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Tara, a replica
Description: This is a replica of the British Museum image of Tara. The unadorned, yet aesthetically pleasing image, wears a high hair-do, at the centre of which is an empty socket. It may have contained a miniature seated Buddha statue traditionally associated with Bodhisattva images. Originally found near Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, it is the tallest Buddhist female bronze image discovered in Sri Lanka and may represent an instance where Tara was worshipped in her own right as Bodhisattva. Various dates…
Contributor: Co-Author: Seneviratna, Harsha
Collection: Women in Sri Lankan Sculpture and Painting
Tara, guilded bronze image
Description: The major religious influence in Sri Lanka was Theravada Buddhism which provided no scope for any being other than the Buddha to be worshipped as cult object. However, the country did feel the impact of the Mahayana and Tantrayana forms of Buddhism where Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and their female elements or saktis and consorts were worshipped. It is in the context of these two systems that one finds the elevation of the female as cult object within Buddhist ideology, and the visual expression of…
Contributor: Co-Author: Seneviratna, Harsha
Collection: Women in Sri Lankan Sculpture and Painting
The female as cult object in Buddhism
Description: The female as cult object in Buddhism: The well known text titled Sādhanamālā provides an early description of the female as cult object in Buddhism. Sādhanamālā edited by Bhattacharya and published by Baroda in 2 volumes, 1925-1928.
Contributor: Co-Author: Seneviratna, Harsha
Collection: Women in Sri Lankan Sculpture and Painting
Mother goddess
Description: These two images are typical examples of the Mother Goddess. Her worship remained part of folk religion. Archaeologists assign a long time span from ca. 4th century B.C.-12th century A.D.
Contributor: Co-Author: Seneviratna, Harsha
Collection: Women in Sri Lankan Sculpture and Painting
Mother goddess
Description: Among the earliest religious concepts associated with agricultural societies is the worship of the Mother Goddess, an ideology which cuts across many cultures. This image of the Mother Goddess from Killinochchi, Sri lanka, presently in the Archaeological Museum at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, represents a religious belief which is thought to date back to pre-Buddhist times. Provided with a ledge for offerings, it is one of the larger size images found in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, none of the…
Contributor: Co-Author: Seneviratna, Harsha
Collection: Women in Sri Lankan Sculpture and Painting
Reference map of Sri Lanka
Description: This map of Sri Lanka shows the location of art objects in the present collection.
Contributor: Co-Author: Seneviratna, Harsha
Collection: Women in Sri Lankan Sculpture and Painting