Political Boundaries or Cultural Zones? Decontextualizing the Iconography of Post Polonnaruva Buddha images

Abstract

In a way one could argue that the search for the unique culture specific image that belongs exclusively to Sinhala Buddhism is the major pre occupation of most of the art historical narrations in Sri Lanka. This was mainly cultivated by the racial polarity model of history writing operated by the British during the Colonial era for implementing the colonial political policy of 'divide and rule'. This was placed 'Sinhala' and 'Tamil' in Sri Lanka as a substitute for 'Aryan' and 'Dravidian'. This is also strongly connected with religious mythology of 'Sri Lankan island as a chosen place for only the Buddhists (Singhalese)' by Buddha; which made the Tamils as aliens and the conquerors of Buddhist country through out the ages in the minds of Singhalese in deeper level. This background creates an anti Tamil sentiment through out the history and also encompasses even the South India and plays a crucial role of erasing or omitting or marginalizing the South Indian factor in the Sri Lankan History. This paper explores the possibility of exclusiveness in Sri Lankan Art history by interrogating the iconographical features of the post Polannaruva period in Sri Lanka, in comparison to the Buddha images of Nagapattnam in Tamil Nadu. By resituating these images in their cultural condition and their art world connected to migration and patronage and argues for the necessity of understanding South India and Sri Lanka as one cultural zone and the Palk Strait as a mode of connection rather than the separation as a political border in Art history.