Exhibition of Lankan temple paintings in India

Around 110 replicas of ancient Sri Lankan temple paintings and rock and wall paintings and interpretations in traditional style are now on exhibition in New Delhi.

High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam who opened the exhibition on Friday said that Sri Lanka was one of the few countries in South and South-East Asia which can claim an unbroken tradition of wall paintings.

The earliest Buddhist images found in Sri Lanka date back to the first century, which he said were characteristic of the Indian Amaravati style, a Sri Lankan High Commission statement said.

Some of the carvings in the ancient Anuradhapura kingdom are said to reflect the influence of the Gupta and Pallava schools of India in the fourth, fifth and seventh centuries.