Beautiful Lanka
Many forms of Sri Lankan arts and crafts take inspiration from the Island's
long and lasting Buddhist culture which in turn has absorbed and adopted
countless regional and local traditions. In most instances Sri Lankan art
originates from religious beliefs, and are represented in many forms such as
painting, sculpture, and architecture. One of the most notable aspects of Sri
Lankan art are caves and temple paintings, such as the frescoes found in
Sigiriya and religious paintings found in temples in Dambulla and Temple of the
Tooth Relic in Kandy. Other popular forms of art have been influenced by both
natives as well as outside settlers. For example, traditional wooden
handicrafts and clay pottery are found around the hill country while
Portuguese-inspired lacework and Indonesian-inspired Batik have become notable.
Visual, literary and
performing arts
Main
articles: Cinema of Sri Lanka, Music of Sri Lanka, Dances of Sri Lanka,
Theatre of Sri Lanka, and Sri Lankan literature
The movie Kadawunu
Poronduwa (The broken promise), produced by S. M. Nayagam of Chitra
Kala Movietone, heralded the coming of Sri Lankan cinema in 1947. Ranmuthu
Duwa (Island of treasures, 1962) marked the transition cinema from black-and-white
to colour. It in the recent years has featured subjects such as family melodrama,
social transformation and the years of conflict between the military and the LTTE.[282]
Their cinematic style is similar to the Bollywood movies. In 1979, movie
attendance rose to an all-time high, but has been in steady decline since then.[283]
Undoubtedly the most influential and revolutionary filmmaker in the history of
Sri Lankan cinema is Lester James Peiris, who has directed a number of movies
which led to global acclaim, including Rekava (Line of destiny, 1956), Gamperaliya
(The changing village, 1964), Nidhanaya (The treasure, 1970) and Golu
Hadawatha (Cold heart, 1968).[284]
The earliest music in
Sri Lanka came from theatrical performances such as Kolam, Sokari
and Nadagam.[285] Traditional music instruments such as Béra,
Thammátama, Daŭla and Răbān were performed at these
dramas. The first music album, Nurthi, was released through Radio Ceylon,
in 1903. Songwriters like Mahagama Sekara
and Ananda Samarakoon and musicians such as W. D. Amaradeva, H. R. Jothipala
and Clarence Wijewardene have contributed much towards the upliftment of Sri
Lankan music.[286] Baila is another popular music genre in the
country, originated among Kaffirs or the or Afro-Sinhalese community.[287]
There
are three main styles of Sri Lankan classical dance. They are, the Kandyan
dances, low country dances and Sabaragamuwa dances. Out of these, the Kandyan
style, which flourished under kings of the Kingdom of Kandy, is more prominent.
It is a sophisticated form of dance,[288] that consists of five
sub-categories: Ves dance, Naiyandi dance, Udekki dance, Pantheru
dance and 18 Vannam.[289] An elaborate headdress is worn
by the male dancers and a drum called Geta Béraya is used to assist the
dancer to keep on rhythm.[288] In addition, four folk drama variants
named Sokri, Kolam, Nadagam, Pasu, and several
devil dance variants such as Sanni Yakuma and Kohomba Kankariya can be
also observed.[289]
The
history of Sri Lankan painting and sculpture can be traced as far back as to
the 2nd or 3rd century BC.[290] The earliest mention about the art of
painting on Mahavamsa, is to the drawing of a palace on cloth using cinnabar in
the 2nd century BC. The chronicles have description of various paintings in
relic-chambers of Buddhist stupas, and in monastic residence.
Theatre
moved into the country when a Parsi company from Mumbai introduced Nurti,
a blend of European and Indian theatrical conventions to the Colombo audience
in 19th century.[289] The golden age of Sri Lankan drama and theatre
began with the staging of Maname, a play written by Ediriweera
Sarachchandra in 1956.[291] It was followed by a series of popular
dramas like Sinhabāhu, Pabāvatī, Mahāsāra, Muudu
Puththu and Subha saha Yasa.
