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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XV. 



It will be admitted that, cceteris paribus, the credit of painting 

 frescoes found in Ceylon must, prima facie, rest with the Sinhalese 

 until the contrary is definitely established. 



But, apart from this, I pointed to the significant fact that two of 

 the frescoes at Ajanta, as pointed out by Fergusson and Manning, 

 depict scenes from the Mahdwansa, the ancient chronicle of Lanka. 

 In fact, the absolute fidelity to detail as regards the introduction of 

 Buddhism, and the preaching of Mahinda, can leave no doubt as to 

 what was meant. Hence, I argued in favour of Sinhalese artists. 



Mr. Bell made a point of the fact that the Sigiriya frescoes were the 

 only ones of the kind in Ceylon. I replied by saying that those at 

 Ajanta were just as unique as regards India ; but omitted to notice 

 that Mr. Bell had himself stated in his Paper that all the walls of 

 the rock cave must originally have been covered with similar frescoes, 

 of which the existing ones formed a very small portion, and that those 

 only have escaped the ravages of time from the fact that they lay in 

 so sheltered a position in the " pockets" of the rock temples. Thus, 

 from Mr. Bell's own standpoint, there is nothing to prevent the 

 supposition that these are the only existing frescoes of many that 

 were painted, not only in Sigiriya, but in other places as well, in 

 the fifth century of the Christian era. 



Kasyapa was a prisoner-king. Betaking himself to the Rock Fortress 

 of Sigiriya, he lay for eighteen long years in concealment, fearful of 

 the vengeance of his brother Moggalana, from which he only escaped 

 by the crime of suicide. It is difficult to understand the oppor- 

 tunities which this prisoner-king would have had to communicate 

 with India, and to import therefrom " exotic" artists. 



The presumption of "exotic" artists would imply that painting 

 was the only art in which the ancient Sinhalese were lacking, great as 

 they admittedly were in sculpture, architecture, engineering, &c. 



King Dutugemunu (161 B.C. to 137 B.C.), after having defeated the 

 Tamil invader Elala, built the huge Ruwanveli (gold-dust) Dagaba to 

 commemorate his victory, and the Mahdwansa records that its walls 

 were covered with pictures painted with " vermilion paint mixed 

 with tala (gingelly) oil." On this, the first known historical mention 

 of oil-painting, Sir Emerson Tennent bases his claim to the discovery 

 of oil-painting on behalf of the Sinhalese. To prove that the Mahd- 

 wansa recorded a fact, I make the following quotation from Burrows' 

 description of this Dagaba in the Buried Cities of Ceylon, p. 31 : 

 " Many traces of the gaudy painting which formerly adorned (or 

 disfigured) these altars may still be seen." 



In the face of all these facts I may be excused if I fail to adopt 

 Mr. Bell's theory of "exotic " artists. 



Yours truly, 

 C. M. Fernando. 



To the Editor, Ceylon Standard. 



Sir, — Some one has been good enough to send me a copy of your 

 issue of the 20th instant, containing a letter by Mr. C. M. Fernando, 

 and a short editorial paragraph, relating to the " Sigiriya Frescoes." 



I note that Mr. Fernando has returned to the charge, in defence of 

 his theory of Sinhalese authorship for the paintings at Sigiriya. 



I do not propose to enter here fully into the disputed question of 

 their execution by native or foreign artists ; this I hope to do later 



