Fading frescoes

The centuries old mural painting art of Sri Lanka is brushing extinction

14th Century rock surface mural in Dambulla denoting classical style

By Lakna Paranamanna

Sri Lankan murals are acclaimed worldwide because of their beauty and rare style. When did this art in Sri Lanka started and does the art still exist among the current generations? The Bottom Line thought of providing an in-depth venture into the history of mural paintings and the current state of it. We met University of Fine Arts Former Senior Lecturer Somapala Wijesundara to find answers to our queries.
Mural painting in Sri Lanka dates back to the periods even before the arrival of Prince Vijaya, where the painting skills of the native tribes can be seen to this day. According to Wijesundara, temple murals had entered into the practice of Sri Lankan artisans only after the arrival of Sangamitta Therani. “As we all learn for history in school, when she arrived in Sri Lanka, she brought along with her, workers that belonged to eighteen different professions including painters, architects and carvers.” After the arrival of these Indian artisans, Sri Lanka had developed a rich culture and a history in these areas. “The primary era of a developed sense of painting began during the Anuradhapura kingdom where first records of temple murals exist,” began Wijesundara unfolding a colourful tale.
Anuradhapura era (3rd Century BC - 10th Century AD)
Paintings of this era bear a strong influence of the North Indian paintings. “There are similarities between the murals of this era with the frescoes in Ajantha caves. Most of the paintings depict various occurrences in the life of Lord Buddha and they are vast, almost life-like. Various colours were used and the figures which were drawn were realistic and carried a certain rhythm in them,” said our pundit, explaining the main attributes, adding that they were mostly painted in rock caves. A special mixture which was made out of coconut coir, bee’s honey and mud was used as a plaster before applying the colours on the surface of the rock.
Only natural substances had been used to obtain colours and the pigments had been mostly sought out of soil and earthen solids. “Colours obtained from earthen sources could be preserved well and they could be used for a long time.” Best examples for the murals during the Anuradhapura era are the frescoes which can be viewed at the Sithulpawwa, Wessagiriya cave and Kantaka stupa. “However, the existence of these paintings is not limited to the Anuradhapura era and can also be seen in several temples of the Polonnaruwa and Kandy (Hindagala temple) era.”

20th century Bellanwila frescoes

Polonnaruwa era (11 to 14 Century AD)
“It is during this period that the South Indian influences seeped into our art.” He pointed out that even though the paintings still carried some of the styles and techniques practised during the Anuradhapura era, the South Indian influence had been much highlighted. During this era, most of the murals had been done on walls instead of rock caves.
According to Wijesundara, the best examples of the paintings in the Polonnaruwa era can be seen in the Thivanka Pilima Geya.
Thereafter, when the kingdoms changed to Dambadeniya, Yapahuwa, Kurunegala and so on, the art of mural painting had continued but not flourished, progressing to bear several similarities to that of the Anuradhapura era.
“The Kandyan era is the next period where the murals have a record of being practised widely, achieving a style native to only that period,” asserted Wijesundara.

The Period of changing capitals (13 to 17 century AD)
The 400 year period from mid 13th to 17th Century was marked by several relocations of the Capital city – Dambadeniya, Yapawwa, Kurunegala, Gampola and Kotte. This was a time of political instability which had a negative impact on people’s artistic initiatives and royal patronage was not readily forthcoming as previously. Therefore the production of works of art faced difficulties. During this period South Indian invaders plundered local settlements and inflicted damage to Buddhist temples and monasteries, where most works of art were to be found.
Kandyan era (18 to 19 Century AD)
The murals of the Kandyan era take a very unique and different outlook to that of the ones which can be seen during the periods of the other kingdoms. As Wijesundara explained the paintings had mostly depicted stories, mainly Jataka stories, and they had been painted on brick-red backgrounds. “Only a limited amount of colours such as red, black, yellow and white were used to paint. The drawings were two dimensional and the surface on which they were painted was divided into rows which were about 10 inches in height.”
Wijesundara says that even these murals were heavily influenced by the South Indian culture. A special varnish which was prepared out of Dummala had been coated on top of the paintings as a method of preserving them.
Copycat era
“The current generation of painters that are engaged in mainly copying the murals were begun by L.T.P. Manjusri during the early 1930s. His main aim was to preserve and protect these traditional paintings and also to resurrect the art of mural painting which was at a dying stage during those times,” explained Wijesundara.
Today some of the painters use tracing papers to copy the murals and then copy them on the medium they are working on. But during the earliest times, the artists had copied the paintings in the exact scale just by looking at them. “Tracing paper should be avoided because that could damage the paintings.”
The successor had been S.P. Charles. “The speciality of S.P. Charles was that he prepared the colours in a similar way that they were prepared in the ancient times.” He had used natural substances like Sadilingam for red, Siriyal stones for yellow and soot obtained out of burning fabric mixed with sap, for black. And the brushes had been made out of fur of squirrels and other animals.
But, Wijesundara says that the art which these great painters began with the aim of preserving the rich culture and history of paintings is nearing its end now because most of the painters have turned it into a trade. “They just copy the paintings and sell them to the tourists. This was not the intention of the artists who started it.”
He also says that it is partly the fault of the educational system because currently there are no proper teachers to instruct in mural art. “It is a vast subject that has to be given a lot of attention and practice. So if proper training is not given to the students, they soon get bored with the subject because it is very heavy, so they do not bother to learn the art properly. So it is time that the authorities began working on preserving and protecting this art that which has once again reached a dying state,” he concluded.
Sameera Gamage, a mural artist that has been engaged in the profession for the past 13 years agrees with Wijesundara. “In a way I would say it is a dying art because these days, people are not ready to pay a reasonable amount for mural painters. So as a result, the painter ends up using low quality colours and methods and the frescoes do not last for long,” explained this young artist adding that it could be the main reason for the perception that mural painting is a dying art since those type of paintings do not carry the charm and beauty of the murals which were done in ancient times.
Sameera has completed painting about eight temples since 1996, when he first began mural painting. Among the temples he worked on are the Minuwangoda Yatiyana temple and the Isipathanaramaya in Kahawatte.