Kandyan period painting

Kandyan period paintings are predominantly mural paintings created during the Kandyan period (1592–1815) in Sri Lanka. The monarchs of the Kingdom of Kandy gave a special place to arts and literature during this time.

As there was a political instability in Sri Lanka after the Anuradhapura period, which lasted more than 500 years, the monarchs didn't take much effort to build up the religious side of the people. Therefore, there were no monks with Upasampada and people didn't have much education about Buddhism. Therefore, at the beginning of Kandyan Kingdom, the monks got Upasampada, and started to preach Buddhism to people. As people didn't know many things, monks (Specially Sangaraja Maha Nahimi) advised the kings to paint the walls of the temples with Jataka Stories so that anyone could understand even without knowing how to read. This marked the beginning of frescoes of the Kandyan Era.

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