{"id":93667,"date":"2019-10-08T17:15:39","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T00:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=93667"},"modified":"2019-10-08T17:15:39","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T00:15:39","slug":"soilis-mendis-kelaniya-murals-kelaniya-rajamaha-viharaya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/10\/08\/soilis-mendis-kelaniya-murals-kelaniya-rajamaha-viharaya\/","title":{"rendered":"Soilis Mendis & Kelaniya Murals KELANIYA RAJAMAHA VIHARAYA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The historic Kelani Raja Maha Viharaya\nsituated in the outskirts of Colombo is a Buddhist shrine of utmost\nsignificance. As recorded in the Mahavamsa, <\/em>Kelaniya is a\nplace visited by the Buddha in the early 5th<\/sup> century BCE. (Mahawamsa\n<\/em>alsoreferred top as the Great Chronicle, is the single most\nimportant historic work of Sri Lankan origin, written originally in the Pali\nlanguage, describing the life and times of the Sinhala Buddhist island nation).\nMany Sinhala kings, from the 3rd century BCE onwards, have patronized this historic temple and\nrepeatedly effected restorations when it was damaged or destroyed by foreign\ninvaders.  In the early 13th<\/sup>\ncentury, it was destroyed ruthlessly by the South Indian Dravidian invader\nKalinga Maaga. After reconstruction, it suffered damage again in the 16th<\/sup>\nto 18th<\/sup> century period when the Portuguese and subsequently the\nDutch set fire to the shrine and destroyed it. \nIt was rebuilt again in the mid 18th<\/sup> century, King Kirthi Sri\nRajasinghe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The existing new Kelani vihara building\nwas constructed in 1946, on the initiative of Mrs. Helena Wijayawardane. It\nadded much glory to this ancient site believed to have been visited by the\nBuddha   She obtained the services of\nyoung Soilis Mendis in the early 20th<\/sup> century,to create a\nmagnificent Buddhist edifice featuring the nation\u2019s unique traditional\narchitecture and sculpture and outstanding wall murals.  This new Kelaniya viharaya building has\nincorporated some of the walls and ceilings of the old shrine in addition to\nnew developments. This older section contains wall and ceiling paintings that\nbelong to the Mahanuwara period whereas the newly added section is adorned with\npaintings of Soilis Mendis which belong to the Modern period. On a greater part\nof the walls of the older part of Kelaniya which includes the vestibule and the\nshine hall with the large recumbent Buddha statue, are the older paintings that\nbelong to the Mahanuvara period, which are mostly depictions of Jataka tales. The\npaintings on walls and ceilings of the remainder of the shrine are the work of Soilis\nMendis With his Kelaniya paintings and sculpture, which took him about twenty\nyears to complete (1927-1947), Soilis Mendis has risen to an unparalleled\nposition as one of the most ingenious artists of modern times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelani Viharaya is one of the most\npicturesque and imposing Buddhist structural complexes in the country with some\nexceptionally impressive sculpture and wall murals of irresistible charm.\nKelaniya paintings are pre-eminent among Buddhist vihara paintings. They are a\nclass by themselves being the most aesthetically pleasing and spiritually\ninspiring paintings seen in a Buddhist shrine in contemporary Sri Lanka. They <\/p>\n\n\n\n

have greatly enhanced the splendor of\nKelaniya as one of the most outstanding Buddhist shrines of Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soilis Mendis deviated from the focus on\nJataka tales and focused on events of the Buddha\u2019s life. He also deviated from\nthe common Mahanuwara tradition of painting in horizontal columns or\nstripes.  Instead, he used the entire\nwall to portray a single theme or event. Often, a three-dimensional effect was\nobtained in his paintings by the skillful use of a complex of lines, shades and\nshadows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Themes of prominent paintings\nof Soilis Mendis\u2019s in Kelaniya viharaya are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Arrival\n of the Buddha in Kelaniya, Mahiyangana, Nagadeepa,<\/li>
  • Arrival\n of Vijaya in Sri Lanka,<\/li>
  • Bringing\n the Tooth relic to Sri Lanka by Hemamala and Dantha,<\/li>
  • Bringing\n of the Bo sapling by Sangamitta Meheni,<\/li>
  • Ceremonial\n offering of the Mahavihara,<\/li>
  • Writing\n of the Visuddhi Magga by Buddhagosha Thera,<\/li>
  • The\n ceremony bestowing the Sangaraja position.<\/li>
  •  <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Among characteristic features of Kelani\npaintings is the excellent artistic depiction of the human figure with detailed\nfacial expressions. Evoking sensual and passionate feelings was not attempted\nin his paintings; instead, these paintings reflect restraint and evoke a sense\nof serene joy. The motifs, designs and decorations used in paintings are of\nexceptional aesthetic appeal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Kelaniya painting have their own\ncharacteristic use and blending of colours. \nOnly a limited number of colours have been used. Basic colours are\nrarely used. Black has been mixed with bright colours to obtain lovely colour\nblends and pleasing shades. There appears to be a common shade that pervades\nall paintings giving a special or common character to all paintings.  It is pleasing to the eye and helps to\nprovide a serene spiritual outlook to these paintings.  This shade falls between yellow and brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Kelani\npaintings are unique and generally considered by art critics as the best\nBuddhist paintings done in Sri Lanka since the Polonnaruwa period. Professor\nAlbert Dharmasiri commenting on Kelani paintings says that it was\nan attempt to revitalize the Sinhala classical art tradition of\nAnuradhapura. The result however is not a reinvention of the classical\ntradition but an amalgamation of several Indian, and European visual idioms\ninto a style that recalls the classical naturalism of Anuradhapura. Mr. D. B. Dhanapala writing on\nSoilis Mendis states “If genius means untutored natural, instinctive, but\nextraordinary talent, imaginative or inventive, modern Ceylon has produced at\nleast one real genius.”  “A\nsimple peasant, Mendis is. But he is the only genius we have produced who could\nnot only create something new of his own but who could also give away in a\nspirit of self sacrifice all that he had made in the attempt”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The\ngreatness of the Kelaniya paintings of Soilis Mendis should be judged against\nthe situation that prevailed during the period he was exposed to and trained as\nan artist of Buddhist vihara paintings. Basically it was the colonial period\nwhen our nation was subject to strong influence of various aspects of European\nculture. This was well evident in the changes observed in the cultural\nenvironment of our country. Both tangible and intangible aspects of our\ntraditional culture was subject to this trend of European influence. Our visual\narts, especially temple paintings did not escape this trend. There was a\ntendency at that time for poor and careless imitation of western forms of art,\nespecially realism in art, and excessive sensuality that was characteristic of\nwestern art at that time. Most temple murals produced during the colonial\nperiod, especially during the British colonial times reflected this new\ntendency in terms of approach to and style adopted in paintings, well evident\nin paintings of the well-known S.P. Charles and M. Sarlis of colonial times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In\nthis light, the Kelaniya paintings show a magnanimous and commendable revival\nof, or for that matter an enhancement of, the classical form of art in our\nnation, where aesthetics and spirituality form the basis or the founding\nprinciples. Kelani paintings are artistic expressions of overflowing aesthetic\nappeal that spectacularly reveal the intense inspiration drawn by the artist\nfrom Buddhist spirituality.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dr.\nDaya Hewapathirane<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u0daf\u0dba\u0dcf \u0dc4\u0dda\u0dc0\u0dcf\u0db4\u0dad\u0dd2\u0dbb\u0dab <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Dr. Daya Hewapathirane The historic Kelani Raja Maha Viharaya situated in the outskirts of Colombo is a Buddhist shrine of utmost significance. As recorded in the Mahavamsa, Kelaniya is a place visited by the Buddha in the early 5th century BCE. (Mahawamsa alsoreferred top as the Great Chronicle, is the single most important historic work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-daya-hewapathirane"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93667\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}