1.

INTRODUCTION
This report aims to illustrate our thoughts about heritage on behalf of knowledge from the
Colombo National Museum. We are in a century which is more developed in science and
technology. In this period, learning heritage through books and internet will not be easy to believe
truth quickly. When we analyze anything virtually they wont easily erased out from our memory
and it is an easy process of understand heritage. Thereby, visit to Colombo National Museum
and identifying things virtually was helped in understand about heritage. And also it enhanced
our interest on the heritage subject.

2. MUSEUM
The museum as an institution tells the story of man the world over and how humanity has
survived in its environment over the years. It houses things created by nature and by man and in
our modern society it houses the cultural soul of the nation. (It holds the cultural wealth of the
nation in trust for all generations and by its function and unique position, it has become the
cultural conscience of the nation.)

3. COLOMBO NATIONAL MUSEUM

The oldest and largest Museum in the country, established 1877. Best known for collection of
antiques and objects of art and the library of the museum has more than 4,000 palm leaf
manuscripts. Among the exhibits are the regalia of the King of Kandy; ancient and medieval
jewelry rare collection of traditional masks; wood and ivory carvings; an exquisite collection of
Buddhist and Hindu Bronzes, Temple frescoes; Ceramics objects including VOC plates of the
Dutch period; Antique furniture; Lacquered objects; Ornate brass, Bronze and Silver objects;
Stone sculpture and Lithic inscriptions. For the visitors on a short tour, unable to visit the ancient
cities of Sri Lanka, a visit to the Colombo museum will give an idea of the history of the country
and its people.

4. HERITAGE
Through our visit to the Colombo National Museum, heritage is the total collection of our
hereditary deeds, monuments, and civilization. Most vital is the range of existing activities, its
significance, and the behaviors that we draw from them. Heritage, is much more than conserving,
digging, exhibiting, or re-establishing a grouping of old things. It is hard to define, in the sense
those ideas and memories of songs, recipes, language, dances, and many other basics, which we
are, and how we categorize ourselves are as vital, as historical buildings and archaeological sites.
Heritage is the topic of lively public indicator, debate, and discussion. What is worth saving?
What should we forget? What record can we enjoy, regret, or learn from? Who owns The Past
and who is free to speak for the past generations? Active public discussion of material and vague
heritage of individuals, groups, communities, and nations and it is the valuable side of our
multicultural world.
Heritage is a lively activity with wide-ranging possessions. It can be a part of visionary or the
stage for political respect, a medium for intercultural discussion, a means of moral reflection, and
the likely basis for local economic development. At the same time it is local, challenging,
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 universal and mutual. Heritage is a vital part of the present we live in and of the future we decide
to build.
Types of Heritages
According to the Objects displayed in Colombo National Museum, It can be categorized into
three types, they are
Cultural Assets
Vague Culture
Natural Heritage

Cultural Assets
Cultural assets comprise physical, or real cultural heritage, such as buildings and historical
places, monuments, books, documents, works of art, machines, clothing, and similar artefacts,
that are measured worthy of conservation for the future. It includes objects significant to
archaeology, architecture, science or technology of a specific culture.
Aspects of disciplines of the conservation of tangible culture include;
Museology
Archival Science
Conservation-Restoration
Art Conservation
Film Preservation
Phonograph Record Preservation
Digital Preservation

Vague Culture
Vague Cultural Heritage consists of non-physical aspects of precise culture, often maintained
by social customs during an exact period in history. The ways and means of manners in a society,
and the often formal rules for operating in an exacting cultural climate and it include; social
values and traditions, customs and practices, aesthetic and spiritual beliefs, artistic expression,
language and other expects of human activity. The importance of physical artefacts can be
interpreted against values of a particular group of people. Naturally, vague cultural heritage is
more difficult to preserve than physical objects. Aspects of the safeguarding and conservation of
vague cultural intangibles includes Folklore- Oral History-Language preservation.

Natural Heritage
Natural heritage is also an important part of a societys heritage, encompassing the countryside
and natural environment, including flora and fauna, scientifically known as biodiversity, and as
well as geological elements; including mineralogical, geomorphologic (study of the physical
features of the surface of the earth and their relation to its geological structures), paleontological
(the study of life in the geological past), scientifically known as geo diversity. These heritage
sites often serve as an important component in a countrys tourist industry attracting many

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 foreign and local visitors. Heritage can also include cultural landscapes, mountains (natural
features that may have cultural attributes).

Aspects of the preservation and conservation of natural heritage include;

Ethno or Ethnological Botany
Rare breeds conservation
Heirloom plants (plants in a personal property that had been in the family for several
generations)

5. IN MUSEUM
According to the arrangement of the Colombo National Museum we could able to identify it was
arranged in an order of time periods. This periods were based on the kingdoms changes. First
part was Polanaruwa, transitional period (Polanaruwa period ending and beginning of Kandy
period), Kandy Period. In each periods there were representation on agriculture and irrigation,
trade and foreign relations, coinage, Buddhist art and architecture, sculptures, language and
literature and religion and culture. Then the next part was on stone carvings of all periods. It
continues to painting and then to the dresses and ceramics gallery. After that it directed to
agriculture section. Finally to the nature section.

6. INTERESTED REGION IN MUSEUM

The most interesting parts were the paintings, stone carvings and sculptures.
Paintings
The characteristic features of the Kandyan art constitutes the application of the method of
continuous narration with repetition of figures which are shown mostly in profile view, the face
being sometimes shown in 3 quarter view. Only flat, toneless colours were used without any
shading procedures, thus making the picture two-dimensional. Only horizontal bands were
utilized on the wall for depicting the murals.

Figure 1 Sigirya drawings

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 The folk art tradition that prevailed in the
early Indian sculptures as at Bharhut,
promoted coomaraswamy to make the
expression that the kandyan paintings give
the impression of sudden re-appearance of
the Bharhut tradition. The kandyan mural
tradition continued up to the end of the 19th
century and wanted due to the western art
traditions, which gradually infiltrated into
the island during the colonial eras.
Figure 2 Apsaras (SIgiriya 5th century AC)

Primitive / Veddah Paintings

Cave paintings drawn possibly by Veddahs representing men and animals. Men are seen riding
on elephants and oxen, while some paitings illustrate men in dance poses. These paintings a
mature style of the Pre-historic paintings in subject-matter and style

Stone carvings
The stone carvings can be divided into two categories.
First one is related to engineering and second one is on
stories and gods they pray. When it comes to
engineering, there were not big science and techniques
involved but they were simple and made by natural
conditions. For an example, Water filter with an
ingenious method of purifying drinking water through a
natural process. Water filled into a circular stone trough,
permeates through the porous texture of the sandstone,
and drips down in drops into the vessel, while at the
same time, naturally purifying the water by the chemical
properties if the sandy texture of the stone. A throughful
of water (7.5L) would take 24hrs to filter.
They were several stories on behalf of each stone
carvings and one story impressed me a lot it is the
worship of Seven Mothers belonged to the ancient
Figure 3 Filter mother
cult and is
believed to have been the emanations of Kausika
Durga. The seven mothers constitute Brahmani,
Mahesvari, Vaisnavi, Kaumari, Varahi, Narasimhi
and Indrani.

Figure 4 Sapthamatrikas (Seven Mothers)

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 Figure 5 Coiled Naga Limestone (7-8
Figure 6 Decorative Slab (Hanguragetha 18th century) century, Anuradhapura)

There was a description on the art of image making. It says that the
ancient technical texts such as rupavali and manjusri-citrakarmastra
indicate that two measurement systems have been used bythe sculptors
in making Buddha images, namely, Navatala system and uttama
dasatala system. Apparently, the Buddha images of Anuradhapura and
Pollonnaruva periods have followed the Navatala system.

Figure 8 Caturmana

Figure 7 Lambamana Unit description

REFERENCES

GOOGLE
Wikipedia
Guyana Workshop, Public Lecture, May 17, 1999 Museums, Peace, Democracy and Governance in the
21st Century Post Conference Workshop
http://www.srilankaheritages.com/heritage-new.html

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