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RELIGION AND ICONOGRAPHY "Sri Lanka: Introduction - Religion and Iconography (Section 3)"
by Howard A. Wilson from THE GROVE DICTIONARY OF ART (34-VOLUMES), edited by Jane Turner,
copyright ¬ 2003 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Used by permission of Oxford University
Press, Inc.
Buddhists form the largest religious group in Sri Lanka (65% of the population in
1990), followed by Hindus (20%), Christians (8%) and Muslims (7%). The introduction
of Buddhism to the island around the 3rd century BC determined in many ways the shape and
character of Sinhalese culture. The intermingling of 'religious' and 'national'
identity underlies the importance many Sinhalese place on protecting and preserving
Buddhism in their homeland.
Hinduism, brought to the island at an early date, became less evident after the arrival
of Buddhism. From the 6th century AD, however, it re-emerged with an important role
as the religion of the Tamil minority. Islarn was brought through trade links;
Christianity, which may have been practised from an early date, was brought in many
sectarian varieties by European colonizers. The Roman Catholicism of the Portuguese
developed stronger roots in the island than the various forms of Protestantism of the
Dutch and British.
(i) Buddhism. (ii) Hinduism
(i) Buddhism
One of the first mission fields of Buddhism, Sri Lanka has nourished the tradition for
some 2300 years, the longest continuous Buddhist history in the world (see also
BUDDHISM, III, 2). Theravada Buddhism has been the dominant and most enduring form. The
Theravada tradition has fostered a distinctive way of life and a particular form of
culture, the Buddba-sasana. Mahayana Buddhism, which spread to the island in the
3rd century AD or earlier, was influential for over a thousand years. The Abhayagiri
Monastery in Anuradhapura, which became its centre, was suppressed by King Parakramabahv I
in AD 1165; his reunification and 'purification' of the sańgha (monastic
community) re-established Sri Lanka as modal of Theravada Buddhist society. Six features
in particular are emblematic of this island of Buddhism (dhammadďpa): the sacred
texts known as the Tipitaka, the Mahabodhi tree, the dăgaba
(stupa), the daladă (tooth relic), the footprint of Buddha and the Buddha image,
the focus of Sri Lanka's Buddhist art.
One of Sri Lanka's most important contributions to Theravada Buddhism is the
preservation of the Tipitaka, the Theravada canon. When Ashoka's embassy headed
by Mahinda arrived in Sri Lanka in the 3rd,century BC, the teachings were brought as an
oral tradition. At the time of King Vattagamani Abhaya (reg 89-77 BC) the
tradition was committed to writing in the Pali language at Aluvihara, near Matale. Sri
Lanka became the vital repository of these scriptures for the Theravada world. The
scriptures were copied on strips of palm-leaf (ola), and the fragile leaves
protected by covers of wood, often intricately painted, or of carved ivory.
The Mahabodhi tree grew from a cutting of the tree at Bodhgaya under which the Buddha
attained enlightenment. It was brought to Sri Lanka by Sangamitta, a Buddhist nun and
daughter of Ashoka, and rooted at Anuradhapura. The tree was planted on a high terrace and
surrounded by a railing with gates at the four cardinal points. There was also an empty
throne (ăsana) beneath the tree as an aniconic reminder of the Buddha. Such tree
shrines (bodbigbara) were eventually replicated at every monastery on the island.
The dăgaba, the focal point of most monastic complexes, is associated with
the Buddha's death and passage into nirvăna (Pali parinibbdană). As
such it was a reminder of the Buddha and a symbol of the nirvăna to which every
pious Buddhist aspired. Over time, the ancient burial mound came to be regarded as Mt
Meru, the 'world mountain', and was oriented with its four gates to the four directions of
the earth. Its central shaft joined earth and sky and thus the physical and the spiritual
dimensions of life. In its centre was a relic (dhătu), which several as a sacred
reminder of the Buddha and his teaching (see also STUPA, 2). The largest dăgabas
dwarf those of India (the Jetavana at Anuradhapura: h. 123 m, diam 113m: the Great Stupa
at Sanchi: h. 18 m, diam. 36.6 m). Some smaller dăgabas were of a distinctive
covered from (ratadăgë), with wooden pillars supporting the roof.
Sri Lanka's most celebrated relic, the daladă or tooth of the Buddha, was
brought to the island sometime after AD 361, according to tradition by a Brahmin princess
who concealed it in her hair. By the time of the Polonnaruva period (c.1070-1250) the
relic had attained great importance and its possession was regarded as essential for the
exercise of royal sovereignty. A cultus arose surrounding it and a Dalada Mahgawa, a
'palace' of the tooth relic, was built to house it adjoining each royal palace in
succession. Once a year the relic is carried in procession through the streets of Kandy on
the back of a great bull elephant the ten nights preceding and on the night of the full
moon of August. This is the famous Esala, Perahera (August procession).
The Buddha's footprint (pada) has a special significance in Sri Lanka in that
the Buddha is said to have visited island and left his footprint on the second highest
peak, Samantakuta (2243 m). Named for the tutelar deity Saman, the peak is also known as
Sri Pada. The mountain and its footprint appear often in Buddhist design motifs,
particularly in vihăra (monastery) painting where the solosmasthăna
(the 16 sacred sites of pilgrimage on the island) are frequent subject-matter. The peak is
also sacred to Hindus, Muslims and Christians and the ascent of the mountain is one of the
most famous pilgrimages of the island.
Central to the Sri Lankan sculptural tradition is the Buddha image. Artists sought to
embody the two ideals of wisdom and compassion in their portrayal of the Buddha. If the
masterpieces of Gupta India emphasize compassion, the Sri Lankan tradition emphasizes the
strength of the solitary arhat and the great serenity that accompanies big quest for
wisdom. There is an ascetic and austere restraint about the Sri Lankan Buddha image that
conveys great strength and spiritual heroism.
Two iconographic consequences followed the arrival of Mahayana Buddhism: the practice
of carving colossal Buddha images and the representation of bodhisattvas
particularly Avalokiteshyara, Tara, Maitreya and Man jushri. The c. 8th-century
colossal (h. c. 12 m) east-facing Buddha known as the Aukana (literally
'sun-eating') Buddha is carved almost in the round on an enormous vertical rock face some
50 km from Anuradhapura. The giant form conveys undeniable spiritual majesty and express
the Mahayanist conception perfectly: the cosmic character of the Buddha filling the
universe, at the same as he transcends it. The seven figures carved in high relief at
Buduruvagala include a central Buddha (h. 15.5m) of the 9th or 10th century flanked by two
bodhisattvas (h. c. 12m) each with two attendants. Some of the most
famous Buddha statues on the island are the four at the Uttararama or Gal Vihara, at
POLONNARUVA dating from the mid 12th century. The first is a seated figure within a cave
cut from the rock, the second a magnificent seated Buddha surrounded by Tantric symbols,
the third an unusual standing Buddha (h. c. 7 m) in a cross-armed pose (the face
filled with compassion for a suffering humanity) and the fourth a reclining Buddha (1. c.
14 m) symbolizing the, Buddha's passing into parinibbăna. Among the finest Sri
Lankan bodhisattva figures is the gilt-bronze Tara (h. 1.46 m;London, BM) dated
by scholars variously from the 7th-8th century to the 12th.
Representations of the Buddha also dominated the art of wall painting. The walls of the
inner chamber, the ambulatory and the antechamber of the image-house (patimăgbara)
one of the most important structures of the monastic complex, were covered with paintings
usually in horizontal bands in a continuous narrative. Subjects Acre: the 24 Buddhas (Süvisi
Vivarana) who preceded Gautama; the retelling of the Buddha's life story (Buddba
Carita); the 16 sacred places of Buddhist pilgrimage in Sri Lanka (Solomastbăna);a
number of the best-known jătakas (stories of the Buddha's previous lives); and,
particularly in coastal monasteries, scenes of hell appropriate to various wrongs
committed. The ceilings are covered with floral designs or with paintings of the planetary
and astral worlds and the celestial places of the gods. All these paintings the world of
the Buddha, a transcendent realm of religious symbols that is very different from the
world outside. The worshipper who enters the image-house changes worlds, returning to the
centre of his or her religious and cultural identity. The whole complex may be envisaged
as a series of concentric circles, beginning at the entrance where one takes the first
step of spiritual development, subsequently 'reading' all the symbols of the Buddha's life
and the morals of the jătaka tales, and ending with the Buddha at the centre.
Buddhist symbolism is also reflected in a variety of other ways in religious
structures. One of the most characteristic is the Sinhalese entrance. It is comprised of a
set of stairs, with a carved moonstone at the base (see fig. 2), and a guardstone and a
balustrade on either side. Guardstones typically portray năga-kings holding a
flower filled pot-of-plenty. The semicircular moonstone is literally the first step and
symbolically the first step on the path of religious development. In a series of carved
concentric circles the entire spiritual life is summarized: from the flames of desire on
the outer circle, through symbols of the earthly life, to a lotus centre symbolizing the
attainment of nirvana.
(ii) Hinduism
Sri Lankan Hinduism is an extension of the Tamil tradition (see HINDUISM, I),
and there is an unbroken continuity between the arts created in the service of Buddhism
and Hinduism. In the early period in Sri Lanka neither ethnic divisions nor religious
differences were sharply drawn. Hindu temple and Buddhist monastery often stand side by
side and there is little distinction in their decorative schemes or iconographic detail.
Further, the four guardian deities of Sri Lanka are all of Hindu origin. Upulvan (Vishnu)
is the national protector; the others are Saman, Vibeheshana and Kataragama (Skanda or
Murugan). Greater differences seem to have developed from the 5th or 6th century AD as a
devotional (and sometimes militant) Hindu revival swept southern India, accompanied by the
decline of Buddhism there. Interesting bronzes portray four Shaiva saints and hymn-writers
of this revival: Manikkavasagar, Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar (Colombo, N. Mus.).
Perhaps the greatest difference between Buddhist and Hindu images is one of
inspiration, as seen in the treatment of the Buddha image and the icon most characteristic
of Tamil Shaivism, the Nataraja (Shiva as Lord of the Dance). The Buddha image is
emblematic of the heroic strength of detachment from the life process and of nirvanic
serenity. The icon of Shiva, on the other hand, is charged with energy and symbolizes the
dynamic character of the fife process. The cosmic dance illustrates the rhythmic
interrelationship between opposites in the world process: beginning and end, creation and
destruction, appearance and disappearance.
The whole of nature as a 'divine epiphany' is evident in the complexity of pattern and
happy exuberance of Sri Lanka's temple art. Püjă (Skt: 'worship') in the Hindu
temple is accompanied by the music of flute, drum and bell; the air is heavy with incense
and the smell of jasmine, sandalwood and turmeric. Offerings are of the five elements:
earth (symbolized by sandalwood paste or ash), water (by water, milk or coconut milk),
fire (by oil lamps or camphor), wind (by incense) and ether (by auspicious and sacred
sounds).
Among Hindu festivals in Sri Lanka is the colourful Vel procession. The vel is
the trident sacred to the god Kataragama and is carried by a great gilded temple cart
between important Hindu temples in Colombo. The most important Hindu shrine and pilgrimage
centre, located on the Menik River in the south of the island, is also sacred to
Kataragama. In July and August thousands of Hindu penitents are joined by many Buddhists
in honouring the Powerful warrior god. This festival is also celebrated at such other
sites as the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple in JAFFNA, rebuilt in the 19th century.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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- S. Paranavitana ed: History of Ceylon, i (Colombo, 1959-60)
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- R. Beny: Island Ceylon (London, 1970)
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- R. Gombrich: Precpt and Practice (Oxford, 1971)
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- S. Paranavitana: Art of the Ancient Sinhalese (Colombo, 1971)
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- T. Ling: The Buddha (New York, 1973)
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- D. K. Dohanian: The Mahayana Buddhist Sculpture of Ceylon (New York and
London, 1977)
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- R. Silva: 'Classical Creations', Sri Lanka,ed. J.G. Anderson (Hong Kong,
1983/R 1992), pp. 281-9
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- A. J. Weeramunda and J. Anderson: 'Society and Religion', Sri Lanka, ed.
J.G. Anderson (Hong Kong, 1983/R 1992), p. 69
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- S. Bandaranayake: The Rock and Wall Paintings of Sri Lanka (Colombo,
1986)
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- S. Seneviratne: Social Base of Early Buddhism in Southeast India and Sri
Lanka, BC 3rd century-3rd century AD (diss., New Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru
U., 1987)
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- R. Gombrich: Theravada Buddhism (London, 1988)
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- U. von Schroeder: Buddhist Sculptures of Sri Lanka (Hong Kong, 1990)
HOWARD A. WILSON |