Sigiriya Paintings of Srilanka: Identification and Interpretation

Contents: 1. Introduction-Origin of Sigiriya Paintings. 2. Identification and Interpretation. 3. Sigiriya Murals. 4. Style of the Paintings.

The book delves in detail into the Sigiriya paintings of the island-country of Sri Lanka. It presents a brief account of ancient Sri Lankan history for some 35 years, from AD 459 to 495, as the history of the place is related to the making of the paintings. The work identifies and interprets the Sigiriya paintings on the basis of Pali sources based on study of five nikayas of Suttapitaka. Presenting a number of line drawings of the murals, it discusses the style of Sigiriya painting and artistry in detail especially the impact of the paintings on art elsewhere such as Ajanta and Bagh paintings. The cave paintings are studied as marking a phase of culmination of Sri Lankan art.