Jayasiri Semage's murals to adorn Divulpitiya ancient temple

by Prof. Chandima Wijebandara

From the day Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka the artists here have devoted all their talents to pictorially communicate the evergreen message of the Buddha to the masses. Buddhism provided them with the rich treasury of resources full of beautiful stories, colourful images and aesthetic concepts.

The kings facilitated the artists with material support while the Bhikkus provided freedom for imagination. Spurred by such facilitations Sri Lankan artists have created superb images on the shrine room walls and ceilings.

Kalasuri Jayasiri Semage

Be it a relic chamber of a stupa such as Mahiyangana, a cave temple such as Karambagala or a shrine room such as Tivamka Pilimage, wherever we find ancient murals, the paintings depicted Buddhist themes. According to critics such as Benjamin Rowland, Vincent Smith, H.C.P. Bell, Raja de Silva and Dharmasena Rassapana, even the frescoes at the royal fortress Sigiriya portray Buddhist cultural themes.

This tradition of pictorial communication of Buddhism at temples continued even under the foreign powers. Though stylistically different and a bit monotonous in expression, the pictorial art during the Kandy period has left us with a rich heritage of stylistic paintings vivid and rich in fine details.

During the British period a new trend of obtaining inspiration from European styles became popular and many Buddhist shrine rooms were painted in such styles.

However, a revival of indigenous style began with Soileus Mendis who painted the Malvana Purana Vihara and the Kelaniya Rajamaha Vihara in a line based aesthetically pleasing eastern form. George Keyte ventured into another revolutionary experiment at Gotami Vihara by beautifully fusing modern European art with Eastern art and applying it to Buddhist themes.

Identify

Kalasuri Jayasiri Semage, one of the eminent artists in Sri Lanka, has made his identity in the history of Buddhist art by experimenting with modernising the ancient Ajanta-Sigiri style.

He has evolved his own signature style marking another milestone in the evolution of Sri Lankan Buddhist art.

He in addition to being famous for beautiful village scenes, has consistently maintained his Buddhist spirit in almost all of his creations and qualified to be identified as a 'Buddhist artist'.

He was assigned the prestigious opportunities of beautifying the walls of several Buddhist shrines in foreign lands such as Singapore, Malaysia and India. It was nothing but right, then, to expect a shrine room in Sri Lanka to have its walls enriched with his delightful paintings.

Realising the dream of Buddhists in Sri Lanka to see the creations of Semage in a temple around Colombo, the Sri Maha Bodhirajarama Vihara of Divulpitiya, Boralesgamuva has engaged him to paint its shrine room. Having accepted the invitation, Semage keeps himself busy these days making the shrine room a permanent solo exhibition hall of serene, peaceful and capturing images.

His calm, cool and almost hypnotic images will be a soothing inspiration for the agitated and stressed minds of busy city people in and around the area. Devotees and the incumbent Maha Thera of the temple are anxiously waiting to see the completion of this historical creation which definitely makes the temple a special attraction.

Style

The uniqueness of the internationally renowned artist Jayasiri Semage is prominent in his inimitable style. Anyone familiar with Sri Lankan art will immediately identity his paintings without looking for his signature. His identify is so evidently established in his style.

He has drawn inspiration mainly from Ajanta-Sigiri art, yet, not constrained by tradition he has fully enjoyed his right to improvise. His Singapore experience in painting the Mangala Vihara and Japanese exposure might have provided him the opportunity to familiarise the East Asian vision of Buddhist aesthetics.

He has been fortunate to study the rich western art during the days he travelled in Italy, Switzerland and Sweden.

He was 'moralised' to manage with Islamic culture when he did not create any issue there, as he had experience of clothing Picasso's nudes as well. His art has been 'nicknamed' by some critics as a melting pot since he has singularly managed to absorb many inspirations and emerge with uniquely positive inspiring and independent style of his own. His art is even more rhythmatic and aesthetically expressive than the classic Eastern art. His lines and curves fuse uniquely with his colours in theme-appropriate composition.

Buddhist processions

Buddhist art has always been his cup of tea. In the kindergarten he painted the elephant that walks majestically in Buddhist processions, in spite of writing the Sinhala letter 'a' (w). He bagged a prize for a painting titled 'Life of the Buddha' still being a schooling teenager.

His first solo exhibition in Malaysia in 1995 was of Buddhist paintings. Consequent to that he was given the task of painting shrine rooms of Buddhist Vihara at Kuala Lumpur and Mahindarama of Pinang.

Then came the opportunity of painting the Mangala Vihara of Singapore.

And the Buddhist Hall at the Headquarters of the People's Bank has accepted several Buddhist paintings by him for permanent exhibition. Recently he painted the portraits of Chief Sravakas of the Buddha at the Priyarathnaram at the Dehiwala.

Jayasiri Semage has made a name for Vesak pandals too. Erecting pandals and decorative paintings at Temple Trees was assigned to him several times, owing to his fame for torana creations.

Once he created a Vesak pandal in Japan depicting the twin miracle of the Buddha. Thus there is reason for us to hope that the paintings presently being done on the walls of the Divulpitiya ancient Buddhist Maha Vihara will definitely be a pleasant attraction and a treat for the eye and the heart.