Page 294 - Proceedings book

Exploring Cultural Integration Through Clothing:
Analyzing 'Somana' (Chintz) Textiles in Post-Kandyan

Temple Murals (Based on Kathaluwa Purwaramaya &
Thotagamuwa Thelwaththa Temple Murals)

R.M.Thamali Rathnayaka
Research Assistant & Visiting lecturer, Department of Fine arts, University of
Peradeniya
thamali.dk.rathnayaka@gmail.com

Keywords Abstract

cross-cultural ‘Somana’ textiles, known for their intricate detailed patterns and
vibrant colors, played a significant role in the temple murals of
influence Sri Lanka’s post-Kandyan tradition, which embody the historical,
Imported textiles political, cultural, and artistic dimensions of integration.
Although there have been studies related to the nature of clothing
temple murals and its usage in the visual arts found in the Kandyan tradition,
somana there has been a lack of scholarly investigation on imported
clothing and its deeper significance concerning styles and social
social institutions contexts. Garments can be used to express not only clothing
styles but also personal position, hierarchies, divisions in power,
respect, class, caste, and geographical location of people with

varied cultural traditions; their stimulating ideas about designing
and textiles can also show how creative a particular designer is.
Art being the social and human expression offers the lens
peculiarly built through culture, spaces, and ideologies. The core
of this research is based on the depiction of Somana textiles in
the mural paintings of Kathaluwa Purwaramaya and
Thotagamuwa Thelwaththa temples, painted in the 18th century -
a period distinctly marked by stylistic evolutions and influences
of international trade. By closely examining the murals, archival
materials, and surviving textile samples, this research seeks to
explore the ways in which Somana textiles reflected social and
hierarchical identities during this time. This research adopts a
mainly qualitative approach, in which primary and secondary
sources represent the major sources for data collection. The study
of temple murals was supported by interviews with art critics and
art historians as primary sources. Secondary sources, including
books and scholarly articles on related subjects, further
strengthened the research.

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