Art & Sculpture in Sri Lanka

Owing to its long, rich history, Sri Lanka endows exquisite arts evolving through the course of time which has refined its culture to be unique and precious heritage of the nation. Sri Lanka. Its pivotal position on the ancient Silk Route made Sri Lanka a crossroad of cultural and trade exchange of the West and the East. India and China's record ha proved the cultural, political and trade exuberance of this island.

Paintings, sculpture, architecture, and other forms of fine arts were used profusely in Sri Lanka, from very early times to express Buddhist ideas and sentiment. The exceptionally rich heritage of visual arts of the Sinhala people of Sri Lanka extends to a period that exceeds 2300 years, from the 3rd century BCE to the 21st CE. (Sinhala is the dominant community of Sri Lanka from historic times).

Paintings form a dominant component of this heritage. A spectacular collection of ancient sculpture and architecture further adorns the island’s culture. They are conspicuous elements of the island’s Buddhist culture.

Buddhism, which was introduced to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE, was the primary source of inspiration and influence for artists, sculptors and architects of the country. The life of the Buddha, Jataka Tales based on former lives of the Buddha, and the teachings of the Buddha were the predominant themes of ancient artistic pursuits including paintings.

The classical style of Sinhala art is naturalistic, exemplifying a transformation of nature by imaginative contemplation. Paintings show a highly tasteful use of a variety of colours and a skilful depiction of facial expressions of the figures.

Ancient secular paintings are also characterized by a strong spiritual predisposition, and are of great aesthetic appeal. Most are considered as masterpieces of human creative ingenuity and imagination. The outstanding quality of these ancient paintings was a determining factor in the identification of World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka by the UNESCO. 

According to the UNESCO, 1037 Buddhist temples with paintings older than a 100 years, have been discovered in Sri Lanka. 

For sculpture, most of works are dominated by the Buddha images. In early times, the statues of Buddha were often carved from the living rock of limestone cliffs. Over the centuries, other kind of materials have also been adopted for sculpting the statutes of Buddha such as jade, rock, crystal, marble, emerald, ivory, coral, wood, and metal.

Similar to sculptures, Sri Lankan painting closely attaches to Buddhist belief. There are two different styles of painting in Sri Lanka: classical style and Kandyan style. The Classical style is vigorous, complex and expressive whereas the Kandyan style holds it simplicity and continuity of expression.

“Nations are made by artists and poets, not by traders and politicians. Art contains in itself the deepest principles of life, the truest guide to the greatest art - the art of living” Ananda Coomaraswamy