V.P. Vikramanayake:

Artist who embellished Dhammapada

The highway from Colombo to Matara is virtually the avenue to the world. The road blossomed into a picturesque and charming seaside drive shaded by coconut trees towards the town of Matara.

Matara is a nature canvas of fertile valleys with smiling luscious green paddy fields. The women, however, wear a short jacket covering their breasts. Men wear white banians and cloth called the patasarama - a shawl folded as a petticoat around the waist and worn by the gentry.

All have black teeth and reddish lips as a result of betel chewing. All these the eyes of a young artist who was enamoured of beauty. It is in the village called Veragampitiya in Matara Vidanagamege Piyadasa Wickramanayake was born on May 1, 1933.

Name

There was no room left on the dotted line to write his name on his birth certificate. So, he shortened his name as 'Wicrama'. He started his education at Rahula Maha Vidyalaya, Matara where came under reputed teachers of that era.

Justin Wijewardene, P.R. Edward Veragampita and P.A. Dharmadasa, fascinated Wickrama. He was encouraged to pursue his studies in art. In 1950 after leaving school he joined a photo studio owned by one of his relatives in Matara. It was there he picked up the rudiments of camera work and draw portraits of leading personalities.

If he hadn't been blessed with the genius for the brush, he would have made an excellent photographer. During that period he developed a liking for book cover illustrations. The 1963 November issue of the Navayugaya monthly magazine used one of his paintings for its cover.

Sketches

Like most of the other great artists Vickrama did sketches and story illustrations to newspapers. As a result, he was called upon to be the chief artist at the now defunct, 'Davasa' group of newspapers in 1964. When the 'Davasa' newspapers group closed down Vickrama lost his job.

Later he joined the Lake House group of newspapers as an illustrator. Then he started a series of cartoon stories in the 'Sathuta'. His illustrations were also used in the Silumina Mihira, Tharuni, Navayugaya and Subasetha.

The year 1980 marked the beginning of the most eventful period of his life. Later he joined Wijeya Newspaper group where he excelled as an artist.

Two of his cartoon stories were turned into films and tele dramas. They were Batti and Vandira which became box office hits. In 1993 the Buddhist Centre in Sangapore commissioned him to illustrate stories for the Dhammapada. The illustrations he did reminds us the Chinese proverb - 'One picture is thousand words'.

The Singapore Buddhist Centre conferred Atulya Kala Nipuna award for his services. In 2011 the government honoured him with the Kala Bushana title.