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Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c10.s5: V. Viśvakarma

Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c10.s5

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V. Viśvakarma

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Viśvakarma, already referred to as the mythical ancestor of the Kammālar, is the patron deity of arts and crafts, the great Over-craftsman of the Universe. He is the architect of the gods, and revealer of the Sthapatya Vēda, or science of architecture and mechanics. He is described in the Mahābhārata as ‘Lord of the arts, the carpenter of the Gods, the fashioner of all ornaments, Who formed the celestial chariots of the deities, on whose craft men subsist, and whom, a great and immortal God, they continually worship.’ He is known in India also as Kāru, the workman; Takshaka, the woodcutter; and Dēva-vardhika, the builder of the Gods. In the last capacity he is frequently referred to in the Mahāvaṃsa, and as assisting human undertakings at the command of the Gods; as in Ch. XXVIII., where by his aid, bricks are miraculously produced. In Ch. XXX., when the King enquired of a certain bricklayer, “In what form dost thou propose to construct the cētiya?”, it is stated that Viśvakarma in that instant inspired him. The bricklayer, Viśvakarma filling a golden dish with water, and taking some water in the palm of his hand, dashed it against the water (in the dish); a great globule, like unto a ball of crystal rose to the surface; and he said, ‘I will construct it in this form.’ The delighted monarch bestowed on him a suit of clothes worth a thousand, a splendid pair of slippers, and 12,000 kahāpaṇam (coins)” (Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. XXX). It would be easy to quote any number of such stories from Indian literature.

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The Indian craftsman, indeed, conceives of his art not as the accumulated knowledge of ages, but as originating in the divine skill of Viśvakarma, and revealed by him. Beauty, rhythm, proportion, idea, have an absolute existence on an ideal plane, where all who seek may find. The reality of things exists in the mind, not in the detail of their appearance to the eye. This inward inspiration upon which the Indian artist is taught to rely, appearing like the still small voice of a god, that god was conceived of as Viśvakarma. He may be thought of as that part of Divinity which is conditioned by a special relation to artistic expression. In another way, again, he may be conceived of as the sum total of consciousness of individual craftsmen of all ages and places, composing a ‘group soul’ of a higher order of consciousness. These philosophical conceptions are not consciously present in the minds of modern craftsmen, but they are not foreign to Indian thought.

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Viśvakarma, like the other divinities, is represented as possessing a certain form and attributes. These are detailed in v. 149 of the Rūpāvaliya: “Salutation I give to Viśvakarma, the fair and great, who is renowned and free, who hath five tilaka-marked faces, ten arms, holding a book and writing style, a sword, an adze (lit. a club), a citron, a cup, a water-pot, a rosary, a cobra (about his neck), a noose, hands betokening sternness and beneficence (one closed and one open) and wearing a golden sacred thread.”

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On Pl. XXI. will be found a representation of Viśvakarma, drawn to scale and with the proper attributes as directed in the canon, prepared for me by Dēvasurēndra Muhandirama of Embekke.*

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Viśvakarma is not worshipped by craftsmen or others with offerings or ritual, but is often referred to in charms and songs connected with building operations, where he is invoked to ward off disasters and assist the craftsmen. An example of such a charm is the Uḷuvahu Peṇima, “The Jump from the Threshold,” detailing ceremonies and offerings necessary to hallow and protect a newly completed building, at the close of which the officiating craftsman or kaṭṭaḍiya has to ‘spring from the threshold.’ Of this work there is a printed version, giving, beside the song itself, the auspicious mantrams that are chanted. This Uḷuvahu Peṇima, after the manner of such works, recites the origin of the matter in hand, in this case, the revelation of building and arts and crafts generally, by Viśvakarma in the time of the mythical Maha Sammata, and concludes with auspicious mantrams.

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∗ The initials [D.S.M.] attached to figures in this book, indicate the work of a craftsman named Dēvasurēndra Muhandirama of Embekke.

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