Preserving Sigiriya frescoes, a national concern

By Amal HEWAVISSENTI

Two months ago, President Mahinda Rajapaksa called for a comprehensive report on the de-pigmentation of the Sigiriya frescoes and paid a surprise visit to Sigiriya for a wider overview of the situation.

He directed the relevant authorities, the Department of Archaeology and the National Heritage and Cultural Affairs Ministry to take immediate action to stall the threatening process. It is a true leader's undisguised involvement in the preservation of national heritage of the country for future generations.

Sigiriya is definitely a multifaceted centre of art and preservation of the unique frescoes of this massive art gallery is by far a national concern. Even though the credit of much of its splendour unconditionally goes to the creativity of King Kashyapa the first, the history records its existence centuries back.

Significance

Once an impregnable citadel, the rock ensconces a chain of verses (graffiti) of high level of artistic merit, prized frescoes, a rock garden and a water garden.Due to the architectural organisation of the rock fortress, it has stood as one of the most treasured monuments in the world in the fifth century and it is an ideal archetype for the best poetry and murals.

As one meanders rather perilously up the rock, one gets the first glimpse of the unique wall paintings that nestle in the lee of rock caves. The school of painting in Ajantha frescoes in India seems to have been prototypical of Sigiri paintings that may rank second only to Ajantha frescoes in aesthetic appeal and fame.

The artist has been notably inspired by Ajantha's frescoes but the legendary charm of the unspoilt simplicity of Sigiri paintings is of an entirely different scale. They are absolutely one of the most original works of imagination in the fresco art and earns a baffling tourist attraction which itself is an economic boon for the country.

The remnants of paintings are visible on the caves on the western slope of the rock and in the caves at the foot of the rock where wall paintings of damsels and some other pictures of different themes appear. Most of the paintings on the caves and the rock have been preserved to the present day as they have fortunately survived the unnecessary human contact and the destructive effect of weather through centuries.

The Sigiri verses serve as a tangible verification of the existence of many more paintings that have fallen victim to the destruction of time for unexplained reason. Some verses glorify five -hundred damsels depicted on the caves and one poet falls almost insane by the mesmeric gaze of a lady with a 'Veena' on her hands. These verses explicitly signify that the paintings were being gradually destroyed and there is passable proof that walls of the rock palace had been exquisitely decorated with paintings.

Pioneers

Rhys Davids records to have seen picturesque paintings of lions and damsels on an upper rock wall but by the time the Archaeological Department launched exploration projects in 1894, no trace of them remained to be discovered. However, it is pathetic to note that Alexi Murray whose work of copying the frescoes is hailed publicly as adventurous, unknowingly inflicted damage to the texture of the frescoes.

H. C. P. Bell, an eminent archaeologist was instrumental in pioneering renovation in Sigiriya and was credited with the construction of an iron staircase and an observation platform for paintings. It is probably best to say that H. C. P. Bell opened new horizons for Sigiriya paintings to be closely linked to the viewers and succeeded in exploiting every possible opportunity to bring Sigiriya paintings to what they appear today. Under his masterful guidance, D. L. A. Perera did a praiseworthy job in successfully copying the frescoes somewhere in 1896.

Mohomad Sana Ulla, from India employed the technique of chemical treatment for the first time to conserve the paintings and the selfsame methods were to be adopted by archaeological survey in the years to come.

The most lamentable catastrophe fell on this national treasure when some unidentified moral bankrupts coated twelve paintings with tar and seriously damaged some others with a sharp tool in 1967. Had it not been for the efforts of Italian expert Luciano Marenci who is well credited with the successful "revitalisation of the damsels", the Sigiri wall paintings would surely have been only a reference to a thing of the past.

Techniques

However, these frescoes are a reliable source for the study of nature, shape, ornaments, costumes of the contemporary Sinhalese woman. All the same, the secret behind the preservation of the paintings for centuries is unquestionably the technical accomplishment of the artist that stands parallel to the level of their artistic value. Preparation of the rock surface, content of the plaster on which the images were to be painted, colour preparation and the method of drawing bespeaks the artist's own technical creativity.

The artist has employed orange, yellow, red, white, green and black which seem to have been prepared purely from natural substances. The experts venture a guess that red, green and yellow pigments were made from certain types of clay while white was prepared with lime burnt shells.

It is obvious that the painter has not limited the positions of the ladies to cages or strips, but he has freely placed the images on the rock surface. The painter draws a distinct line between the gold coloured ladies (of royal blood) and dark ladies of comparatively lower social status (coloured in yellowish green).

What lies beneath their waists fades through a cloudy film. The damsels are portrayed almost in lifesize and less than life size as the artist has not employed any defined measurement to determine their size. The gold coloured ladies often symbolic of those of social superiority are represented bigger than dark ladies who are rightly guessed to be socially inferior.

Even in Ajantha paintings, the hero of the scenes is made prominent in bigger size than the other characters because the Ajantha painting tradition calls for depiction of people of higher status as symbolised by bigger size of the images drawn.

Damsels

These damsels of varied facial expressions, emotions, and different age groups represent ladies of blossoming youth, middle aged women and old women.

The faces of most of the damsels are lighted with a slight smile that is very mysterious but the face of one lady is the perfect archetype of fury, hatred and malice! Most scholars say that the outlines of the facial shape of most damsels reflect a surprising blend of local and Indian appearance. With a few notable exceptions.

Some ladies display a mysterious blend of happiness and grief but their gestures and contours are portrayed with a purely local touch. Furthermore, the painter has strangely coloured their palms red but the national doubt remains as to whether the painter has done it for decorative purposes or the ladies at the time had actually coloured their palms red for special ceremonies.

Varied opinion

Opinion broadly varies on the symbolism conveyed by the wall paintings with regard to purpose and identify of damsels, background and King Kashyapa's purpose in having them depicted in the citadel. Thought-provoking disagreement over the much debated thematic significance of frescoes, has sprung among experts on Sigiriya. Who are these ladies? What are they engaged in and what type of occasion is it? Why are the damsels painted here? These questions have confused both Sigiri poets, viewers of all times and experts researching the paintings. Much of scholarly opinion says that the ladies are King Kashyapa's queen, daughters and their attendants, because it was King Kashyapa who created the rock citadel as his abode. Bell believes that the paintings picture the queen and daughters of King Kashyapa who accompanied by attendants are going to worship Pidurangala Viharaya situated a mile away from the rock.Martin Wickramasinghe, who flatly contradicts Bell's view, strongly believes that they are queens or royal ladies heading for water sport after playing extravagantly in the palace gardens.

He quotes references in literature to royal ladies engaged in water sport and certain characteristics of the frescoes to make his point strike home

The Sigiri frescoes are precious because the painter has a sense of style that is very much his own and makes the viewers feel in tune of his philosophy of art. It is a totally a national heritage of irrefutable value that needs a collective effort and genuine concern to be preserved for future generations.