සාහිත්‍යයේ නිරූපිත ශ්‍රී ලාංකේය බුද්ධ ප්‍රතිමා කලාවේ ප්‍රභවය හා පූර්ව අවදියේ බුද්ධ සංකේත වන්දනය

Abstract

Following the Mahindagamana, an intense reverence for Buddhism and the Buddha developed across the nation. Sri Lankan artists, in response, dedicated significant attention was directed to sculp the Buddha's form in statues, drawing inspiration from his spiritual essence. As time progressed, the art of
crafting Buddha statues evolved, encouraging Buddhists who traditionally revered Buddhist symbols
to begin worshiping through these statues. This study examines the origins of the Buddha image as depicted in literary texts and the shift from symbolic to statue worship using a qualitative research method. Based on evidence from primary sources like the Mahavamsa, Samanthapasadika, and Pujavaliya, and supplemented by othersecondary sources, it is evident that sculptors conceptualized and crafted Buddha's image in statues, capturing the character of Buddha as praised in the literature.