Vanishing murals

Mural paintings deteriorate with time. You would observe the fading of colours, brittleness, and weakening of the paintings in years to come. The Buddha's preaching will ring bells as it reflects the practicality of life. Nothing is permanent. Everything is impermanent.

So ends the textual description of Gamini Jayasinghe's latest work Sri Lankan Buddhist Art: Southern Tradition, which is the final of three volumes: The Grandeur of Sinhala Buddhist Art, released in 2004, and Sri Lankan Buddhist Art Post-Classical Revival on the Kandyan School of Painting, released in 2006.

Gamini Jayasinghe. Picture by Lalith C Gamage

These three volumes contain a lasting and highly noteworthy archive and record of Sri Lanka's monumental Buddhist art heritage. Many of these masterpieces are threatened with decay, and some in the book are now beyond recognition. These volumes will be invaluable to collectors and libraries for research, reference and general reading.

In recognition of the national services rendered by Gamini Jayasinghe in photo-documenting the murals of hundreds of temples, depositing them in the Department of National Archives and completing a series of volumes on wall paintings, he was awarded the Annual National Award by the Sarvodaya Trust Fund at the National Awards Ceremony in 2006 for the Advancement of Humanity Development and Peace.

Sachitra Mahendra takes a glimpse on 'Encounter of the Week' with Gamini Jayasinghe.

You are a senior as well as a veteran in the photography. Where do your roots lie?

I was initially a freelance photo-journalist and a photo-documentarist. Then I started my career in 1958 as a Film Editor in the Government Film Unit and later joined the National Film Corporation as Manager/Foreign Productions. My abiding interest in documenting rare and precious temple paintings began in 1965 and since then I hardly thought of a separate subject area.

You have been recognised in the international scene as well.

My work has been exhibited many a times in both Sri Lanka and overseas. My pictures have appeared in many international magazines such as Geo, Orientations, Pacific and Sawasdee and Serendib. I collaborated with Prof Senaka Bandaranayake in producing the book The Rock and Wall Paintings of Sri Lanka and I could make a photographic illustration on the life of the Buddha for Venerable Narada Maha Thera's The Buddha and His Teachings. Yet another book titled Vision of the Buddha was also illustrated with my photographs. My photo-documentation of the murals in most important temples in Sri Lanka is deposited in the Government Archives and in the Photo Archives of the Central Cultural Fund.

Photography is a subject area with a wide variety of sub-divisions. Photographing temple paintings seems to be the least interesting subject among the modern photographers.

The photographing of Sri Lankan Buddhist art at every location and every period has been my labour of love the past 45 years. A widely acknowledged specialty and expertise in the field is among the rewards I treasure in my life long fascination with our great artistic heritage.

Title: SRI LANKAN BUDDHIST ART SOUTHERN TRADITION Photography, concept and design: Gamini Jayasinghe Text: Dr Saroja Wettasinghe Publisher: Sarasavi Publishers Page count: 194

During my school times, or even prior to that, I had a liking to photography. I had an inexpensive camera. Late Prematilaka Sakalasuriya made me get interested in photographing temple paintings. My first photograph, taken at Ranwella Vihara, Kataluwa, adorned the cover of the Orientations magazine. That's where I have literally started photo-documentation career.

The task is quite time-consuming, strenuous as well as challenging.

For the photography of this volume I was travelling widely in the Southern Province for two to three weeks. Even now I'm quite sad to recall the pathetic plight of these temples. Many paintings of the temples are ruined because of the dilapidated roofs. There was a heavy rain, I remember, when we were photographing at Subadrarama Vihara, Balapitiya. I just could not believe my eyes, the entire temple was flooded with water.

The roof was leaking heavily and most of the paintings are obviously damaged. We were at Kumara Maha Vihara, Kumarakanda. It was also the same paintings I photographed in 1982, reduced to fractions now. This pathetic situation is there in most of the temples in the South. The deterioration is taking place so rapidly in these temples. Of the many paintings I am publishing this volume, the originals are no more.

So these volumes comprise a lasting and highly noteworthy archive and record of Sri Lanka's monumental Buddhist art heritage. Many of these masterpieces are threatened with decay. Some paintings in the book are now hardly recognisable.

What is your solution to this pathetic situation as a professional photographer of temple paintings?

I planned to include the paintings of 30 to 40 temples in this volume, but unfortunately I could not do so, since the paintings have disappeared from the walls. In addition to these three volumes, I have compiled another series of books on individual temples. Dambulla Raja Maha Vihara, Bellanvila Raja Maha Vihara and Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara are already released. The advantage of this series is that more details of each temple are featured.

Entering a temple we view the paintings on the walls as a whole, but in this series of books, all the episodes are photographed at high level to give much more emphasis to the incident portrayed. This will give the art lovers more opportunity to study the paintings in greater detail.

I'm carrying on with my mission of producing more and more books on temple murals of Sri Lanka. I hope our nation will be benefitted by the series. I have made an effort to put these paintings in print and extend their life span.

The text of all your books is authored by someone else.

That's a good point. Many people ask me why I haven't got into writing. I'm a professional in photography, not in the writing job. I have been living in and out of the temples for a long time, and I have quite a lot to write. But I don't think I will do justice if I take up something in which I'm not professional.

Whenever I do a book, I provide necessary information to the writer. My job is to design the concept and work on the book as a whole.

The common reader cannot afford your books. For instance Southern Tradition is Rs 5,500. Do you think you can survive by braving the odds?

True, my books are far from the common man's reach. After I did volume two of the trilogy, I was without a publisher for some time. Very rarely does a publisher dare to take up such a project, as they cannot rake in immediate profits. At the very outset it was Sarvodaya Vishva Lekha, then Unigraphics (Pvt) Ltd and now it is Sarasavi Publishers. The Sampath Bank also offered financial assistance to this project.

All my books are printed 500 copies each. They are all sold out. So I think I have a positive answer for you: I have survived and braved the odds!

Do you use a digital camera?

No. I know next to nothing on digital camera. I use the manual camera to record the diminishing colours.

What is your opinion about other areas of photography?

It has grown vast. For example there are people who like to do fashion photography. My area, photographing temple paintings, is an area most photographers may not like. You got to live under harsh conditions. You have to practically live in temples if you are to photograph temple paintings.

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