Browsing by Author "de Zoysa, A."

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Are we carrying the colonial burden called “Saree” into the 21st century?
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) de Zoysa, A.
Chained and Unchanged Elephants
(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) de Zoysa, A.
The elephant is seen in some mid 18th to 20th century murals as the chief protagonist in Jātakas or as a mode of transport in processions. The caparisoning an elephant usually demonstrates that he is domesticated. The colonial archive of photographs too shows the Sri Lankan elephant in the jungle, being caught in a krall or as a working elephant and finally as a performing elephant in the Dehiwala Zoo and an essential feature in processions. Using examples from temple murals and colonial photographs, this short presentation will demonstrate the “wild elephant” in a process of being domesticated as a tamed “working elephant” and a “temple elephant” or in “Ethnographic Shows” in Europe. The focus of this work in progress is to observe, to what extent the elephant had been chained, when he was brought to public space. Today we observe the multi chained elephants in temple processions, because they have not been domesticated sufficiently. The “tamed’ elephant is forced to perform “acts of worship” to demonstrate his piety. The discussion should lead to questioning the legitimacy of confronting the “semi-tamed” elephant with public space.
Commonalities of Jain and Theravada Buddhist iconographies of Sri Lanka: A Sanskrit textual intervention?
(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2017) de Zoysa, A.
The Theravada Buddhist iconography as observed in the murals of the Buddhist Image Houses in Sri Lanka shares many common features with the Jaina Iconography seen in the ‘KalpaSūtra’ manuscripts of the 15th and 16th centuries of Western India – specially in narrating miraculous scenes. Some similarities in the narrations of the birth of Prince Siddhārtha and Mahāvīra may go back to early Buddhist and Jainanarratives structures of North India. The mural tradition of the Central Kandyan Period (UḍaraṭaSaṃpradāya), beginning with the conferring of the Higher Ordination to monks of the hill country about mid18th century, does not seem to focus on the miraculous narrations depicting the conception of Prince Siddhārtha, nor scenes leading to the ‘Great Renunciation’ (Mahāparinibbāna). But the tradition of miniature paintings of the ‘KalpaSūtra’ devotes many scenes on the miraculous conception of Mahavīra. This comparative study is based on the research hypothesis, that the scenes from the life of Prince Siddhārthain Sri Lanka, seen in early 19th century Buddhist Image Houses were influenced by Sanskrit texts such as the ‘LalitaVistaraSūtra’(dated to about the 3rd century AD) or Aśvaghōsa’s‘Buddha Carita’ (dated about 2nd century AD) because the PaliTripitaka, which was written down about the 1st century AD in Sri Lanka,does not contain information about the above mentioned miraculous scenes. Taking a selection of key scenes from Jaina and Buddhist iconography, I argue that the commonalities between the two visual traditions go back to independent textual sources. This leads us to question if Sri Lanka received iconographies for the life of Prince Siddhārtha and Buddha from Amarapura and Hamsawathi(Burma) in the early 19th century with the establishment of Amarapura Chapter (KalyānivaṃśaNikāya) in the Southern and Western Maritime Region of the Low Country, in Sri Lanka (PahataRaṭa) based on a later texts, influenced by the aforesaid Sanskrit texts.
Conceptual Art – Made in Kelaniya
(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2008) de Zoysa, A.
Madawala Viharaya revisited
(S. Godage and Brothers (Pvt) Ltd, 675, P. de S. Kularatne Mw., Colombo 10, Sri Lanka, 2014) de Zoysa, A.
"Playing ethnicity": Study of H. CN. de Lanerolle's plays
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2002) de Zoysa, A.
Portraiture in Sri Lankan art from mid-eighteenth century to mid-twentieth century
(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) de Zoysa, A.
Stone inscriptions and donor inscriptions on copper and palm leaf (Sannas and Tudapath ) show an unbroken tradition from the early years of Buddhism in Sri Lanka how kings and queen were responsible for the erection of temples and monasteries. Figures of laymen on the walls of the Caves and Image House have been useful to identify donors of that particular temple. They usually stand closest to the entrance of the sanctum and sometimes are shown carrying offerings to the Buddha or worshipping him. Also the tradition of depicting monks who mentored the building of a particular Image House can be traced back to the mid eighteenth century in the Kandyan Region. This presentation will trace the possibilities of discovering a tradition of portray painting, which in the twentieth century can be noticed in the Meddepola Rajamahā Vihāraya by Solius Mendis and in the Thimibirigasyaya Isipathanaramaya by Maligawe Sarlis, which may have used photographs as the source instead of live models. Most Tampita Viharas visited by us, too have revealed portraits of kings and other donors. The later murals of the Kelaniya Rajamahā Vihāraya by Solias Mendis showing the family of the donors Helena Wijewardane will open the discussion, to what extent these murals can be seen as the earliest representation of portraits in the Buddhist image House of the twentieth century. Which images in the Buddhist Image House can actually be regarded as “portraits”? This leads us to a further very pertinent question, under what criteria, images can be regarded as portraits in the Sri Lankan context? What is the value given in such representations of human beings in the sanctum of the image house which generally depicts the Buddha, Bōdhisattvas, Gods and Arhats?.
Portraiture in the Buddhist Image House
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) de Zoysa, A.
Stone Inscriptions (SelLipi and Tam Lipi) and donor inscriptions by kings(Sannasa)and ministers (Tudapath) on copper and palm leaf show an unbroken tradition from the early years of Buddhism in Sri Lanka how the upper strata of the Radala(Royalty)were responsible for the erection and maintenance of temples and monasteries up to the 19th century.These records have been useful to identify some of the figures of laymen on the walls of the Image House as donors of that particular temple. They usually stand closest to the entrance of the sanctum and sometimes are shown carrying offerings to the Buddha or worshipping him, adjacent to the main image. The tradition of depicting monks who nurtured a certain tradition of Teacher- Pupil-Tradition (ŚiśyaśiśyānuParamparawa)or mentored the building of a particular Image House can be traced back to the mid 18th century in the Kandyan Region (Udarata)Individualized figures are seldom in the Kandyan School of Art (UdarataSampradāya). As such, a convincing identification of a statue or painting is impossible. Nevertheless, regarding the identification of the figures of Duttagāmini at the AnuradhapraRuvanveliseya and of Parakramabāhu I at the PolonnaruwaPothgulVehera, no questions are raised today, although we do not have any epigraphical evidence for identification. Similarly the figure of King KīrtiSrīRājsamha in cave no 2 of Dambulla seem to be undisputed sans evidence in situ. A similar statue in the pose of worshiping is seen in cave no 3 is left without identification. With the help of external information regarding the administration of the area and the mentor of the temple, two figures have been identified in the Medawela Raja MahāVihāraya as DunivlaNilame and the image in the DambadeniyaRaja MahāVihāraya, too has been identified as MēgastenneAdigar. In the Dankirigala Len Viharaya cave temple the local tradition is cherished that the LewkeDisāwa is shown on the wall facing the Buddha Statue. As no inscriptions are available for identification, in these early royal figures, the naming the images is disputed.It is however intriguing that the figure of a King appears in mans if theseKandyan temples such as Danture, Debaragala, and many TampitaViharas and the even Temple of the Tooth.As the King KīrtiSrīRājsamha is not recorded to have supported these temples through a donor inscription, the figures have not been regarded as the initiator of the Revival Movement.The first question that arises, is if these identifiable figure due to a fixed iconography, can be regarded as ―Portraits‖.Shifting to the 20th century, at the ThimbirigasyāyaIsipathanārāmayaportraits of the members of the Family of Pedris are shown, which strictly follow the rules of portraiture practiced by British painters. Although the paintings of the Image House haven been attributed to Sarlis, these somber full seize portraits facing the sanctum juxtapose the Sri Lankan mural art of the 20th century and portraiture introduced by the British.The scene of laying of the foundation to KelaniyaRajamhāviharayaby Helena Wijewardana and members of her family, is an interesting mixture of two styles. Although the body of the Buddhist monks and laymen are not individualized in this scene, SoliasMendis superimposes faces that seem to have carefully copied photographs of donors and mentors. The murals of the MeddepolaRajamahāviharaya which are dated to the first decade of the 20th century, some mentors too seem to have portrait like features.A trend can be carefully observed in the 19th and 20th century. The tradition of painting the face as a portrait of a deceased chief monk to adorn the entrance to his funeral pyre in the south also testifies for a tradition that evolves out from a further development from photograph to monochrome painting. The over 100 temples documented in the Samkathana Project on documenting evidences of Discourse Communities have revealed many individualized images of donors and mentors which can be regarded as portraits.The paper argues that portraiture was not solely introduced to Sri Lanka by the British Academic artists, but may have had a tradition that can be traced to themid18thcentury.
Railway to the Sacred City and Pilgrims from the South: This presentation envisages the connection between building railways and pilgrimage to Anuradhapura
(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) de Zoysa, A.
From a larger research on the “Rediscovery of Anuradhapura” by the British Orientalists and its elevation from a “Buried City” to a “Holy City”, I wish to present how modern transport enhanced pilgrims to visit Anuradhapura which triggered off events that finally led to the Anurdhapura Riots in 1903. I also argued in this study, that maybe the most affluent “new Buddhists” from the maritime mercantile sector of the coastal region from Chilaw to Colombo, supported this venture and not the Buddhists of the Upcountry Kandyan or Sabaragamuwa Region. During the times of the last Kandyan Kings only a few sites such as the Sri Maha Bodhi and Ruvanveliseya were visited by pilgrims. As there were no excavations of Auradhapura prior to the British occupation of Ceylon, the city remains as recorded in the writings of colonial administrators as a “buried city” that had to be excavated? In 1890 the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon undertakes the clearing of the sites and in 1894 four years later, publishes its first to seventh progress reports with actual drawings of embellishments on pillars and ground plans of stupas by Hocart. This marks the earliest endeavors to re-discover Anuradhapura from a “Buried City” of the mid eighteenth century to a “Ruined City”. Walisinha Harischandra’s (1876-1913) advent to the Buddhist Nationalist Movement seems to mark lobbying for the liberation of Anuradhapura to reclaim the city for the Buddhists and rebuild it for the pilgrims in its past glory, challaging the British who wished to preserve it as an archeological park of ruins. In 1894 Anagarika Dharmapala proposes Harischandra to take the position of secretary of the Mahabodhi Society branch in Anuradhapura. Harischanda seems to be following the trials of the colonial administration using Western knowledge, not the vernacular handed down by the pilgrims to Anuradhapura, in his initial quest to discover the city unknown to the western educated Sinhalese of the coastal region. Harischadra visits Anuradhapura for the first time as late as in 1899. He, like all other westernized Buddhists living on the coastal belt, does not seem to have acknowledged the value of the first capital till then. Just as Dharmapala wished to institute a “Holy City” in Bodhgaya, Harischanda was to make Anuradhapura the “Holy City” in the island. In 1902 the ‘Ruvanvälisēya veli chaitya Samvardhana Samithiya’ was inaugurated as the focal point for more organized activism independent from British intervention. The next year of the performance of ‘Sirisanga Bō Charitaya’ (1903) by John de Silva in Colombo gives the “Emotional fundament” for English speaking Buddihists in the quest of a National History of the Sinhalese. The Anurdhapura riots irrupt the same year. In 1904 there seems to a train service to Anuradhapura - one in the morning from Colombo and the return in the evening. Accommodation for the pilgrims seem to have been built by Mrs. S. S Fernando of Colombo and Mr. Simon de Silva of Negambo by already in 1897. The train service transports supporters from Colombo to Anuradhapura. I have also pointed in my research of an emergence of nostalgia of the glorious past was supported by other historical plays at the Tower Hall by John de Silva and Charles Dias. One may add the fact that by 1909 the Lankālōka press was publishing ‘Anuradhapura Puvat’ informing the Buddhists of the latest activities of the liberation of the city – using the print media in Sinhala to mobilize Buddhists. Momentum seems to gather in the turn of the century when trains transport printed newspapers and pamphlets from Maradana. Harischandra makes use of archaeological evidences and translations of inscriptions to substantiate the claim for the “Sacred City of Anuradhapura”. Harischanda in his ‘The Sacred City of Anuradhapura’ (1908) gives instructions to pilgrims to proceed from one place of interest to another. Into this proposed itinerary he weaves in the history of the city as narrated in the Mahāvaṃśa and photographs from the Skeen Collection. This presentation will trace the “Round Pilgrimage” (Vata Vandanava) suggested by Harischandra comparing it with the itinerary suggested in unpublished Vandanakavi from the archives of the Library of the National Museum.
Rhetorics of power: the propaganda poster of Fascist Germany, Spain, Italy and the Soviet Union
(University of Kelaniya, 2008) de Zoysa, A.
Transition of modes of transportation from pre-modern to modernized Ceylon; Representations in Murals of the Buddhist Image Houses of the Upcountry Kandyan and Low Country Maritime Regions
(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) de Zoysa, A.; Dissanayake, G.R.
Modernized Ceylon under Dutch and British occupation marks paradigm shifts of transportation in three phases: Elephant-Horse-Palanquin- Sailing Ships through Bullock Cart- Horse Drawn Carriage to Train-Automobile -Steam Ship revolutionizing communication and transport systems locally and internationally. This presentation will sketch the methodology to gather information from main scenes of Buddhist narratives: The speedy delivery of the new born Prince Sidhartha Gutama from Lumbini to Kapilavastu, the journey out of the palace to view the “Four precursors to Renunciation of Worldly Pleasures” (Satara Peta Nimithi) and King Vessanatara’s Deparure to Vangagiriya. These three scenes will be compared in the Upcountry and Low Country traditions. With the help of photographs of the mid 19th century, we shall identify some of these modes of transport, which are also on display at the Martin Wickramasigha Museum in Koggala. The next section of the presentation will view development of Scenes from Srilankan History as seen in the paintings of Solias Mendis in the Kelaniya Rajamahaviharaya and the lithographs of the Buddha Caritaya by M. Sarlis and his school of painters demonstrating the historicizing modes of transport, questioning why the automobile did not enter to the repertoire of modes of transport in the temple murals.
The Village as Seen in The ‘43 Group’ Projected on the Silver Screen by Lester James Peiris
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) de Zoysa, A.
Lionel Wendt is accepted as the founder and only photographer of the ‘43 Group’. This presentation poses the question, if the ‘43 Group’ had any expression in the medium of film. The other question is if there is any visual relationship in Lionel Wendt’s photography and the cinematography of Lester James Peiris as seen in ‘Rekawa’ (1956). ‘Rekawa’ (the Line of Destiny) came at a momentous time with the Bandaranaike government coming to power. Sinhala was fast replacing English and Sarachchandra had turned a new leaf in Sinhala theatre with ‘Maname’. LJP had quit the Government Film Unit and was shooting his first feature film ‘Rekawa’. The presentation is based on some in-depth interviews with LJP in January 2014 and archival material from the ‘Sapumal Foundation’, Colombo. Identifying the main features of ‘Rekawa’, one may say that it was a feature film shot on location (outside) and not in studios, this in keeping with Italian ‘Neorealismo’ of Rossellini, De Sica and Visconti. LJP’s “Village” disturbed the audience. Critiques said that ‘Siriyala’ where the story is located, as narrated by LJP was not a Sinhala village. The allegations made on LJP of creating an eroticized village for the English speaking audience was similar to those aimed at members of the ‘43 Group’ like Richard Gabriele. Ivan Peries, the greatest artist of landscape of the group, was LJP’s brother and LJP was a member of the group at some point. It is the visual imagery of the 43 Group, featuring an exotic Sri Lanka, filmed open-air and camera angles that were inspired by Lionel Wendt, that provide strong evidence that ‘Rekawa’ can be regarded as the only film of the ‘43 Group’. The discussion revolves around the conception of the “village” among the new Sinhala elite and the Colombo based English speaking artists of the ‘43 Group’.
Why does one go to hell?: Late 19th cent perspectives seen in the murals of the Vihārayas of the Amarapura Nikāya in the Galle District
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) de Zoysa, A.
As known in Suttas of the Tripiṭaka, hells called Niraya in Pali and Narakaya in Sanskrit, are the lowest of six or five paths of rebirth. In the Devadūta Sutta, hells are located under the realm of humans (Manussalōka). According to the narratives, “evil doers”, “the wicked” or “sinners” seem to fall into an endless pit ending up in the hell they will have to undergo immense suffering. In some temples of the Southern and Western Maritime Region, scenes of hells seem to appear about 1870, at times covering the lowest register of the entire ambulatory. No other narrative cycle has been allotted so much space. The texts accompanying these hells explain why the person was reborn in a particular hell. The Akusala Kamma, (unskillful or unwholesome action) collected by the individual as human is meant to correspond to the thousands of years of suffering in particular hell tortured by Yamapallo, who are in service of the King Yama (Lord of the Dead). Devadatta, who attempted to kill the Buddha three times and to create a split in the Sangha was reborn in the Avīchi Narakaya, where those who have committed the most grave misdeeds are born. In the temple walls, neither Devadatta, nor Ajatasatta who killed his father are seen in hell. Strangely Revatī, the wife of a benevolent merchant, is dragged to hell because she refused alms to the mendicants, the poor and Buddhist monks. It is also surprising that the sites of the hells selected for this study - Kathaluwē Pūrvārāma Purāṇa Vihāraya, Ranvelle Navamuṇisē Vihāraya, Dodaṃdūwa Kumārakande Kumāra Mahāvihāraya and Randoṃbe Samūdragiri Purāna Vihāraya - have some names of hells not mentioned in Pāli sources or their commentaries. The series of sins written on the wall vary from temple to temple. The series of images of torture and suffering have been selected because they have complete sets of hells unseen elsewhere in Sri Lanka. Important monks of the Amarapura Nikāya have resided in these temples who spearheaded a breakaway from the Upcountry Siyam Nikāya in the first half of the 19th century. The short overview will present the vernacular list of hells. The punishments given together with the unwholesome deeds reflect the ethical and moral values upheld by the monks of these breakaway fraternities.
World I and II as seen in propaganda posters and postcards of Germany
(Department of Modern Languages, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) de Zoysa, A.