The Traditional Temple Paintings in Uva Province, Sri Lanka: An Appraisal.

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue II, February 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

The Traditional Temple Paintings in Uva Province, Sri Lanka: An Appraisal.

Dr. T.A.C.J.S. Bandara
Department of Sinhala, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Abstract
Sri Lanka has a rich tradition of Buddhist Paintings. The purpose of maintaining such was to sensitizes the devotees about the essence of teachings of the Buddhist philosophy. Interior walls of a variety of buildings, celestial places, shrine rooms were adorned by such painted surfaces depicting various themes of the Buddhist practice. This paper seeks to survey the regional peculiarities manifested by the 19th century temple paintings registered in the monasteries in the Uva province. A sample representing a wider geographical area was taken as a unit of analysis of the study. Stylistic variations and subject matter of the painting were considered as the main indicators of differences of the regional tradition observed. The socio-economic background has been identified as one of the major governing factors that influence the stylistic characterization of the regional tradition of paintings in Sri Lanka during the period under study.

Key words: Zoomofig, tradition, Paintings, Temple Paintings, Uva Province.

1. Introduction

During 18th and 19th centuries, the Buddhist temples in the Uva Province were highly adorned by colorful paintings. It is identified as a parallel trend that occurred contemporary to the similar tradition existed in the outside of the Uva province, which was mainly visible in the Buddhist temples in the Central Province the Sabaragamuwa Province and in the coastal areas of the South. This creates a fascinating array of diversity in style and the mode of presentation. This study explores the dynamism that laid behind such stylistic contrast of the regional painting traditions in Sri Lanka with special reference to the Uva Province.
The Uva Province in the study refers to the areas which consist of the Badulla District and the Moneragala District. Uva Province is a region with complex geographical diversity. An area of such geographical complexity becomes an important unit for analysis in sociocultural development (Seligman 1908, Hartly 1913, 1914, Deraniyagala 1992). Life in Uva is mainly based on agriculture. The social content of the painting tradition in Buddhist temples of the 18th and 19th centuries is not yet a unit of study that has been the subject of in-depth analysis.
In the twentieth century, scholars have sought to elucidate some of the central examples of that artistic tradition from a socio-political point of view, if not from a broader anthropological perspective. (Bandanayake, S., 1986, Marie, G., 1983, John Clifford Holt, 1996, Coomaraswamy, 1962). However, the study is limited to a few paintings in Buddhist temples in the suburbs of Kandy in the early and late 17th centuries, which belonged to the early art tradition of Kandy. The focus here is on a comparative discussion with the Uva cave temple paintings on the style, line drawing, themes used in the Kandyan period paintings, the Jathaka stories used in the theme and other essential aspects of depicting and paintings.

2. Literature Review
There are three sources that were used in this investigation.
1. Field observations
2. 18th and 19th centuries Cave temples Art, consisting of literature (18th and 19th centuries cave temples)
3. Literature review to, history and bounded to the contemporary Art
The study was carried out to investigate the literature through such sources.

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