Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c17.3

c17.3

The most primitive images made are the impermanent images made for use in yak and bali ceremonies, and wax images of Riri yaka used in haniyan ceremonies. These are made by the professional astrologers and dancers of the weaver (beravāya) caste, not by the regular artists. The mud images of devils, and planetary or other gods are prepared in low relief on a wooden foundation, or in the round, on a wicker construction; Pl. IV., 2, shows an elaborate erection of the first kind, which required fully two days for its construction by several men. The devils, it will be seen, are intentionally hideous; the gods' faces, however, are refined and even beautiful. These gods' heads were made separately by the modellers, the rest of the work done on the spot. The smoothed clay is whitened and painted with earths, and the figures decorated with cut leaves of coconut and plantain. It is probable that in work of this kind, executed in impermanent materials we see a survival of the most primitive form of Indo-Aryan plastic art.