Buddhism in Theater, Gramophone and Film

This book recapitulates how Buddhism, which in the West is perceived as a philosophy, developed to meet the needs of the urban population of Sri Lanka in the first half of the 20^th century. The period under observation is from the British colonial times to the two decades after Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948. Photography, printing on paper as mass production, automobile, train and steamship transportation, telegraph, the gramophone as means of communication gave urban Buddhists fresh momentum towards the end of the 19th century to feel connected within the island and internationally. Sinhala verses (Kavi) remembered and sung by Buddhist pilgrims was now available on print. Together with devotional songs, Buddhist sermons and chanting were soon available on gramophone records.  Sri Lanka in the 1920’s reached a peak of economic development, leading to questions of self-government among the elite class. Influenced by the Parsee Theater from Bombay, Sinhala entrepreneurs set the stage for urban audiences to be transported back to ancient India through lavish sets, costumes and songs set to Hindustani music in gas-lit theatres. Buddhist narratives too appear in the Sinhala  theater  bolstering the Nation Building project. The 1960s and 70s brought forward a new medium of film which narrates Jataka stories known as murals on Buddhist Image Houses through the medium of film using the format of popular Hindi movies. We identify the institutions and artists who created vernacular entertainment to represent not only Sinhala Buddhists but all ethnic minorities.