillar. Pekada provides a method of transferring lateral as well as vertical loads of beams (especially when they cross at right angles) to pillars without inducing high local stresses at the connection points.[2]
Pekadas can be still seen clearly inAmbalama (wayside rest structures), theMagul Maduwa or Royal Audience Hall in Kandy and theEmbekka Devalaya (built during the reign ofKing Rajadhi Rajasingha).[6][7][8] They are designed to be viewed from below and feature traditionalpendant (inverted) lotus or binara mala motifs,[9] often with the figure of a dancer in the downward face of the flower or a bird in place of the petals.[10] Pekadas have also been used on more modern buildings such as theTrinity College Chapel, where they have been carved out ofGummalu, a local hardwood[11][12] and the Lake House building, where they are constructed out of concrete.[13]
Scriver, Peter; Prakash, Vikramaditya, eds. (2007).Colonial Modernities: Building, Dwelling and Architecture in British India and Ceylon.Routledge.ISBN9781134150250.
^Dela, Thomas (1903).Spolia Zeylanica. Vol. 29–30. National Museums of Sri Lanka, Colombo Museum. p. 283-287.{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)
^abChandana, Jayawardana; K. Peiris; S. Wijesinghe (2015). "Engineer: Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka".Historical Timber Structures in Sri Lanka: A Review on Pekada, Kenimandala and Madolkurupawa.47: 63.
^Coomaraswamy, Ananda (1979).Mediaeval Sinhalese Art. New York: Pantheon Books Inc. p. 130.
^Wijesekera, Nandadeva (1990).Archaeological Department Centenary (1890-1990). Vol. 3. Department of Archaeology, Sri Lanka. p. 92.
^Scriver, Peter; Prakash, Vikramaditya (2007).Colonial Modernities: Building, Dwelling and Architecture in British India and Ceylon. Routledge. pp. 206–207.ISBN9781134150267.
^Mendis, S. Malsha; Malthi Rajapaksha, Malthi; Halwatura, Rangika U. (June 2020). "International Journal of Environmental Science and Development".Unleashing the Potentials of Traditional Construction Technique in Bio-climatic Building Designs: A Case of Ambalam, Sri Lanka.11 (6): 299.
^Waidyasekera, D. D. M. (2017).Great Royal Artificer of the Kandyan Kingdom – Devendra Mulachari. Stamford Lake. p. 134.
^T. N. Wynne-Jones (1954).The Independent Hall Freedom Sq., Colombo and Some Notes on Examples of the Solution of the Problem involved in the Structural Design of the Roof of the Audience Hall type Buildings. The Institution of Engineers, Ceylon. p. 25-40.
^Gnanaharsha, Beligatamulla; Nipuni, Siyambalapitiya (2016). "Sri Lanka Design Journal".Preaching Identity: Cultural Meaning of Furniture in Religious Contexts in Sri Lanka.1: 16-34.
