[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Architecture and art](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art) › [Mediaeval Sinhalese Art](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908) › c19 # Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c19: Chapter IX. Painting Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c19 - **Language:** English ## Contents - [c19.54](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.54) — 4 parts ### Chapter IX. Painting ### [c19.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.1) OWING in a large measure to the activity of Kirti Śrī Rāja Simha, who was such an eager friend of religion and of art, we find preserved a sufficient amount of eighteenth century painting, to enable us to form an accurate idea of its scope and capacity and methods, in which we are aided by a study of the good work which can still be done by the hereditary painters when the opportunity is given them. The few really good painters, now living, are equal to any but the very best eighteenth century men, such as Silvatẹnna, who painted \*jatakas\* at Ridi Vihāra and at Degaldoruva. The eighteenth century work may be best studied in old and unrestored vihāras, such as Degaldoruva, Ridi Vihāra, Danagirigala, Doḍantale, and in the low country at Keḷaniya. Examples are also afforded by old painted furniture, like the book-box at Ridi Vihāra, and in the rare paper mss. of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; but I do not know of any old paintings on cloth surviving. ### [c19.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.2) The technique and character of Kandyan painting will first be described in detail. The pigments were prepared as follows: ### [c19.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.3) White (\*sudu pāṭa\*).—This is prepared from hydrous magnesite (\*makul\*, or \*kova makul\*) obtained from a cave known as the \*makul gal-lena\* at Vetekgama near Maturaṭa. It is often mixed with other pigments to make pink, grey, etc. ### [c19.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.4) Red (\*rata pāṭa\*).—This is \*sādilingam\* or cinnabar, which is not known to occur in Ceylon and must always have been imported. In all cases it forms the ground colour. ### [c19.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.5) Yellow (\*kaha pāṭa\*).—This is gamboge from the \*gokaṭu\* tree (\*Garcinia morella\*); but the material preferred for painting on wood or earthenware is orpiment (\*hiriyal\*, or \*maḍa hiriyal\*) and this is now often used even when \*gokaṭu\* would be preferable. ### [c19.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.6) Black (\*kalu pāṭa\*).—This is lamp-black, to make which, jak-milk (\*kos-kiri\*, i.e. juice from the fruit of \*Artocarpus integrifolia\*), \*keḳuna\* oil (oil of \*Canarium zeylanicum\*), and rosin (\*hal-dummala\*, from the \*hāl\*-tree, \*Vateria acuminata\*) are ground up together and mixed with shreds of cotton cloth, then set over a small fire in a clean earthen pot with a second pot inverted above it. The soot is deposited in the upper pot and thence collected. Its oily nature makes it difficult to mix with water. ### [c19.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.7) Blue (\*nīla pāṭa\*).—This colour is very rarely seen; it was obtained from the leaves of the indigo plant, \*nīl-gas\*, but only in small quantities; possibly some was also had from the Dutch. In the great majority of old paintings blue and green are absent altogether. ### [c19.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.8) Green (\*pacca\* \* pāṭa).—Made by mixing blue with yellow. ### [c19.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.9) Gold (\*ratram pāṭa\*).—Gold is used in an old pattern-book of the eighteenth century which I have, and in the \*baṇadham\* book (breviary) from which pages are reproduced on Pl. XX; but I have seen no other examples. The gold prepared for use is said to have come from Siam, which is quite possible. The use of gold leaf, however, applied to gild stone or other statues is a common and ancient practice. ### [c19.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.10) Shades of colour.—Red, black, and blue are mixed with white to form pink (\*imbul sivi\*), grey (\*sudu kalu\* or \*nīl sivi\*) and pale blue (\*nīl sivi\*). The grey is generally used to represent blue or green or brown in nature and in representations of Vishnu, the ‘Blue God.’ A little yellow added to the grey gives it the usual greenish tinge. The use of shades of colour is very limited, and never such as to produce relief or interfere with the flatness of the decoration. ### [c19.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.11) A characteristic feature is the outlining of all forms with a clear black line: this outlining, and the occasional use of small quantities of green or white in the detail of ornament, Painting gives just the necessary softening required to harmonize the strong reds and yellows, and reduce their extreme brilliancy. The whole range of colours may seem very limited, Technique but it will be found that a varied use can be made of them, and the very limitation was a safeguard and a stimulus to the inventiveness of the painter. Regarding the exact meaning of the names for colours, it may be noted that \*kalu\* means ‘black,’ but also ‘dark blue’ when applied to cloth; \*nila\* means either blue or green, properly the former, it is applied in poetry to the colour of parrot wings and compared with that of young rice. The use of few colours in Sinhalese art is a point of importance, as also the fact that the same word is sometimes used in different senses, as \*kalu\*, black or indigo; \*nila\*, blue or green. The appreciation of shades of colour is even in Europe a comparatively modern matter, and has gone to great extremes. The old appreciation of pure bright colour is almost lost, a fact not generally realised by persons who regard pure colour as barbaric. ### [c19.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.12) ∗ It may be noted that the word \*pacca\* in ‘\*pacca heṭṭaya\*’ (a chief’s jacket, as in Fig. 1) has little or no colour significance, indicating rather the kind of jacket than the colour of it. ### [c19.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.13) One of the most important things needful to secure good colours, is long and careful grinding. This work, often done by the pupils, may occupy as much as a month before a large undertaking, such as the decoration of a vihāra, is begun. The pounded colour is ground with water in a stone mortar again and again until it is fine and smooth enough. According to the best method, the pigments are mixed with \*divul laṭu\* (gum of the elephant apple tree, \*Feronia elephantum\*) and water, and thus used. The work is thus in no sense fresco, but should be called tempera painting. Gum arabic is now successfully used when the \*laṭu\* cannot be had. The use of \*doraṇa\* oil (oil of the \*doraṇa\* tree, \*Dipterocarpus glandulosus\*) as a medium is said to be entirely a modern innovation; the effect is coarser and altogether inferior. But some say that \*doraṇa\* oil was used for outside work, and even in interiors when the \*laṭu\* could not be had. Certainly if oil was not used as the medium for outdoor work, such as that above the vihāra at Riḍi Vihāra, it is difficult to understand how it can have lasted. The paintings at Riḍi Vihāra were executed in the reign of Kirti Śrī Rāja Simha. Siddhattha, the incumbent who had charge of the works, after completing the vihāras and their decoration, “caused a delightful picture to be made of the Sage, seated amidst his five hundred disciples with Sāriputra at their head, above the image house, in the convenient hollow of the rock” (Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. C.). There are external paintings also at Māniyaṅgama and Lenagala. Mr. Bell (Kēgalla Report, p. 30) says of the latter, that above the lean-to tiled verandah there “is still visible a coloured representation of a \*perahera\*, much faded, in which riders on elephants and horses, with flag-bearers, escort a five-tiered \*karaṇḍuva\* on a car.” These paintings, at any rate those at Māniyaṅgama, date from the time of Kirti Śrī Rāja Simha. Ordinary interior painting is sooner or later destroyed by even partial exposure to damp. ### [c19.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.14) The brushes used for flat colouring of small spaces are made of cats’ or squirrels’ hair, and are small and delicate. Larger brushes are made from the frayed ærial roots of \*veṭakeyiya\*, a species of \*Pandanus\*. Long stiff brushes for drawing fine lines are made from the awns of the \*teli taṇa\* grass (\*Aristida adscensionis\*). The \*teli taṇa\* grass and the brush (\*teli kāra\*) are so-called from the resemblance to the snout of the \*teli\* fish. The \*teli taṇa\* brushes are very easily and rapidly made; the grass spike is wetted, and the awns stripped off between the finger and thumb nail, shaken down to a level and tied on a pointed stick; the longest awns form the fine point of the brush. Graphite pencils were unknown, but actual lead pencils were used—but very sparingly, however, as the painter relied almost entirely, perhaps altogether, on his brush. ### [c19.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.15) The materials on which eighteenth century paintings were executed, were plaster (on walls), wood (ceilings, furniture, etc.), cloth and paper and earthenware, as at the present day. Accounts of paintings on cloth are quoted on pp. 72, 73, above, from the Mahāvaṃsa. ### [c19.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.16) \*Painting\* They refer, no doubt, to ordinary pigment painting, as dye-painting was not, at any rate in the eighteenth century, a Sinhalese craft. I have seen no drawings on paper of Sinhalese paper, which was very coarse and rough.\* Such old drawings or paper ms. as have been preserved are found to be on Dutch paper, or at a later time on English paper. No doubt paper of Indian or Sinhalese manufacture was used at an earlier period. ### [c19.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.17) \*Methods of wall painting\* Vihāra walls were made sometimes of stone or brick, more often of mud mixed with sand, laid on a wooden framework as in ordinary domestic work; the wooden framework was filled with a mixture of puddled earth and sand, covered with a layer of finely ground clay and sand, mixed with rice water. The surface was then covered with a layer of \*kirimeṭiya\* (‘milk clay,’ viz. kaolin) made very smooth, and then a coat of Maturaṭa \*makul\* (magnesite). The surface was thus made pure white. The \*sapu\* or bamboo wooden framework of such walls lasts well; but some are riddled with white ants. In the case of the roof of a rock temple, the plaster of clay, sand and rice water was applied direct with a coconut-fibre brush, and then the \*kirimeṭiya\* and \*makul\* were laid over. The proportion of clay to sand is one part to two. When there have been many successive redecorations the thickness of plaster becomes considerable, and is sometimes heavy enough to fall away by its own weight. According to the statement of good modern craftsmen, lime plaster was not used as a basis for painting upon, but only for external surfaces not intended to be painted. But a verse from the Gaṇa Devi Hella, quoted on p. 89, indicates that lime plaster was sometimes painted on, as one would naturally have expected. ### [c19.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.18) Painting is commenced upon the \*makul\*-covered surface. The work is first sketched in (\*lakunu kalā\*) with a fine brush and black paint, then the background filled in with pink, leaving the figures white. The latter are then filled in with yellow, carefully outlined in red, and the background filled up in pink exactly to the outline. Part of this work is done by pupils. The pink is covered with a coat of red; and two or three alternate coats of pink and red may be necessary to ensure a fine red at last. The final background is invariably red, as in Pl. I. Detail of features, etc., is added in red on the figures, which are finally cleanly outlined with a firm black line, which at once defines, harmonizes and unites the whole composition. All the line work is done with the fine \*teli taṇa\* brush. The use of yellow for the face and figure is explained by the frequent comparison of the colour of beautiful persons to that of gold. It is a fact that the most beautiful Indian skin colour is golden brown, going with a very satiny texture, and this is recognized in the Indian ideal of beauty, which demands a ‘fair’ skin. A very dark skin is despised, and is actually more usual amongst persons of low caste, than those of high. The elephant-keeper, in Pl. I., is accordingly represented as dark, in contrast to the \*goviyavamsa\* people attendant on the king. Trees, leaves, and water are usually represented in grey; buildings are yellow, tiles red, and rocks black. The use of blue or green is most exceptional. ### [c19.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.19) Pattern work is done in a corresponding manner. It is usual to determine first the position of the most important elements, such as flowers or animals, then to connect them together, and last to add the leaves and detail on the stems. The black outline, and occasional use of a little green, black, or white detail, temper any hardness of contrast between the red and yellow. When a particular flower or animal is to be repeated several times, a paper pattern (\*accuva\*) is made, and the outline traced from it wherever required. Pouncing seems to be unknown, although a familiar practice in India and Siam. When a limited space has to be filled with a repeating pattern, it is carefully subdivided with compasses, so as to allow the pattern to begin and end well. All important principles of the construc- \*Painting\* tion of design were fully understood, as may be judged from an examination of Figs. 29 and 52. ### [c19.20](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.20) ∗ The method of manufacture was described by Ondaatje, ‘Observations on the Vegetable Products of Ceylon,’ Colombo, 1854. ### [c19.21](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.21) The methods of painting on wood are similar, except that \*hiriyal\* is preferred to \*gokaṭu\*, and the work is usually protected by a layer of varnish (\*valicciya\*). The whole is first covered with an even coat of pink, the design sketched on this, and the background filled in with red, and detail as before. Painting on earthenware is done in the same way. ### [c19.22](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.22) The varnish is made as follows: powdered \*dummala\* (which must be white and clean, \*Varnish\* not dark) is mixed with \*doraṇa\* (oil) and boiled for half an hour or more and then allowed to cool, when it is ready for use. The varnish so prepared smells strongly of turpentine and dries quickly.\* The yellow \*gokaṭu\* (gamboge) paint is said to be itself a \*valicciya\* and not to require any other varnish. A superior method of varnishing small wooden articles is to cover the painting with a thin coating of carefully cleaned and strained lac (\*keppeṭṭiya lakaḍa\*), applied with heat. Old book covers will always be found to have been thus treated. ### [c19.23](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.23) One great merit of the old Sinhalese painter is the thoroughness of his knowledge of the preparation and properties of the pigments and tools at his disposal; their natural limitations moreover tended to restraint and gravity. The readiness with which excellent implements are made from the commonest and simplest materials is very striking. The old methods are still well understood and sometimes followed by the best workmen; but, unfortunately, those responsible for modern \*vihāra\* decoration rarely take the trouble to secure their services; and the majority of inferior painters run riot with Aspinall's enamel and Rickett's blue, with which they depict designs more like those to be looked for on second-rate Christmas cards than suitable for temple walls. ### [c19.24](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.24) \*Vihāra\* walls are usually covered with \*jātaka\* subjects, in long panels of continuous narration, \*Jātaka\* set close together, one above the other (Pls. I. and VIIIA), the narrow space between \*paintings\* sufficing for a short explanatory note; or a label may be inset in the picture itself; both methods are illustrated in Pl. XVIII. The ‘continuous narration’ should be specially noted. In this primitive method, the same figures are repeated frequently in continuous pictures, in fresh situations revealing the progress of the story; so that the result is a panorama, where, however, the observer and not the picture itself must move. Thus in Pl. I. the one elephant appears twice, first ridden by King Vessantara, afterwards as being given by him to certain Brahmans who in the original are shown on the right; below again, Madrī Devī and the two children are twice depicted, once passing along the highway, and then arriving at the hermitage. ### [c19.25](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.25) It is worth while to describe in slightly greater detail the wall paintings of a particular \*vihāra\*. I have already quoted from the Degaldoruva \*sannasa\* some account of the decoration of the \*vihāra\* there; it is stated that twenty-four images of Buddha were painted on the walls and ceilings, beside other workmanship. Of these paintings, the \*jātaka\* paintings on the outer surface of the wall of the \*pilima-gē\* are the most interesting and important. Four \*jatakas\* are illustrated; these are the Sattubhatta and Vessantara Jātakas on the left of the main door, Sutasoma Jātaka between the doors, and the Sīlava Jātaka on the right. The little iron-barred window referred to above, p. 134, separates the Sattubhatta and Vessantara Jātakas on the left. Mr. Cave in his ‘Book of Ceylon’, Fig. 489, gives a good picture of Degaldoruva, showing the doors and the painted wall; in the same picture may be observed the twelve monolithic pillars with their cushion capitals, the painted ceiling, and the beautiful ‘moonstone’ or doorstep. Four painters worked at Degaldoruva, the work being completed in 1771, or at any rate before 1786, when the sannasa was granted. Their names were Nilagama Paṭabenda, who was the chief gihiya, or foreman; Devaragampola Silvaṭenna Unnānse, who was an ‘unordained’ priest of ācāri caste, and worked also at Riḍi Vihāra, being still remembered as the best painter of his day; Kosvatte Hitaranayide, by whom the Sutasoma Jātaka is said to have been done; and another man whose name is not remembered. The work was overseen by Moratoṭa Mahā Nāyaka of Malvatte, who was the first incumbent. ### [c19.26](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.26) ∗ \*I have found an alcoholic solution of shellac a convenient substitute for the methods described, and preferable in effect to the intense brilliancy of newly applied dummala varnish.\* ### [c19.27](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.27) The value of these paintings lies not merely in their beauty and charm as decoration, but in the fact that they are priceless historical documents that could not be reproduced under modern conditions. The gorgeous trappings of the elephants, the king’s and the attendants’ dresses and the royal insignia; the hermitage; the village scene at the well in the Vessantara Jātaka, are all most faithfully drawn, and these pictures, like the mediæval manuscripts of Europe, are invaluable records of past manners and customs. In the Sutasoma Jātaka, the most interesting pictures are perhaps those in which the king’s sons meet in an ambalam; the representations of the king’s kitchen, with the gahoniya hanging from a hook on a pillar, covering the provisions brought in from some royal manor; the king’s expulsion; and his offerings of human victims as a sacrifice to the tree dēva. In the Sīlava Jātaka, perhaps the most interesting scenes are those showing Senaka Paṇḍit expounding the dharma to men and women, and a school scene showing a seated paṇḍit and a row of respectful scholars, of whom the first is repeating his lesson to the master. Of the other paintings at Degaldoruva, the most noteworthy are the Buddha and Maitri Buddha on the rock ceiling within the piḷima-gē. ### [c19.28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.28) Another temple which may be briefly described is the Keḷaniya Vihāra. The main building consists of an image room with a large reclining image and an antechamber (Pl. VIIA., below) with four doors, the walls and ceiling elaborately painted. Upon the walls are depicted many jatakas, such as the Vessantara and Kindurā, a representation of Māra’s battle, where the figure of Mihikata rising from the earth at the Buddha’s feet should be noticed, and also decorative panels of nāri-lata, flowers in pots, and portraits of royal benefactors and successive incumbents. These paintings are not in the best manner, but for nineteenth century low-country work are very good. Most of the characteristic features of Kandyan painting can be recognized, such as ‘continuous narration,’ and many of the details of pattern work on the walls, and especially the ceiling, are excellent (Pl. XIV., 3, 4, 5, and 7). It is instructive to examine the wall paintings critically and determine the degenerate features. It will be found, for example, that the trees are more slovenly in treatment than at Degaldoruva, often mere daubs; there is also a tendency to more relief and realism, and variety of colour. But the sprays and branches and birds are well done, and the treatment of the makara toraṇa and branches within the image room could hardly be improved upon. ### [c19.29](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.29) Other temples where good eighteenth century Kandyan painting is to be seen, include Doḍantale, Danagirigala, Laṅkātilaka (Pl. VIIA), Riḍi Vihāra, Gaṇēgoḍa (Pl. XV.), and many others. Almost all the painting at the Daḷadā Māligāva has been renewed in recent times, and although the designs are for the most part traditional, the colours are gaudy and varied to an intolerable degree. One of the few remaining good paintings (Pl. XVI.) has been restored and altered very recently. ### [c19.30](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.30) In Kandyan painting there is an entire absence of perspective and shading. The primary object is to tell an edifying story in an attractive way. The work is thus rather epic in character, than artistic in the modern sense. It has a great deal in common with the mural painting of Egypt; in its pure gay colour, decorative flat treatment and restfulness, it is most admirable as wall painting. As in Egypt, “the wall is a wall still and not a window; nay a book rather, where, if you will, you may read the stories of the gods and heroes, and whose characters, whether you read them or not, delight you always with the beauty of their form and colour.” Beside \*jatakas\* we find other subjects on walls, particularly the \*sat-satiya\*, \*suvisi-vivarana\*, rows of arhat priests, \*māra-yuddhaya\*, etc. Large wall spaces are not usually covered with mere pattern work, which only appears as an accessory (Pl. VIIA). If the religious subjects are not depicted, beautifully designed pictures of trees may be found, as at Danagirigala (Pl. XIV., 8). Portraits of royal or other patrons are sometimes painted flat on the walls, as at Doḍantale, where there is a valuable costume representation of Kirti Śrī wearing the famous \*kurulla beṇḍi malaya\* now in the Maligāva, and carrying a jewelled cane; but more often the figure of the patron is modelled in low relief. All figure subjects, whether images of Buddha in the round, or Gods or patrons in low relief on the walls are invariably painted, the costume of the Gods or men covered with fine diaper and other pattern work (Pl. XIV., 5 and 6). ### [c19.31](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.31) Figures are represented in full, three-quarter or side face, never as seen from behind. This fact is remarked by the mediæval poet, Toṭagomuva (see p. 10), in a verse of the Seḷa Lihiṇi Sandēśaya: “True friends, alike when adverse fortune comes or when success, like painted images upon a wall, show not their backs.” ### [c19.32](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.32) The off eye is foreshortened in three-quarter face presentations, but the near eye is drawn as if seen in front view, and the same is true of profiles. Lines to indicate the eye socket are drawn above and below the lines of the eye itself. The four lines just mentioned are drawn in red, the eyebrow black. The pupil is a black spot. In large paintings the white of the eye on either side of the pupil is barred by vertical red lines, curved concentrically with the limit of the pupil. ### [c19.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.33) In small paintings by good artists, and particularly in renderings of \*jataka\* subjects, the figure and features are sufficiently well done to allow even a critical observer to enjoy the work as a whole, as one decorative construction. But in larger paintings it very often happens that the distortion of the features and misproportion of the limbs is painful. Paintings of Buddha are usually carefully and correctly drawn in accordance with the measurements of the canon, but hardly show any appreciation of the physical beauty of the figure. ### [c19.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.34) The figures have a good deal of vivacity and dignity, but are rarely drawn with any feeling for the beauty of the human form; they are sometimes almost grotesque. The canon of measurement (Sāriputra) is not made use of in drawing figures in \*jataka\* scenes, but only in representing Buddha or figures of the gods. The absence of perspective is so much a part of the style that we can hardly call it a fault. We can imagine an improvement in the drawing, but the introduction of perspective and relief and division of the picture into several planes would so alter the work—not necessarily for the better—that it could no longer be called Kandyan painting. ### [c19.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.35) The most essential character of Kandyan painting, as of Kandyan design in general, is \*Idealism\* its idealism. This idealism belongs to all Indian art; but in Kandyan art it appears in almost an extreme form. Some of the \*magul lakunu\*, for example, are little more than hieroglyphics. But the idealism is very marked also in design and picture. Observe, for example, the trees on Pl. I. and XIV., 8; these are not portraits of particular trees, but abstractions, representing the artist’s generalised conception of all such trees. When I say ‘the artist,’ I do not refer to any individual, but imply the whole body of artists who together worked out the language long ago; and I say language because traditions and conventions are to the artist what words and metre are to the poet, and these no one man made. The idealism of Kandyan art is part of its inheritance from India; but as we have already observed, Kandyan art does not represent Indian art at its greatest or even at a very great period, but rather Indian art at the level of a great and beautiful scheme of peasant decoration. Kandyan art as we see it represents a tradition handed down from the earliest stratum of Indian art, modified and enriched by subsequent influences but in many ways primitive; just as the original manner of building in wood, and of making images in impermanent materials, survives in spite of the work in stone of Anurādhapura and Polonnaruva. Could the sculptors of Barāhat have come to life in eighteenth century Kandy, they would have found little that would have seemed strange or unfamiliar in the style or subject of the paintings on its vihāra walls. The sculptured trees at Barāhat differ only from those painted at Danagirigala in their more intense feeling for beauty and the deeper emotion which inspires them. This we should expect in work so much nearer the beginning of a great tradition. ### [c19.36](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.36) We shall understand the idealism of Indian and Sinhalese art as well from a study of the Barāhat or Kandyan trees, as in any other way. There are two ways of seeing a tree; at first glance or in a photograph, it strikes us as an irregular growth of branches and leaves, producing a confused effect of light and shade. We soon learn to distinguish more than this, and to tell one kind of tree from another. But as we consider more deeply a number of trees of different kinds, we realise that each has, as it were, a law of its being: its leaves have a certain form, with a certain range of variation, its branches a certain manner of growth, its flowers a particular symmetry. Each actual tree seems to be an incarnation or embodiment of some more perfect and rhythmical idea of the tree. This idea it is the aim of art to reveal. ### [c19.37](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.37) A good example of the idealistic treatment is afforded by the lotus. The lotus to Indian art and for the Indian mystic, is all that the rose was to Mediæval Europe. As English mediæval art is one long ‘Romaunt of the Rose,’ so Indian art is a romance of the many-petalled flower that is the throne of all divinities, and whose ideal form continually re-incarnates in every vessel and in every design. The simple lotus form represents the ideal form of all lotuses, as does the Tudor rose for all roses, it carries the emotion of all lotuses compressed into one abstraction. This is the secret of the constancy of art forms, that the ideal form they represent is eternal and immutable, a thought in the heart of Īśvara; that is why the trees at Barāhat and the trees in a Kandyan vihāra are expressed by the same formula. The impulse to the expression of emotion in art, is born of the sense of the unity of all life, the recognition of the many in the one. The representation of ideal forms, the reduction of various complex appearances to their simplest terms is an expression of the desire to see the one in the many.∗ There is here a great affinity between art and science; what natural law resuming the sequence of phenomena is for phenomena, ideal art is for the expression of emotion. Scientific drawing is concerned with the appearance of things as they seem to be in themselves; art with things as they really are within ourselves: in other words science is objective, art subjective. It is most important that their aims should not, as is now usually the case, be confused. ### [c19.38](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.38) ∗ \*This impulse in its extremest art form produces such hieroglyphs as many of the magul lakunu, as shown in Fig. 69. In religion it results in a corresponding asceticism. We feel that the hieroglyphs or symbols are scarcely any longer to be classed as art, so slight is their intrinsic manifestation, and so entirely does the emotional value depend on association. We get a glimpse here again of the nature of the antipathy between religion and art. The former must in the end transcend the latter. Of the golden crowns which must be offered at the throne of truth, before the truth itself is known, art like all else related to time and space, is one. But for most of us, the time is not yet arrived, when we are prepared not merely to refine, but to transcend this life.\* ### [c19.39](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.39) The memory element is in Indian art almost as characteristic as its consistent idealism. \*Painting\* As already remarked, the Kandyan artist carried in his head the elements of his art, and composed them as occasion required. His fault lay in becoming the slave rather than \*Idealism\* the master of the tradition thus transmitted; there have been many times in the history of Indian art when it has been otherwise, but eighteenth century Kandyan was not one of these high-water marks. ### [c19.40](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.40) The essential points in the traditional representations were summarised in mnemonic verses, for example, “This is the appearance of Viṣṇu, two hands, a chank, a discus, a head-dress, a crown, ear-flowers, a golden garment, his colour blue, his vehicle the \*garuḍa\*” (Rūpāvaliya, v. 57). Such mnemonic verses correspond to the memory verses of the early literature, and may once have been transmitted orally in the same way. Thus the Dīpavaṃsa, I., 29, describes the \*satsatiya\* thus: “The throne, the sanctuary, the cloisters, the gem palace, the \*ajapala\* (tree), the (\*nāga\*) mucalinda, together with the Khirapala (grove) as the seventh.” But all this is subservient to the idealism and the living tradition. From the verse alone, a quite inadequate figure of Viṣṇu would be drawn, just as from the verse alone, a very poor idea of the \*satsatiya\* would be gathered. Each had to be filled in by the artist, whether painter or reciter, as best he knew. ### [c19.41](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.41) In some verses of the canon the idealism is more evident. The Buddha, for example, is one with “an unfettered, quiescent, and absolutely pure mind” (Sāriputra); of the horse it is said that “his neigh has the sound of the storm, . . . he is swift as the wind, stately as the lion and has the gait of a dancer” (Rūpāvaliya). The expression of these abstract ideas is of more value than the exact imitation of natural forms. ### [c19.42](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.42) We are not told, and do not want to be told, what the animal itself was like, but what it meant to the men who painted it, what it was like for them, and so what they were like. As I have said above (p. 87), the artist’s lion need be like no lion on earth or in any zoological garden; the artist is not preparing the plates of a work on natural history; but makes his lion at once a portrait of the universe and an expression of the whole theory of his national existence. At the same time it must be recognized that the eighteenth century craftsman in Ceylon was merely making use of such expressions already formulated, and was not himself a creator. The same applies to the imager, who used the formula, and was influenced, no doubt, by the suggestions of such verses as those just quoted, but can hardly at this time have been accustomed to practise meditation and mental visualising as truly great Indian artists have always done. ### [c19.43](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.43) It must not be supposed, however, that tradition, by its very nature, fetters the expression and production of great art; on the contrary it enables the great artists to speak in a language understood of the people, and without that necessity for explanation which reduces the value of more individualistic art; and the existence of an art language is no more a fetter to the true artist, than the existence of a word language is to the true poet. And what did tradition mean to the lesser craftsmen, for whom art was but a craft? It gave them a conception so defined as to avoid all danger of the sacred subjects being treated absurdly or irreverently. How well this aim was attained is shown by the vulgarity and stupidity that do appear in Indian art, where the tradition is rudely and contemptuously broken with. But while the tradition lasted, it saved the man of small capacity from his own folly, and made it possible for him to work acceptably within its limits. ### [c19.44](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.44) If, for example, the spiritual conflict of Buddha with the powers of evil had been depicted by some great artist, in the shape of a strong man whose face was torn by conflicting emotions, a wonderful picture might have resulted; but it would not have been peaceful, impersonal, ideal. Such a rendering of ‘expression’ in the face would be quite foreign to the aesthetic and philosophic conceptions of Indian art, which is not at all concerned Idealism ### [c19.45](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.45) References to Sinhalese literature ### [c19.46](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.46) with the interpretation of individuality. It would not be possible for many such personal individual pictures to be made; and one essential of religious art, is that there shall be a possibility of the work being done fairly well by average craftsmen. This does not at all rule out the genius, who has a greater, not a less, opportunity than has such a man nowadays who can only do good work, in conscious opposition to the spirit of the age. Furthermore, only great individual artists could depict the mental struggle adequately as such; but the concrete symbolism made it possible for average workmen at all times to produce a sufficient result; without preventing the great man from throwing all his genius into the expression of peace in the seated figure. ### [c19.47](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.47) The serene seated figure, surrounded by vainly attacking devils, is a most assuring and peaceful promise of final victory over the passions. The Buddha is not represented in his painful struggles, but with the calmness of perfect victory and peace. So, too, in earlier Christianity, representations of Christ in glory, or transfigured, were much oftener made, than of Christ upon the cross. ### [c19.48](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.48) In times of great artistic expression, we have both the work of men of genius, and that of ordinary workmen. Their work is united by the bond of a common tradition, or means of expression, just as the work of contemporaneous poets is united by a common language and association of ideas. But in eighteenth century Kandyan art we have to deal not with the work of men of individual genius as well as that of ordinary workmen, we have only the work of the latter. The value of the concrete traditional symbolism in this case can hardly be overestimated, a point which those who are acquainted with the extraordinary vulgarity and unsuitability of modern vihāra decoration, often executed by low-country painters who are not hereditary craftsmen, will understand. ### [c19.49](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.49) To enable us to judge of the light in which art, and especially painting, was ordinarily regarded, an examination of some literary references will be useful. There was at this time no great philosophy of art; it was regarded almost entirely as decorative in aim. Here is the translation of a verse in the Nīlakobō Sandēśaya (eighteenth century): the writer, addressing the parrot messenger, “Sit quietly on the fruitladen kaduru tree, and behold the ambalam built at Polonnaruvavela, adorned with paintings of lions and leopards, as if by the advent of Viśvakarma with his mighty power.” ### [c19.50](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.50) Again in the description of the building of a palace for the youthful Gaṇeśa, in the Gaṇa Devi Hella, “After the walls were daubed with clay, and smoothly plastered with lime, an artist was engaged, who painted pictures of makaras and hamsas, gavaras, leopards and lions, peacocks and parrots, ringdoves and cocks, pigeons and pretty kovulas.” ### [c19.51](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.51) Verse 205 of the Girā Sandēśaya (fifteenth century) speaks of “the monks reaching the different parts of such a great vihāra (Pepiliyāna), and opening the painted covers of the books of sacred doctrine to investigate the meaning of the Abhidhamma text.” ### [c19.52](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.52) Verse 91 of the Sevul Sandēśaya (late sixteenth century) describes the paintings in a Hindu Temple near Sītavaka: “Beholding with a heart filled with boundless joy the paintings representing in detail the war between Rāma and Rāvaṇa, the war of the Mahābhārata, the wars of the auspicious Skanda, and the wars waged by Īśvara against the Asuras in ancient times.” ### [c19.53](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.53) Other quotations could be given, but these show that the mediæval poets did not fail to notice and appreciate the paintings of their time. ### [c19.54.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.54.1) The whole of the Mahāvaṃsa is extraordinarily full of the idea of art and craft, especially architectural. The ideals of civic and architectural magnificence and beauty are continually dwelt upon, often in poetical and imaginative passages of the highest order.\* I quote in full the description of the restoration of Riḍi Vihāra by Kirti Śri. “And the lord of Painting the land gave unto the novice Siddhattha the large vihāra called Rajata \[Riḍi Vihāra\] that the king Duṭṭhagāmanī had built, who had verily come (into this world) with the desire Riḍi Vihāra to become the chief disciple of Maitri Buddha. And the ruler of Laṅkā caused that priest to be ordained, and bestowed offices on him and on all the priests who dwelt in the Uposatārāma, and also showed them favour in many ways. And that they might restore that vihāra which had been long in a state of decay, the lord of Laṅkā provided them with divers artificers and many painters, and much refined gold for gilding the statue of Buddha, and all the labour and instruments that were necessary. And when the eminent monk Siddhattha had received all these things he removed everything that was old and decayed, and made the thick high wall of solid stone, to shine, and the floor and the outer wall also. And he caused a picture of the Supreme Buddha, as he was engaged in the battle with Māra, to be painted on the roof of the rock, and divers flowers and branches also. ### [c19.54.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.54.2) He caused also the great sleeping image to be made with fine brick and mortar and clay, and many other images of Buddha also, sitting and upright. And on the inner wall he caused about a thousand beautiful pictures of the Supreme Buddha to be painted with exquisite art. At the foot of the great sleeping image he caused to be made, in due order, beautiful images of Ānanda, the constant attendant of Buddha and the preserver of the Law, and of Maitri Bodhisatva, of the excellent Nātha Dēva and of the king Duṭṭhagāmanī. And he gilded with gold the five large images of Buddha, and completed the other works that had to be done inside. On the outside wall also, he caused to be painted a beautiful row of figures of Dēvas and Brahmas carrying flowers in their hands, as if they had come to worship. He caused also to be made a large arch, beautiful and pleasant to the sight, and two figures of lions on the two sides of the door, and figures of demons on the spaces between them, in the walls. He also had pictures made of the sixteen principal shrines consisting of Mahiyaṅgana and the rest, and a likeness of the excellent footprint (of Buddha) on the Sacca-baddha Pabbata, and many scenes also, painted with exquisite art from many Jātakas, showing the ten-fold Pārami, the three-fold Cariyā, the five great self-denying sacrifices, and other virtues of the Bodhisatta). And in the hall he caused many pictures to be painted : lions, elephants, and swans, in rows; ### [c19.54.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.54.3) likewise flowers and branches also. “Then in the beautiful cave that is on the top of that selfsame rock he made a fair, large and excellent image-house pleasant to the sight, and many works in stone that were wrought to perfection. In it he made a large, beautiful, and life-like sitting image of Buddha, pleasant to behold, and on both sides thereof two fine upright statues. He also caused to be made there the images of Maitri Bodhisatva and of Uppalavaṇṇa, and many images of Buddha, and hundreds also of Arhats. Likewise also there were figures of the twentyfour Buddhas (before Gautama) and as many Bodhi trees, sāvisi-vivaraṇa, pictures of the sixteen principal shrines, of demons and other evil spirits, of the five different venerable convocations, and divers other paintings of exquisite beauty. In that very place he placed relics of Buddha, and built thereon a Cetiya, and adorned it with a pinnacle of gold. And on the top of the image-house in that excellent rock basin he caused a delightful picture to be made of the Sage, seated amidst his five hundred disciples, with Sāriputta at their head. And even in the different courts (of the vihāra) he built walls and open halls, and divers gates also, and rows of steps and other excellent works. He repaired many old works, also built many new ones; and completed all in a beautiful manner. ### [c19.54.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.54.4) “And when the time for holding the feast of the setting of the eyes of the images had come, and the king had sent his ministers with apparel and other ornaments (to conduct it), they adorned the place with many continuous rows of arches; and when they had made an end of putting on all the ornaments that were necessary and had arranged the order \*Painting\* of the high ceremonial, they celebrated the great feast, and, under a lucky star and at a favourable hour, performed the ceremony of setting the eyes of the images. ### [c19.55](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.55) ∗ Mahāvaṃsa, Chs. LXXXVIII. and XCVII., quoted above, pp. 9, 11, 12. ### [c19.56](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.56) \*Ridi Vihara\* “From that time forth many inhabitants of the country came together from different parts, in great number, like unto a sea that overflowed the land; and when they had seen the works of gold and divers other things that had been wrought there, they were exceedingly delighted, as if they had seen the Supreme Buddha performing the double miracle. And with their hearts full of joy they made great offerings, accompanied with shouts, and paved their way to heaven. ### [c19.57](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.57) “And in the festival which was held at that vihāra they invited the priesthood, and prepared seats for them in the upper hall of the vihāra, and caused the priests who were preachers of the Law to sit thereon and recite the Mahā-maṅgala-sutta and other discourses which were pleasant to be listened to; and then they made due offerings in honour of the Law. And all the people who heard and saw these things enjoyed the pleasure of seeing (the image of) the Supreme Buddha at the same time that they listened to his holy doctrine; and they rejoiced exceedingly as if they heard the doctrine preached by the living Buddha himself. Thus, day after day, did they show to the people both the beauty of his (Buddha’s) form and the dignity of his discourses. ### [c19.58](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.58) “And, on the courtyard without, an open hall was built on stone pillars with seats prepared (for priests). And the great body of the priests assembled themselves together there, and were instructed in the rules of moral conduct, such as the five precepts and others; and they had everyone the opportunity daily of hearing much of the Law expounded to them. Moreover, he (the priest Siddhattha) in his great loving-kindness, did often invite preachers of religion, and make them discourse to the people all through the three watches of the night. ### [c19.59](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.59) “And he (the priest or king) caused that vihāra named Rajata to be completed, and that great feast to be held in the two thousand three hundred and first year of the Parinibbāṇa of the Supreme Buddha” (Mahāvamsa, Ch. C.) Such work was a labour of love to all concerned. ### [c19.60](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.60) \*Painting on\* The following mention of painting on cloth is connected with Parākrama Bāhu II. : “And \*cloth\* he longed every day to behold a beautiful picture of the Blessed One—a perfect likeness of the Master as he was in his lifetime. So the chief of men employed many skilled painters to paint on a beautiful cloth a surpassing likeness of Buddha, as the Blessed One appeared on earth when he walked on the great bridge of gold and gems” (Mahāvamsa, Ch. LXXXV.). ### [c19.61](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.61) \*Siri-\* The following account of the building of a Mahā Vihāra for the Tooth-relic, by Vijaya \*vaḍḍhana\* Bāhu III., in the thirteenth century, contains most interesting descriptions of buildings, images and golden utensils, of which the chronicle speaks in truly poetical language, which must, of course, lose greatly in translation. The period is earlier than that generally dealt with in this volume; but the ideal, if not the attainment, of the eighteenth century was similar, and the chronicler’s words give the keynote of the part played by the arts in Sinhalese life from first to last. The description includes an account of the magnificent procession along the decorated road from Dambaḍeniya to Sirivaḍḍhana\*: ### [c19.62](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.62) “And afterwards the king built the Mahā Vihāra in the noble city of Sirivaḍḍhana wherein he was born—a city that could not be compared for its situation—and endowed it with great possessions. It consisted of stately houses and open halls, of high walls and gates, and was ornamented with \*bō\*-trees, dāgabas, groves, and image-houses. The workmanship Painting thereof was diverse and of exceeding beauty, and it was adorned with great splendour. And in the vast space that extended from the city of Jambuddoṇi to the city of Sirivaḍḍhana, \*Siri-\* the length and breadth whereof was about half a yojana and one usabha, (the highway was) \*vaḍḍhana\* made even like the face of a drum, covered throughout with sand, exceeding fine and soft. And the divers flags and banners which ornamented the sides thereof were so great in number that they seemed to hide the rays of the sun; and rows of plantain trees were placed along the length thereof, with divers vessels for water, of exceeding beautiful workmanship, filled with ornamental flowers. And within this vast space the chief of men caused royal arches to be raised, one at every space of five cubits, at every space of ten cubits a cloth-arch,\* and at every space of hundred cubits a stately house of great size, consisting of three stories and lofty spires, and containing images of the supreme Buddha,—all finished with paintings of exceeding great beauty. ### [c19.63](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.63) ∗ \*The distance from Dambaḍeniya to Sirivaḍḍhanapura given in the text is altered to half a yojana and one usabha (about seven miles), in accordance with the footnote to F. H. Modder’s paper on ‘Dambaḍeniya,’ J.C.B.R.A.S., Vol. XV., No. 48, 1897, p. 23. ### [c19.64](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.64) “Afterwards he ornamented the vihāra with many painted arches round the circuit of the vihāra wall, of great size and beauty,—arches that looked contemptuously on the beautiful bow of the Chief of the Gods; with white parasols that looked like the moon in her fullest splendour, and beautiful flags of five colours and divers shapes, like beautiful dancers dancing in the firmament of heaven; with rows of splendid halls glittering with jewels, like beautiful rows of mansions that were come down from the world of gods; with numerous images of Brahmas dancing in rows with parasols in their hands, that were moved by instruments; with moving images of gods of divers forms that went to and fro with their joined hands raised in adoration; with moving figures of horses prancing hither and thither with the beauty of waves, rising and falling one after the other in the great sea; with moving likenesses of great elephants, clothed in the trappings of elephants, making men doubt whether they were not rain-clouds that had descended to the earth;—with these and divers other shows of this kind which delight the world, and are used at feasts, did he make the vihāra exceeding attractive. ### [c19.65](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.65) “Then again the king commanded all the priests and novitiates and the lay devotees also, male and female, who were dwellers in the island of Laṅkā, to wait for the procession in great crowds without the vihāra and around it, at the space of a league from each other, raising shouts of applause and uttering the praises of the supreme Buddha, and holding in their hands offerings, flowers, and such like things that were needful at feasts in honour of Buddha; and (he likewise commanded) all others, men and women who knew the value of the three sacred gems, to adorn themselves in their best apparel (and to tarry for the procession) with things that were fit for offerings. And the king also, moved by great devotion, decked himself in all the royal ornaments and, in the midst of his fourfold army, placed the two relics of the Tooth and the Alms-bowl in a carriage of great splendour, decorated with all the ornament meet for such a vehicle. Then he caused rows of men to carry before the procession these articles and divers others that were used at feasts; namely, banners of gold and banners of silver, water-pots of gold and water-pots of silver, chowries of gold and chowries of silver, caskets of gold and caskets of silver, beautiful fans of gold and fans of silver, \*pokkharaṇis\*† of gold and \*pokkharaṇis\* of silver, and flower vases made of gold and flower vases made of silver. Then the king, followed with the sound of the five instruments of music and forming a procession of great magnificence, carried the relics by stages along the decorated highway into the city of Sirivaḍḍhana, and placed them on the seat that was prepared for Buddha in the spacious ornamented hall that was built in the middle of the vihāra, and caused offerings to be made thereunto by the divers people (who had assembled there). ### [c19.66](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.66) ∗ The Sinhalese are still exceedingly expert at street decoration. The reli-pālam or arches of folded cloth, which it is the duty of the dhobies to prepare, are a very characteristic feature of the decoration. † \*Pokkharaṇi\* is a lotus pond. These were probably miniature representations of it. ### [c19.67](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.67) “And when the morning was come all the people arrayed themselves in their best garments, and, being exceeding desirous of gaining merit, went up with flowers of the jasmine and champac and ironwood, and other kinds of flowers of divers hues mixed with flowers of gold (leaf) and the like, and devoutly made their offerings to the Tooth-relic and the Bowl-relic. And they made offerings also of many heaps of sweet white rice that looked like heaps of the glory that had long gathered around the great king, and of divers kinds of fruit, such as plantains, jak, mango, and the like fruits that were exceeding ripe, sweet, and luscious. Then the king himself, in like manner, made offerings of divers kinds to those two noble relics; and then he who was expert in all courtesy ministered unto the Order and carefully provided them with food and drink,—food hard and soft, and drink that could be sucked, and drink that could be swallowed. And the lord of the land, who was exceeding delighted on that occasion, bestowed on several hundreds of priests the eight things that were needful for monks. Afterwards, throughout the three watches of the night, he illuminated the vihāra all round with lacs and crores of lighted lamps fed with perfumed oil, and with garlands of divers lamps perfumed with camphor oil, so that the whole face of the land looked like the firmament that was studded with stars. And the lord of the land held a feast in honour of Buddha, to which all men were drawn by the sweet songs of singers and the dances of many dancers as they danced in divers characters on the excellent stages that were raised here and there,—a feast the tumult whereof was greatly increased by the sound of the five musical instruments which, like a blast proceeding from the sea of his merits, sufficed to drown the roar of the ocean and to put to shame the thunder of the clouds,—whereat also the voice of religion was heard from pulpits reverently set up by the faithful at divers places, whereon sat preachers of the sacred Law, who, with beautiful fans in their hands, proclaimed the good Law that convinced the hearts of the hearers thereof,—a feast which also was made pleasant by the shouts of the four classes of Buddha’s disciples,\[\*\] who went hither and thither viewing all things with admiration and congratulating each other as they praised the virtues of the three sacred gems, exclaiming, “Oh, the Buddha! Oh, the Dhamma! Oh, the Saṅgha!”—whose praises also were sung in strains like those of the Nandis\[†\] by the masters of the ceremonies as they stood in crowds on every side invoking the blessings of Buddha. _First 70 of 86 passages. [Read on](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19)_ ## Linked texts (12) - [Jātaka](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.khuddaka.jataka) — Pāli - [Dīpavaṃsa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada_postcanon.vamsa.dipavamsa) — Pāli - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Mahāvaṃsa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada_postcanon.vamsa.mahavamsa) — Pāli - [Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki) — Vālmīki, Sanskrit - [Mahāmaṅgalasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.dirgha.mahamangalasutra) — Sanskrit - [Bharhut](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.bharhut) - [Anurādhapura](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.anuradhapura) - [Sigiriya](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.sigiriya) - [Polonnaruwa](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.polonnaruwa) - [Ajanta](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.ajanta) - [Dambadeniya](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.dambadeniya) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19) · Pramāṇa