Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c6.79

c6.79

The arts, however, can only be saved in the long run by the people themselves. How are the people to be saved? How shall they be re-energised and re-inspired, how become once more socially constructive, how learn to re-express the national emotion in literature and art? The answer is, by love of India. There is scarcely any part of Sinhalese life, or religion, or art, which is quite comprehensible without reference to India; the Sinhalese themselves are Indians; the greatness of their civilization dates from the wave of Indian influences that reach Ceylon through Asoka's missionaries; the air and soil in which the nation has grown and borne good fruit are Indian; how should another soil and atmosphere be suited to it now? India without Ceylon is incomplete, for in many ways, Ceylon is a more perfect window through which to gaze on India's past, than any that can be found in India herself. Much more is Ceylon incomplete if alienated from the Motherland. The most remarkable and significant of the awakenings to national self-consciousness which have taken place in modern times, is the recognition by the people of India of their fundamental unity. Of this unity Ceylon is economically, mentally and spiritually, a part; and with its culture and its life, must her own survive or perish.