Image title: Visual art in Sri Lanka

English text:

Floating styles: pan-regional inspirations to the visual art in Sri Lanka — One of the main dynamisms that could be observed in an Island Civilization is the inspiration it drew from the cultural waves which flowed over the surrounding ocean originating from distantly located cultures. There are several indicators in a culture that reflect the inspiration of such endogenic traits. One such major indicator is the visual art. Remaining examples of the ancient visual arts in Sri Lanka had a Buddhist and Hindu ideological background. Even though they originated in an indigenous context, the broader South Asian characteristics which radiate from them are explicit. Most of the early Buddha images in Sri Lanka have shown some of the stylistic affinities with the Andhra style of peninsula India. One of the notable examples of such is the Buddha statue of standing posture recovered from Mahailuppalama of Anuradhapura District. Andhra style was radiated centering the lower Krishna river basin. Nagarjunakonda is one of the best representative type sites of this art. In the post seventh Century CE, some of the stylistic characteristics of the Gupta tradition begin to appear in the sculptures and painting of Sri Lanka. From the tenth Century till the end of the thirteenth century CE, the south Indian and Southeast Asian art traditions were influential upon the historical practice of visual art Sri Lanka.

A Bodhisattva image from Yatala dagaba in Tissamaharama, (700-800 CE) Hambanthota District.

Sinhala text (not proofread):

ඉපිලෙන ශෛලීන්: ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මුල්කාලීන දෘශ්‍ය කලාවේ අන්තර් කලාපීය ආනුභාව — දූපත් ශිෂ්ටාචාරයක දක්නට තිබෙන ප්‍රධාන ගම්‍යතාවක් වන්නේ එහි සංස්කෘතිය හාත්පසින් වූ සාගරය හරහා හමන දුරු රට සංස්කෘතික රැළි මඟින් ආනුභාව ලැබී වර්ධනය වීමයි. කිසියම් සංස්කෘතියක බාහිරෙන් ලැබෙන එවැනි ආනුභාව ප්‍රකාශයට පත්වන දර්ශක කිහිපයක් තිබේ. ඉන් එක් ප්‍රධාන දර්ශකයක් වන්නේ දෘශ්‍ය කලාවන්ය. දැනට ඉතිරි වී තිබෙන ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පැරණිතම දෘශ්‍ය කලා බෞද්ධ සහ හින්දු ආකල්පමය පසුබිමකින් යුක්තය. ස්වදේශීය සන්දර්භයක ජනනය වුවද එම දෘශ්‍ය කලා ප්‍රකාශනවලින් විහිදෙන පුළුල් දකුණු ආසියාතික ලක්ෂණ පැහැදිලිය. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ බොහෝමයක් මුල්කාලීන බුද්ධ ප්‍රතිමා ඉන්දියානු අර්ධද්වීපයේ ආන්ට්‍ර ශෛලිය නමින් හැඳින්වෙන කලා සම්ප්‍රදායේ ආකෘතික ලක්ෂණ පිළිබිඹු කරයි. ඊට දැක්විය හැකි පැහැදිලි නිදසුනක් වන්නේ අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත‍්‍රික්කයේ මහඉලුප්පල්ලමෙන් සොයා ගෙන තිබෙන සිටි ඉරියව්වේ බුද්ධ ප්‍රතිමාවයි. එම ශෛලිය ව්‍යාප්ත වන්නේ ඉන්දීය අර්ධද්වීපයේ ක්‍රිෂ්ණ ගංගාවේ පහළ නිම්නයට අයත් සුපතල නාගාර්ජුනකොණ්ඩ ප්‍රදේශය කේන්ද්‍ර කොට ගෙනය. ක්‍රිස්තු වර්ෂයෙන් හත්වන සියවසින් පසු උතුරු ඉන්දීය ගුප්ත කලා සම්ප්‍රදායේ ආකෘතික ලක්ෂණ සමහරක් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මූර්ති සහ චිත්‍ර කලාවේ පිළිබිඹු වන්නට පටන් ගනී. දහවන සියවසින් පසු දහතුන්වන සියවසේ අවසානය තෙක් මෙරට සංස්කෘතිය වෙත පතිත වන්නේ අග්නිදිග ආසියානු ප්‍රභවයකින් යුත් කලා සම්ප්‍රදායක ආනුභාවයකි.

බෝධි සත්ත්ව පිළිමය, යටාල දාගැබ, තිස්සමහාරාමය, (ක්‍රිස්තු වර්ෂයෙන් 700-800 ) හම්බන්තොට දිස්ත්‍රික්කය,

Transcription:

ipilena śaĩlīn: śrī laṅkāvē mulkālīna druśya kalāvē antar kalāpīya ānubhāva — dūpat śiṣṭāchārayaka daknaṭa tibena pradhāna gamyatāvak vannē ehi saṅskrutiya hātpasin vū sāgaraya harahā hamana duru raṭa saṅskrutika ræḷi maṅgin ānubhāva læbī vardhanaya vīmayi. kisiyam saṅskrutiyaka bāhiren læbena evæni ānubhāva prakāśayaṭa patvana darśaka kihipayak tibē. in ek pradhāna darśakayak vannē druśya kalāvanya. dænaṭa itiri vī tibena śrī laṅkāvē pæraṇitama druśya kalā bauddha saha hindu ākalpamaya pasubimakin yuktaya. svadēśīya sandarbhayaka jananaya vuvada ema druśya kalā prakāśanavalin vihidena puḷul dakuṇu āsiyātika lakṣaṇa pæhædiliya. śrī laṅkāvē bohōmayak mulkālīna buddha pratimā indiyānu ardhadvīpayē ānṭra śaĩliya namin hændinvena kalā sampradāyē ākrutika lakṣaṇa piḷibiḅu karayi. īṭa dækviya hæki pæhædili nidasunak vannē anurādhapura dista්rikkayē mahailuppallamen soyā gena tibena siṭi iriyavvē buddha pratimāvayi. ema śaĩliya vyāpta vannē indīya ardhadvīpayē kriṣṇa gaṅgāvē pahaḷa nimnayaṭa ayat supatala nāgārjunakoṇḍa pradēśaya kēndra koṭa genaya. kristu varṣayen hatvana siyavasin pasu uturu indīya gupta kalā sampradāyē ākrutika lakṣaṇa samaharak śrī laṅkāvē mūrti saha chitra kalāvē piḷibiḅu vannaṭa paṭan ganī. dahavana siyavasin pasu dahatunvana siyavasē avasānaya tek meraṭa saṅskrutiya veta patita vannē agnidiga āsiyānu prabhavayakin yut kalā sampradāyaka ānubhāvayaki.

bōdhi sattva piḷimaya, yaṭāla dāgæba, tissamahārāmaya, (kristu varṣayen 700-800 ) hambantoṭa distrikkaya,

Transcription:

ipilena shailin: shri lankave mulkalina drushya kalave antar kalapiya anubhava — dupat shishtacharayaka daknata tibena pradhana gamyatavak vanne ehi sanskrutiya hatpasin vu sagaraya haraha hamana duru rata sanskrutika rali mangin anubhava labi vardhanaya vimayi. kisiyam sanskrutiyaka bahiren labena evani anubhava prakashayata patvana darshaka kihipayak tibe. in ek pradhana darshakayak vanne drushya kalavanya. danata itiri vi tibena shri lankave paranitama drushya kala bauddha saha hindu akalpamaya pasubimakin yuktaya. svadeshiya sandarbhayaka jananaya vuvada ema drushya kala prakashanavalin vihidena pulul dakunu asiyatika lakshana pahadiliya. shri lankave bohomayak mulkalina buddha pratima indiyanu ardhadvipaye antra shailiya namin handinvena kala sampradaye akrutika lakshana pilibiḅu karayi. ita dakviya haki pahadili nidasunak vanne anuradhapura dista්rikkaye mahailuppallamen soya gena tibena siti iriyavve buddha pratimavayi. ema shailiya vyapta vanne indiya ardhadvipaye krishna gangave pahala nimnayata ayat supatala nagarjunakonda pradeshaya kendra kota genaya. kristu varshayen hatvana siyavasin pasu uturu indiya gupta kala sampradaye akrutika lakshana samaharak shri lankave murti saha chitra kalave pilibiḅu vannata patan gani. dahavana siyavasin pasu dahatunvana siyavase avasanaya tek merata sanskrutiya veta patita vanne agnidiga asiyanu prabhavayakin yut kala sampradayaka anubhavayaki.

bodhi sattva pilimaya, yatala dagaba, tissamaharamaya, (kristu varshayen 700-800 ) hambantota distrikkaya,

Automated translation (not verified):

Emergent Styles: Transregional Influences in Sri Lanka's Early Visual Arts — A major trend in an island civilization is that its culture was inspired and developed by the cultural waves of distant lands across the distant ocean. There are several indicators of such external inspiration in a particular culture. One of the main indicators is the visual arts. The oldest surviving visual arts in Sri Lanka have a Buddhist and Hindu background. Although generated in a native context, the broader South Asian characteristics that pervade those visual art expressions are evident. Many of the early Buddha statues in Sri Lanka reflect the formative characteristics of the Indian subcontinent's art tradition known as the Anthra style. A clear example of this is the Buddha statue in the sitting posture found at Mahailuppallam in Anuradhapura district. That style spreads in the Indian peninsula centered on the Supatala Nagarjunakonda area in the lower valley of the Krishna River. After the seventh century AD, some of the formative features of the North Indian Gupta art tradition begin to be reflected in Sri Lankan sculpture and painting. After the tenth century until the end of the thirteenth century, the culture of this country was inspired by an art tradition of Southeast Asian origin.

Tamil text (not proofread):

இலங்கையின் ஆரம்பகால கண்கவர் கலைகளில் ஏற்பட்ட பிரதிபலன் — தீவுகளில் காணப்படும் பிரதான விடயமாக அதன் கலாசாரம் கடல் ஊடாக தூரத்துக்கலாசாரங்களில் உற்பத்தியடைந்து வீசும் கலாசாரம் என்னும் அலைபோல் விரிவடைகின்றது என கூறலாம். சில கலாசாரங்களுக்கு வெளியிலிருந்து கிடைக்கும் பிரதிபலன்களை அதில் விசேடமான அம்சமாக எடுத்துக்காட்டலாம். கண்கவர் கலையை பௌத்த பின்னணியில் அமைந்துள்ள பழைய கலையே இன்று இலங்கையில் நீடித்துள்ளது. தேசிய சூழ்நிலையில் இவை உற்பத்தி அடைந்திருந்தாலும், தெற்காசியாவைச் சர்ந்த விசேட குணங்களை இக்கலைகளில் தெளிவாகின்றன. இலங்கையின் பல ஆரம்பகால பௌத்த சிலைகளில், இந்திய தீபகற்பகத்தில் ஆந்திர கலை முறையின் சாயல்கள் காணலாம். அனுராதபுரம் மாவட்டம் மஹஇளுப்பள்ளமென்னும் இடத்திலிருந்து கண்டெடுக்கப்பட்ட புத்த சிலை இதற்கு சிறந்த எடுத்து காட்டாகும். ஆந்திரா கலை இந்தியாவின் கிருஷ்ணா கங்கையை அருகில் நாகார்ஜுனக்கொண்ட என்று பிரசித்திப்பெற்ற இடத்தை மையமாக கொண்டு உறுவானது. கி.பி 7ம் நூற்றாண்டின் பின்னர் இலங்ளகயில் சிற்ப கலை மற்றும் சித்திரக்கலையில் இந்தீய குப்த கலாசாரத்தைச் சேர்ந்த குணங்களை அடைந்தன. 10ஆம் நூற்றாண்டின் பின்னர் 13ஆம் நூற்றாண்டின் இறுதிவரை இலங்கை கண்கவரக்கலை வரவாற்றின் மீது தென்கிழ்க்காசிய கலைக்கலாசாரத்தின் ஆதிக்கம் காணக்கூடியதாக உள்ளது.

போதிஸத்வ சிலை, யட்டாள தாகப, திஸ்ஸமகாராம, ஹம்பாந்தொட்ட மாவட்டம் (கி.பி.700-800)

Transcription:

ilaṅkaiyiṉ ārampakāla kaṇkavar kalaikaḷil ēṟpaṭṭa piratipalaṉ — tīvukaḷil kāṇappaṭum piratāṉa viṭayamāka ataṉ kalācāram kaṭal ūṭāka tūrattukkalācāraṅkaḷil uṟpattiyaṭaintu vīcum kalācāram eṉṉum alaipōl virivaṭaikiṉṟatu eṉa kūṟalām. cila kalācāraṅkaḷukku veḷiyiliruntu kiṭaikkum piratipalaṉkaḷai atil vicēṭamāṉa amcamāka eṭuttukkāṭṭalām. kaṇkavar kalaiyai pautta piṉṉaṇiyil amaintuḷḷa paḻaiya kalaiyē iṉṟu ilaṅkaiyil nīṭittuḷḷatu. tēciya cūḻnilaiyil ivai uṟpatti aṭaintiruntālum, teṟkāciyāvaic carnta vicēṭa kuṇaṅkaḷai ikkalaikaḷil teḷivākiṉṟaṉa. ilaṅkaiyiṉ pala ārampakāla pautta cilaikaḷil, intiya tīpakaṟpakattil āntira kalai muṟaiyiṉ cāyalkaḷ kāṇalām. aṉurātapuram māvaṭṭam mahaiḷuppaḷḷameṉṉum iṭattiliruntu kaṇṭeṭukkappaṭṭa putta cilai itaṟku ciṟanta eṭuttu kāṭṭākum. āntirā kalai intiyāviṉ kiruṣṇā kaṅkaiyai arukil nākārjuṉakkoṇṭa eṉṟu piracittippeṟṟa iṭattai maiyamāka koṇṭu uṟuvāṉatu. ki.pi 7m nūṟṟāṇṭiṉ piṉṉar ilaṅḷakayil ciṟpa kalai maṟṟum cittirakkalaiyil intīya kupta kalācārattaic cērnta kuṇaṅkaḷai aṭaintaṉa. 10ām nūṟṟāṇṭiṉ piṉṉar 13ām nūṟṟāṇṭiṉ iṟutivarai ilaṅkai kaṇkavarakkalai varavāṟṟiṉ mītu teṉkiḻkkāciya kalaikkalācārattiṉ ātikkam kāṇakkūṭiyatāka uḷḷatu.

pōtisatva cilai, yaṭṭāḷa tākapa, tissamakārāma, hampāntoṭṭa māvaṭṭam (ki.pi.700-800)

Transcription:

ilangaiyin arambagala kankavar kalaigalil erpatta pirathipalan — thivugalil kanappadum pirathana vidayamaga athan kalasaram kadal udaga thurathukkalasarangalil urpathiyadainthu visum kalasaram ennum alaipol virivadaiginrathu ena kuralam. sila kalasarangalukku veliyilirunthu kidaikkum pirathipalankalai athil visedamana amsamaga eduthukkattalam. kankavar kalaiyai pautha pinnaniyil amainthulla pazhaiya kalaiye inru ilangaiyil nidithullathu. thesiya suzhnilaiyil ivai urpathi adainthirunthalum, therkasiyavais sarntha viseda kunangalai ikkalaigalil thelivaginrana. ilangaiyin pala arambagala pautha silaigalil, inthiya thipagarpagathil anthira kalai muraiyin sayalkal kanalam. anurathapuram mavattam mahailuppallamennum idathilirunthu kandedukkappatta putha silai itharku sirantha eduthu kattagum. anthira kalai inthiyavin kirushna kangaiyai arugil nagarjunakkonda enru pirasithipperra idathai maiyamaga kondu uruvanathu. ki.pi 7m nurrandin pinnar ilanglagayil sirpa kalai marrum sithirakkalaiyil inthiya kuptha kalasarathais serntha kunangalai adainthana. 10am nurrandin pinnar 13am nurrandin iruthivarai ilangai kankavarakkalai varavarrin mithu thenkizhkkasiya kalaikkalasarathin athikkam kanakkudiyathaga ullathu.

pothisathva silai, yattala thagapa, thissamagarama, hambanthotta mavattam (ki.pi.700-800)

Automated translation (not verified):

A reflection of Sri Lanka's early spectacular art—the main thing found in the islands—its culture can be said to expand like a wave of culture produced and blown across the sea to distant cultures. A special feature of some cultures is the influence they receive from the outside. It is the ancient art of Buddhist background that has survived in Sri Lanka today. Although these were produced in a national context, the distinctive characteristics of South Asia are evident in these arts. In many of the early Buddhist statues of Sri Lanka, traces of the Andhra style of art can be found in the Indian subcontinent. A good example of this is the Buddha statue found at Mahailupalla in Anuradhapuram district. Andhra Art originated in India near the Krishna Ganga near the famous place called Nagarjuna. After the 7th century AD, Sri Lanka acquired qualities of Indian Gupta culture in sculpture and painting. From the 10th century to the end of the 13th century, the influence of South-East Asian culture on Sri Lankan visual art is visible.

Gallery information:

These photos were taken at the Maritime Museum in Galle (Sri Lanka) which include objects recovered from the 2nd century B.C. Godawaya shipwreck. The Maritime Museum is housed in Galle's historic Dutch warehouse (built in 1671) and opened its doors on May 9, 1992. The Maritime Archaeology Museum is serving as a centre of education for various groups of visitors and researchers of Southern region of Sri Lanka.