Sri Lanka’s art and architecture – ranging from Dravidian temples to Portuguese Baroque churches – offer a fascinating visual legacy of the varied influences that have shaped the island’s eclectic culture. Despite the number of races and religions that have contributed to the artistic melting pot, however, the influence of Buddhism remains central to the nation’s cultural fabric, and it is in Buddhist art and architecture that Sri Lanka’s greatest artistic achievements can be found.
Although the Mahayana doctrines that transformed Buddhist art in many other parts of Asia largely bypassed Sri Lanka, the island’s religious art was significantly enriched from around the tenth century by the influence of Hinduism, introduced by the numerous Tamil dynasties that periodically overran parts of the north. This influence first showed itself in the art of Polonnaruwa, and later blended with Sinhalese traditions to create the uniquely syncretized style of Kandyan temple architecture, which reached its apogee during the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries.
Early Buddhist art was symbolic rather than figurative. The Buddha himself (according to some traditions) asked that no images be made of him after his death, and for the first few centuries he was represented symbolically by objects such as dagobas, bo trees, thrones, wheels, pillars, trees, animals or footprints.
Exactly why the first Buddha images were made remains unclear, though they seem initially to have appeared in India in around the first century BC. Buddha images are traditionally highly stylized: the intention of Buddhist art has always been to represent the Buddha’s transcendental, superhuman nature rather than to describe a personality (unlike, say, Western representations of Jesus). The vast majority of Buddha figures are shown in one of the canonical poses, or mudras.
Many sculptural details of Buddha figures are enshrined in tradition and preserved in the Sariputra, a Sinhalese treatise in verse for the makers of Buddha images. Some of the most important features of traditional Buddha images include the ushnisha, the small protuberance on the top of the head, denoting superior mental powers; the siraspata, or flame of wisdom (the Buddhist equivalent of the Christian halo), growing out of the ushnisha; the elongated earlobes, denoting renunciation (the holes in the lobes would have contained jewels that the Buddha gave up when he abandoned his royal position); the shape of the eyes, modelled after the form of lotus petals; the eyebrows, whose curves are meant to resemble two bows; the mouth, usually closed and wearing the hint of a smile; and the feet, which traditionally bear 32 different auspicious markings.
The one area in which Mahayana Buddhism has had a lasting impact on Sri Lankan religious art is in the gigantic Buddha statues, some standing up to 30m high, which can be found all over the island, dating from both ancient (Aukana, Sasseruwa, Maligawila, Polonnaruwa) and modern (Dambulla, Weherehena, Wewurukannala, Aluthgama) times. Such larger-than-life depictions reflect the change from Theravada’s emphasis on the historical, human Buddha to Mahayana’s view of the Buddha as a cosmic being who could only be truly represented in figures of superhuman dimensions.
The stupa, or dagoba, as they’re known in Sri Lanka, is the world’s most universal Buddhist architectural symbol, ranging from the classically simple hemispherical forms found in Sri Lanka and Nepal to the spire-like stupas of Thailand and Burma and the pagodas of China and Japan (the Sinhalese “dagoba” has even been mooted as one possible source for the word “pagoda”). Dagobas originally developed from the Indian burial mounds that were raised to mark the graves of important personages, although popular legend traces their distinctive form back to the Buddha himself. Upon being asked by his followers what shape a memorial to him should take, the Buddha is said to have folded his robe into a square and placed his upturned begging bowl and umbrella on top of it, thus outlining the dagoba’s basic form.
As Buddhist theology developed, so the elements of the dagoba acquired more elaborate symbolic meanings. At its simplest level, the dagoba’s role as an enormous burial mound serves to recall the memory of the Buddha’s passing into nirvana. A more elaborate explanation describes the dagoba in cosmological terms: the main dome (anda), built in the shape of a hill, is said to represent Mount Meru, the sacred peak that lies at the centre of the Buddhist universe, while the spire (chattravali) symbolizes the axis mundi, or cosmic pillar, connecting earth and heaven and leading upwards out of the world towards nirvana.
The earliest dagobas were built to enshrine important relics of the Buddha himself or of other revered religious figures (the Buddha’s own ashes were, according to tradition, divided into forty thousand parts, providing the impetus for a huge spate of dagoba building, while many notable monks were also interred in dagobas). These relics were traditionally placed in or just below the harmika, the square relic chamber at the top of the dome. As Buddhism spread, the building of dagobas became seen as an act of religious merit, resulting in the construction of innumerable smaller, or “votive”, dagobas, some no larger than a few feet high.
Buddhist mudras and their meanings
The following are the mudras most commonly encountered in Sri Lankan art, though others are occasionally encountered, such as the varada mudra (“Gesture of Gift Giving’’), and the asisa mudra (“Gesture of Blessing”, a variant form of the abhaya mudra), employed in the famous Aukana Buddha.
Abhaya mudra The “Have No Fear” pose shows the Buddha standing with his right hand raised with the palm facing the viewer.
Dhyani or samadhi mudra Shows the Buddha in meditation, seated in the lotus or half-lotus position, with his hands placed together in his lap.
Bhumisparsha mudra The “Earth-Witness” pose shows the Buddha touching the ground with the tips of the fingers of his left hand, commemorating the moment in his enlightenment when the demon Mara, in attempting to break his concentration, caused the earth to shake beneath him, and the Buddha stilled the ground by touching it.
Vitarka mudra and dharmachakra mudra In both positions (“Gesture of Explanation” and “Gesture of the Turning of the Wheel of the Law” respectively) the Buddha forms a circle with his thumb and one finger, representing the wheel of dharma. Used in both standing and sitting poses.
Reclining poses In Asian Buddhist art, the reclining pose is traditionally considered to
represent the Buddha at the moment of his death and entrance into nirvana – the so-called Parinirvana pose. Reclining poses are particularly common in Sri Lanka, although the island’s sculptors make a subtle distinction between two types of reclining image: the sleeping pose, and the true parinirvana pose. Sleeping and parinirvana Buddhas are distinguished by six marks (although the distinctions between the two are often quite subtle). In the sleeping pose: the eyes are open; the right hand is at least partially beneath the head; the stomach is a normal size; the robe is smooth beneath the left hand; the bottom of the hem of the robe is level; and the toes of the two feet are in a straight line. In the parinirvana pose, the hand is away from the head; the eyes are partially closed; the stomach is shrunken; the robe is bunched up under the left hand (the clenched hand and crumpled robe indicating the pain of the Buddha’s final illness); the hem at the bottom of the robe is uneven; and the left knee is slightly flexed, so that the toes of the two feet are not in a straight line.
Dagobas still serve as important objects of pilgrimage and religious devotion: as in other Buddhist countries, devotees typically make clockwise circumambulations of the dagoba – an act known as pradakshina – which is meant to focus the mind in meditation, although this practice is less widespread in Sri Lanka than in other countries (similarly, the prohibition against walking around dagobas in an anticlockwise direction, which is frowned upon in some other countries, isn’t much observed).
It was in the great dagobas of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, however, that early Sri Lankan architecture reached its highest point, both figuratively and literally. These massive construction feats were Asia’s nearest equivalent to the Egyptian pyramids. The foundations were trampled down by elephants, then the main body of the dagobas filled with rubble and vast numbers of bricks (it’s been estimated that the Jetavana dagoba at Anuradhapura uses almost one hundred million), after which the entire structures were plastered and painted with a coat of lime-wash.
Dagobas consist of four principal sections. The whole structure usually sits on a square terrace whose four sides are oriented towards the cardinal points. Many larger stupas have four small shrines, called vahalkadas (or adimukas), arranged around the base of the dagoba at the cardinal points – a uniquely Sri Lankan architectural element. The main hemispherical body of the stupa is known as the anda, and is surmounted by a cube-like structure, the harmika (relic chamber), from which rises the chattravali. In the earliest Indian stupas this was originally a pillar on which a series of umbrella-like structures were threaded, though in Sri Lankan-style dagobas the umbrellas have fused into a kind of spire. The interior of almost all dagobas consists of completely solid brick, although a few hollow dagobas can also be found, including those at Kalutara, Ampara and the Sambodhi Chaitya in Colombo’s Fort district.
A Buddhist bestiary
Animals, both real and imaginary, form an important element in Buddhist iconography. The following are some of the most common.
Makaras The makara is a mythical beast of Indian origin, formed from parts of various different animals: the body of a fish; the foot of a lion; the eye of a monkey; the trunk and tusk of an elephant; the tail of a peacock; the ear of a pig; and the mouth of a crocodile. One of the most ubiquitous features of Sri Lankan Buddhist architecture is the makara torana, or “dragon arch”, made up of two makaras connected to a dragon’s mouth, which is designed to ward off evil spirits and used to frame entrances and Buddha images in virtually every temple in the island.
Nagarajas Nagarajas (snake kings) are represented as human figures canopied by cobra hoods. They apparently derive from pre-Hindu Indian beliefs and are regarded as symbols of fertility and masters of the underground world. Despite their apparently pagan origins, they derive some Buddhist legitimacy from the fact that the nagaraja Muchalinda is said to have sheltered the meditating Buddha as he achieved enlightenment – as a result of which cobras are held sacred. Nagarajas (plus attendant dwarfs) are often pictured on the guardstones that flank the entrances to many ancient Sri Lanka buildings, and were intended, like makara toranas, to prevent evil influences from entering the building.
Dwarfs Nagarajas are often shown with dwarfs (gana), who can also often be seen supporting the base of steps or temple walls – these jolly-looking pot-bellied creatures are associated with Kubera, the god of wealth, though their exact significance and origins remain obscure.
Elephants Carved in low relief, elephants commonly adorn the walls enclosing religious complexes, their massive presence symbolically supporting the temple buildings.
Lions Though they possess no definite religious significance except to suggest the Buddha’s royal origins, lions are also common features of Buddhist architecture. The animal is also an emblem of the Sinhalese people, who trace their ancestry back to – and indeed owe their name to – a lion.
Geese Considered a symbol of spiritual knowledge and purity, geese (hamsa) are often found on moonstones, and used decoratively elsewhere in temples.
Originally from India, the moonstone developed in Sri Lanka from a plain slab to the elaborate semicircular stones, carved in polished granite, which are found at Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and many other places across the island. Moonstones are placed at the entrances to shrines to concentrate the mind of the worshipper upon entering. Carved in concentric half-circles, they represent the spiritual journey from samsara, the endless succession of deaths and rebirth, to nirvana and the escape from endless reincarnations.
The exact design of moonstones varies; not all contain every one of the following elements, and the different animals are sometimes combined in the same ring.
Flames Flames (often in the outermost ring) represent the flames of desire – though they also purify those who step across them.
The four Buddhist animals Representing the inevitability of birth, death and suffering, are the elephant (symbolizing birth), the horse (old age), the lion (illness) and the bull (death and decay) – the way in which the images in each ring chase one another around the moonstone symbolizes samsara’s endless cycle of deaths and rebirths. The animals are sometimes shown in separate rings, but more usually combined into a single one.
Vines Vines (or, according to the interpretations of some art historians, snakes), represent desire and attachment to life.
Geese Purity (the goose is a Hindu symbol: as Hamsa it is the vehicle of Brahma, and a sign of wisdom).
Lotus At the centre of the design, the lotus is the symbol of the Buddha and nirvana, and of escape from the cycle of reincarnation.
The classic moonstone pattern as outlined above experienced two important modifications during the Polonnaruwa period. To begin with, the bull was omitted: as an important Hindu image (the bull Nandi is the vehicle, or chariot, of Shiva), this particular animal had become too sacred to be trodden on in the increasingly Hinduized city. In addition, the lion was also usually absent (although one can be seen in the moonstone at the Hatadage) due to its significance as a royal and national symbol of the Sinhalese.
Moonstone design continued to evolve right up until the Kandyan period, by which time it had mutated into the almost triangular designs found at the Temple of the Tooth and many other shrines in the central highlands. During this evolution, the moonstone also lost virtually all its symbolic meaning; the floral designs found on Kandyan-era moonstones are of purely decorative import, although the lotus survives at the heart.
Sri Lankan dagobas preserve the classic older form and shape of the stupa, following the pattern of the great stupa at Sanchi in central India erected in the third century BC by the emperor Ashoka – although constant repairs (and the fact that new outer shells were often constructed around old stupas) means that it’s often difficult to determine the exact origins or original shape of some of the island’s most famous dagobas. Despite the superficial similarities shared by all Sri Lankan dagobas, there are subtle variations, with six different basic shapes being recognized, ranging from the perfectly hemispherical “bubble-shape” favoured by the builders of ancient Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa through to the narrower and more elongated “bell-shape” that became fashionable during the nineteenth century, as well as innumerable other small nuances in design.
Sri Lankan Buddhist temples (viharas or viharayas) come in a bewildering array of shapes and sizes, ranging from the intimate cave temples of Dambulla and Mulkirigala to the enormous monastic foundations of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. As well as purely Buddhist temples, there are also numerous devales, independent shrines dedicated to other gods such as Vishnu, Kataragama, Pattini or Saman – nominally Buddhist, though often showing a strong dash of Hindu influence. These shouldn’t be confused with kovils, however, which are purely Hindu temples, and have no connection with Buddhism at all.
Despite their enormous variety, most of the island’s Buddhist temples comprise three basic elements: an image house, a dagoba (see above), and a bo tree enclosure. The image house (pilimage or patimaghara) houses the temple’s Buddha image (or images) along with statues and/or paintings of other gods and attendants; it may be preceded by an antechamber or surrounded by an ambulatory, although there are countless variations in the exact form these shrines take and in the particular gods found inside them. Larger temples may have additional shrines to other gods considered important by Sri Lankan Buddhists – Vishnu (considered a protector of Buddhism in Sri Lanka) is the most frequently encountered, although other deities from the Hindu pantheon such as Ganesh and Pattini can also sometimes be seen, while the eternally popular Kataragama is also well represented.
During the late Polonnaruwan and early Kandyan period, image houses developed into the gedige, a type of Buddha shrine strongly influenced by South Indian Hindu temple architecture, being constructed entirely out of stone on a rectangular plan, with enormously thick walls and corbelled roofs. Important examples can be found at Polonnaruwa, Nalanda and at the Natha Devale in Kandy. Other variations on the standard image house include the tampita, a small shrine raised on pillars, and the distinctive vatadage, or circular image house. These have a small dagoba at their centre, usually flanked by four Buddha images at the cardinal points and surrounded by concentric rows of pillars that would originally have supported a wooden roof. There are notable examples at Medirigiya, at the Thuparama in Anuradhapura and in the Quadrangle at Polonnaruwa.
The bo tree enclosure (bodhighara) is a uniquely Sri Lankan feature. The Buddha achieved enlightenment while meditating beneath a bo (or bodhi) tree, and these trees serve as symbols of, and a living link with, that moment – many of the island’s specimens have been grown from cuttings taken from the great tree at Anuradhapura, which is itself believed to have been grown from a cutting taken from the very tree (long since vanished) under which the Buddha meditated in India. More important bo trees are often surrounded by gold railings, with tables set around them on which devotees place flower offerings; the trees themselves or the surrounding railings are often draped in colourful strings of prayer flags. Older and larger bo trees are sometimes enclosed by retaining brick terraces with conduits at each corner into which devotees pour water to feed the tree’s hidden roots; these are gradually built up around the trunk as it grows, and can sometimes reach a surprising size and height, as at the massive Wel-Bodhiya in the Pattini Devale in Kandy.
Many temples old and new are also attached to monasteries boasting living quarters and refectories, as well as a poyage (“House of the Full Moon”) in which monks assemble to recite Buddhist scriptures and confess breaches of the monastic code on poya (full-moon) days. Temples in the Kandy area also sometimes have a digge, or drummer’s hall, usually an open-sided columned pavilion, where drummers and dancers would have performed during temple ceremonies – there’s a good example at the Vishnu Devale in Kandy.
Sri Lankan temples typically sport a wealth of symbolic decorative detail. The bases of stairways and other entrances into temples are often flanked by guardstones (doratupalas or dvarapalas), showing low-relief carvings of protective nagarajas, or snake kings, who are believed to ward off malign influences. Another notable feature of Sri Lankan art found at the entrances to temples is the moonstone.
Many details of Buddhist iconography depict real or imaginary animals. Another standard decorative element is the lotus, the sacred flower of Buddhism, often painted decoratively on ceilings and walls or carved at the bases of columns. The fact that these pure white flowers blossom directly out of muddy waters is considered symbolic of the potential for Buddhahood that everyone is believed to carry within them – seated Buddha figures are often shown sitting on lotus thrones. Other common symbolic devices include the chakra, or Buddhist wheel, symbolizing the Buddha’s teaching – the eight spokes represent the Eightfold Path. A common detail in the doors of Kandyan temples is the sun and moon motif, originally a symbol of the Buddha during the Anuradhapura period, though later appropriated by the kings of Kandy as a royal insignia.
Temples are often decorated with murals of varying degrees of sophistication, ranging from primitive daubs to the great narrative sequences found in the cave temples at Dambulla. Perhaps the most popular subject for murals, especially in the south of the island, are tales from the Jatakas, the moral fables describing the Buddha’s 547 previous lives, while pictures of pilgrimage sites around the island are another common theme.