Overview

Sri Lanka takes its place in Asian garden history not only by virtue of its chronicle accounts, inscriptional records and literary descriptions of gardens and natural environments, but even more so on account of the unique survival of the archaeological remains of many planned garden forms, especially from time horizons earlier than those of surviving historic gardens in other South Asian societies and cultures. The Sri Lankan relict gardens are an archaeological phenomenon little seen elsewhere in Asia from a period prior to the 13th century. Following the journey proposed by Klaus Holzhausen and the authors of this volume, one goes from surprise to surprise. First of all, there’s the unsuspected world of the great royal estates: spatial generosity here reflects a local aristocratic civilisation which found in the garden the highest point of its art. Another essential tradition presented in this volume is that of Sri Lanka’s monastic gardens. The sheer number of Buddhist monasteries scattered all over the island since almost 2000 years is incredible. Most of these sites contain rather gardens than buildings. Then there’s the more complex case of colonial gardens, those magical but often forced amalgams between a self-celebrating culture from outside and the local topography and vegetation. Last but not least - and the volume that Klaus Holzhausen, as a true prophet of the places he has traversed for nearly three decades, makes clear - is the existence of contemporary gardens that have, physically and immediately for those lucky enough to walk through them, an extraordinary force and something to teach the world. The extremely meticulous way in which Gardens of Sri Lanka has been elaborated and the quality of the iconic and written documentation permit readers to already be there and to discover page after page the existence of another world.

Full Product Details

Author:   Senake Bandaranayake ,  Klaus Holzhausen
Publisher:   Silvana
Imprint:   Silvana
Weight:   1.680kg
ISBN:  

9788836659555

ISBN 10:   8836659551
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   14 March 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

13 General Introduction 32 Chronology of Sri Lanka’s history 33 Map of Sri Lanka 35 Royal Gardens 35 Introduction 36 Anuradhapura 39 Ranmasu Uyana 54 Sigiriya 73 Polonnaruwa 82 A Secondary Lake Surrounding the Promontory? A Hypothesis 88 Shifting Capitals 89 Kandy 101 Monastic Gardens 101 Introduction 102 Anuradhapura 104 Giri (Hill) Monasteries 119 Centric (Metropolitan) Monasteries 132 Pabbata (Mountain) Vihara 134 Padhanagara Parivena (Meditation Monasteries) 140 Kaludiya Pokuna Mihintale 152 Ritigala 160 Arankäle 166 The Bodhi Tree Shrine, a Sacred Garden 175 The Colonial Encounter 175 Introduction 178 Atapattu Walawwa 180 The ‘Royal’ Botanic Garden, Peradeniya 183 The Hakgala Botanic Garden 189 Richmond Castle at Kalutara 193 Roehampton Tea Estate Garden 196 The Girls’ School at Uduvil 200 Taprobane at Weligama 205 Modern and Contemporary Gardens 205 Introduction 206 Bevis Bawa’s Gardens 206 The Brief Garden 215 The Gardens of the Sigiriya Village Hotel (the older part) 217 Geoffrey Bawa’s Gardens 218 Lunuganga 224 The Kandalama Hotel, near Dambulla 229 Laki Senanayake’s Gardens 229 Diyabubula (the artist’ own garden) 234 The Gardens of the Sigiriya Village Hotel (the second part) 236 The Boulder Garden Hotel 241 Afterword 243 Bibliography 247 Glossary

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