Sculpted idol

Idol worship is an important aspect in Hinduism and it is generally divided into three main categories: Saivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism. Saivism implies that Lord Siva is governor God of Hinduism. Vaishnavism is devoted to Lord Vishnu (The god of protection) and his nine Avatars. Shaktism considers Lok Mata, Goddess Sakthi as the main God. According to Sri Lankan temple architecture, designs, inner structural views and interior structural decorations almost reflect the Hindu temple architecture and structure of the South Indian states especially the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The inside and outside of Hindu temples are decorated with typical Dravidian sculptures.

Sri Lankan temple sculptures are divided into different categories. Some are stone made sculptures. Temple statues of Sri Lanka are made out of a variety of metals. Among them, most of the worshipping statues or idols are made out of iyempon - made out of amalgamated five different valuable varieties of metals. Besides these Iyempon statues or idols, a considerable number of the granite and sandstone sculptures are also available all over the island.

Exclusive metals

At the archaeological sites, a variety of excavated Hindu temple statutes are found. They are made out of different exclusive metals, including bronze and copper. The temple sculptures originated from the Hindu dance Bharat Natyam and they are divided into different categories:

Temple worshipping sculptures and statues, another category is inner decorative temple sculptures and statues and they often found at the temple walls, temple pillars, temple towers decorative, inner and outer rooftops.

The Hindu temples are famous for tower sculptures or statues. They represent numerous beautiful human dance postures by Apsaras (dancers of heaven) and Yaalies (various imaginary species of extinct lion-faced reptiles). Most of them represent various stories from Hindu Puranas or Ithihasas. The temple chariots (temple Ther/Ratha) are also decorated with beautiful wooden sculptures. From the shape and sculptures of the Raja Goprurams and the Vimanams of the temple, one could easily recognize the main deity of the temple. For instance, majestic temple towers of the Siva temples are generally decorated with magnificent sculptures related to Siva Purana or Ithihasa stories. The towers of Lord Sri Karthikeya temples are decorated with the sculptures or statues that represent the episodes of Skanda Puranam. Similarly, the Lord Vinayagar/Lord Ganesh temple towers are decorated with exquisite sculptures from the holy Ithikas stories of Lord Ganesh and his famous Mushika Vahan.

The towers of Sri Vaishnava temples represent the holy plays of Lord Maha Vishnu and his nine Avatars. Even the shape of the towers of Lord Maha Vishnu temples shows considerable variations. Goddess Sri Kali or Sri Durga temple towers exhibit various holy plays of the Lok Mata.

Regional influences

All the Sri Lankan Hindu temple sculptures and statues resemble South Indian or Dravidian architecture. Often the creativity of the local sculptors (sippies) represents their creations with the modifications based on regional influences. That’s why the sculptures are often made with the imaginary figures which provide an opportunity of the creditability based on the creativity of the artist . Therefore the classical dancers often find very difficult to imitate the postures created by the artisans (sculptors).

For this current research program, certain Hindu temples are selected for the comparative study. The selected temples include mainly historically old and geopolitically important ones. Some of the important temples including, Thiru Koneswar temple at Trincomalee, Sri Muneswaram temple at Chilaw, Thiru Ketheeswaram temple at Mannar, Nallur Kandaswamy Temple, Sri Murugan Temple at Mavettapuram at Kankesanthurai, Meenakshi Sundereswar temple at Galle, Nallurkailasa Pillair temple, Colombo Sri Ponambalawaneshwarar temple at Kochikade and other numerous Chitralayas (art and sculpture based temples) of Sri Lanka. Ancient Hindu temple sculptures and archaeological sites Hindu sculptures are compared with the present-day temple worshipping sculptures.

In the past, the temple sculptures were made by using the kaolin or clay material. Later granite stones were used for making the temple sculptures and statues. These granite stones have very high resistance provided by fined grained molecules which can withstand the weathering process engineered by very harsh weather conditions. Hindu temples which are found in the Dravidian states exhibit beautiful sculptures that adorn the pillars; Mandapams (halls), Vimanams tower over the Garpagraham (Sanctorum) adorn with sculptures and the Raja Gopurams temple main entrance towers (decorated with beautiful sculptures). These temple tower sculptures depict different stories related to the main presiding deity of the temple. Unlike the Indian temples, the Hindu temples in Sri Lanka do not have many interior verandahs. Usually, there are two or three interior Verandahs or Ulveethis are found in the South Indian temples.

External castle

As compared to Sri Lankan temples the South Indian temples are larger so their inner corridors are comparatively bigger. The dancing figures are not common features among the Sri Lankan temples. Vimanam is the external castle kind of structure which is being built over the chamber of the main deity or Mulasthana Murthi; Often many get confused this structure with the Raja Gopurams.

Other castle kind of structures including Mani Gopurams ( castles for the holy bells), permanent structures of the movable holy carts, roof of the temple cart shed, the pillars of the temples and Theerthak Kerni ( Holy water pond of the temple ponds) and other permanent structures of the Holy Temple Garden are decorated with beautiful sculptures or statues . Most of these sculptures or statues exhibit various postures of dance and physical conflicts. These structures can be seen at many historical sites in Sri Lanka.

To study the historical background of Hinduism via a specified time scale that prevailed in Sri Lanka can be done by studying the minute details based on the introduction and evolution of Bharat Natyam in Sri Lanka. On the basis of various casts of sculptures and statutes can spell out the influence of the governed regime of a particular geographical zone through a time scale. This will help to identify a particular regime which dominated a notified area through various eras. To understand these facts, one has to study the comparative cultural variations that occurred in the past. The above factors are essential elements for the study the origins, modifications and transformations that occurred in the past.

Philosophical meanings

In Hinduism, different dance postures signify various gods based on their roles in various epics- eg: 108 Karanas of Lord Nataraja reveal different philosophical meanings of the ‘holy cosmic dance’. Most of these figures interpret the messages through different dancing gesture - postures based on “Bharat Natyam”. The messages are conveyed through Abhinaya (physical expressions) including the body positions, face positions, neck positions, foot positions different glances and different hand gestures.

As compared to other forms of traditional dances of South Asia, the pure traditional classical Bharat Natyam has shown many changes throughout the ancient human civilization. It is a noticeable fact that at times, some dance postures reflect “individuality based on different regions’ in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. This shows that some kind of admixture or influence of other cultures and traditions of various regions and their indigenous or contemporary dance influences. Another important aspect of the present study is to understand the dresses and ornaments, which were worn in different eras. These can be seen in the sculptures and statues. The current research is especially based on the 10th century AD to the present era.

A primary study (personal communication based on an unpublished data) in this regard which revealed some interesting facts about the old Hindu temples, their art galleries and sculptures. All these spell out the information about the historical evolution and various transitions that took place in the Sri Lankan Hindu temple history. The current study also analyses the comparative data of South Indian chapter.

Sri Lankan temple decorative sculptures have very close affinities with South Indian temples especially with the Tamil Nadu temples such as Thillai Natraja temple at Chidambaram, Madurai Meenakshi temple, TanjaiBracatheeswara temple, Mahabalipuram sculptures and numerous temples at Kanchipuram and many temples at Andra, Karnataka, and Kerala.