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Little Attention Has Hitherto Been Given To The Role Of Timber Construction In Sri Lanka S Ancient Architecture, And Its Photo-Coverage Has Not Until Now Appeared In One Place. The Buildings Described Here Are Mostly Close To Folk Architecture But They Comprise An Important Part Of The Ancient Building Tradition Of Monsoon Asia An Immense Area That Includes Parts Of India, Nepal, Burma, Bali, And Japan, As Well As Sri Lanka Itself. Buddhist Monastic Architecture In Sri Lanka Makes A Permanent Contribution To South Asian Studies.The Authors Search Out The Ancient Picturesque Temples In The Central Hills. Guided By The Well-Known Scholar, Professor Seneviratna, The Book Centers On Colour Photographs Taken By Architect Polk During An Eight Month Sojourn In 1980-81. Both Archaeological And Architectural Expertise Thus Combine, And Added To This Is The Research Into The Writings Of Early Travelers, Researched By Emily Polk, Poet And Painter, Who Has Put The Threads Of History Of Those Adventurous Days Into A Dramatic Form.This Collaboration Is The Result Of Their Common Interest In The Ancient Architecture Of South Asia, And Is Written Hoping That Continuities From Past To Future May Be Maintained In These Troubled Present Times.In Sri Lanka There Are Forests Where Modern Ways Have Not Overwhelmed Tradition And Where The Old Wood Buildings Still Flicker In The Magic Of The Trees. Here Is The Drama Of The Land And Its People: The Stream ;Of Pure Notes From An Invisible Flautist, The First Glimpse Of Adam S Peak, The Romantic Narrative Of The Sacred Tooth Kept Secret For 900 Years Before Emerging In Serendib. And Then Kandy, Where High On The Island The Winds From The Bay Of Bengal And The Indian Ocean Are On A Collision Course And The Sensation Of Colours, Movements And Light Is Electrifying. So, We Believe, Is This Book.
This book analyses a group of Buddhist sculptures from ancient Southeast Asia, putting them into their historical, religious, and artistic context and then traces their relationship with art from India and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
Sri Lanka Style showcases 30 of the finest traditional and modern dwellings in Sri Lanka. Reflecting its location and status as a hub of Indian Ocean trade from time immemorial, the tropical island of Sri Lanka has always been open to the movements and patterns of world culture. Indigenous architects and cultural traditions, colonial incursions and the vagaries of living in a tropical environment have combined to produce a distinctive Sri Lankan architectural style: thick lime-washed walls, tall windows and doors, terracotta or granite tile floors, open pavilions and verandas, courtyard gardens, elaborately carved furniture and vibrant hand-looms. The Sri Lankan homes vary from private homes to retreats and resorts, all designed by the island's most creative architects and interior designers including some by the world-renowned architect Geoffrey Bawa that have never been seen before. These works demonstrate the essentials of the Sri Lankan spaces open to the elements and the natural use of space and decor, contributing to a palpable sense of peace and discipline. In addition, there are practical design ideas that can be applied to any tropical locale. Photographed entirely on location, Sri Lanka Style is an inspirational sourcebook of contemporary tropical style.
Modernizing and colonizing forces brought nineteenth-century Sri Lankan Buddhists both challenges and opportunities. How did Buddhists deal with social and economic change; new forms of political, religious, and educational discourse; and Christianity? And how did Sri Lankan Buddhists, collaborating with other Asian Buddhists, respond to colonial rule? To answer these questions, Anne M. Blackburn focuses on the life of leading monk and educator Hikkaduve Sumangala (1827–1911) to examine more broadly Buddhist life under foreign rule. In Locations of Buddhism, Blackburn reveals that during Sri Lanka’s crucial decades of deepening colonial control and modernization, there was a surprising stability in the central religious activities of Hikkaduve and the Buddhists among whom he worked. At the same time, they developed new institutions and forms of association, drawing on pre-colonial intellectual heritage as well as colonial-period technologies and discourse. Advocating a new way of studying the impact of colonialism on colonized societies, Blackburn is particularly attuned here to human experience, paying attention to the habits of thought and modes of affiliation that characterized individuals and smaller scale groups. Locations of Buddhism is a wholly original contribution to the study of Sri Lanka and the history of Buddhism more generally.
The Ṭämpiṭavihāras of Sri Lanka focuses on one distinctive Buddhist architectural practice from pre-modern Sri Lanka – the construction of Buddha image-houses on elevated wooden platforms supported by stone pillars. As a centre of Buddhism, Sri Lanka has a rich tradition of erecting Buddha image-houses, the origin of which dates to the fifth century. Yet, the ṭämpiṭavihāra tradition only existed from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries. The ṭämpiṭavihāra is an exceptional type of image-house, not only for its specific timeframe and unique construction technology, but also for its complex architectural conception of the Buddhist worldview and soteriology. This book examines the significant aspects of ṭämpiṭavihāra architecture and documents some of the distinctive examples of ṭämpiṭavihāra with an analysis of their architectural design and symbolic content.
Blackburn supports this view with fresh readings of Buddhist texts and their links to social life beyond the monastery."--BOOK JACKET.
This volume looks at facets of cultural interactions between India and Thailand---two historically significant countries of the South East Asian region. For the first time a comprehensive discussion on historical and contemporary cultural interactions between Indian and Thailand has been attempted in this volume. Asianization has become an important contemporary concept and, in this context, understanding cultural exchange within Asia is an important exercise. The chapters in this volume include contributions from noted scholars based in India and Thailand on different areas of cultural exchange: from religion, to art, artefacts, clothing, music---especially Indian classical music, cuisine, and the contemporary use of shared civilizational tools in the cultural diplomacy of both countries. Written in a lucid and accessible language, the chapters in this insightful volume are of interest to academics and researchers of cultural studies, Asian studies, development studies, modern Asian history, policy makers and general readers.
Becoming the Buddha is the first book-length study of a key ritual of Buddhist practice in Asia: the consecration of a Buddha image or "new Buddha," a ceremony by which the Buddha becomes present or alive. Through a richly detailed, accessible exploration of this ritual in northern Thailand, an exploration that stands apart from standard text-based or anthropological approaches, Donald Swearer makes a major contribution to our understanding of the Buddha image, its role in Buddhist devotional life, and its relationship to the veneration of Buddha relics. Blending ethnography, analysis, and Buddhist texts related to this mimetic reenactment of the night of the Buddha's enlightenment, he demonstrates that the image becomes the Buddha's surrogate by being invested with the Buddha's story and charged with the extraordinary power of Buddhahood. The process by which this transformation occurs through chant, sermon, meditation, and the presence of charismatic monks is at the heart of this book. Known as "opening the eyes of the Buddha," image consecration traditions throughout Buddhist Asia share much in common. Within the cultural context of northern Thailand, Becoming the Buddha illuminates scriptural accounts of the making of the first Buddha image; looks at debates over the ritual's historical origin, at Buddhological insights achieved, and at the hermeneutics of absence and presence; and provides a thematic comparison of several Buddhist traditions.