The National Museum, a repository of Sri Lankan art and antiques, has some of the finest bronzes, wooden carvings and sculptures of the Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and later periods. These images are symbolic of the Sri Lankan art, that has retained a particular tradition and distinctiveness through its 2500-year-old history. The Buddha image from Anuradhapura placed at the entrance to the museum conforms to the classical. The facial expression is neutral, showing an absence of expressed feelings, but is the embodiment of prime wisdom and boundless compassion. The us of the eyes is directed at a point immediately front of the figure, which is characteristic of a son in Samadhi (deep meditation).
It is not unusual to find Buddha images and Hindu images to'!
got her, even in a Buddhist tem- I
pie. The Polonnaruwa period I
was symbolic of the infusion of 1 Hinduism into Buddhism, especially with the Sinhalese kings I marrying Hindu princesses from 1 South India. Lastly, many I Buddhist temples had Hindu 1 gods and goddesses. The sacred | pantheon of Hindu gods and goddesses, mostly 12tn-century bronzes from Polonnaruwa, adorn the bronze room at the museum. The bronze of Siva and Parvathi, the husband and wife combination of a family of gods and goddesses, is in a particular combination known as Umasahithamoorthy. The fire gilt image of the Buddha of the Kandyan period, found in Danagirigala Vihara in Kegalle, dates Between the 17th and 19th centuries A.D
The regalia of Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe is among the treasures of kings and queens displayed in the museum. The 1 throne/kept at Windsor Castle in I England during the British rule 1 of the island, was used by Queen 1 Victoria before being returned to Sri Lanka by British royalty.
The use of masks has its origins in folk rituals and in pre-
Buddhist culture. Wooden masks worn to exorcise
devils during religious ceremonies, in processions and in dance and drama, are preserved in the museum. Many of these ancient rituals, practiced even now, have become the subject of intense study by scholars and scientists interested in the psychosomatic aspects of treatment. The mask of a mythical
bird, cited in folklore, is depicted as a dreadful
Raksha or Demon in the Kolam dance. These masksM
are reproduced for the traveller to Sri Lanka in
Ambaiangoda, a coastal town best known for it’s mask carving.
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