Studio Times Limited

Ivory Panel, Ridi Vihara, Kurunegala
Photograph by Nihal Fernando

This panel was photographed by Nihal Fernando in the 1970s. A door frame in Ridi Vihara temple was inlayed with ivory carving. This panel and another has subsequently gone missing.

While doing photography for “Eloquence in Stone”, we realised anew that, not only were we photographing a heritage on which nature was taking its toll, it was also a heritage which is being ravaged by man. The book ends with words of Nihal Fernando, “This is the dream I have had for the last fifteen years. I want to tell the story of this country and its people. I want to make people think about our past and what we are doing to it before it is too late.”

Eloquence in Stone, the Lithic Saga of Sri Lanka (a Studio Times publication) : Published in 2016 and priced at Rs 11,000/-. Soon to become a Collector’s Item. Available from Skelton Road, Colombo 5 @ Rs 8,000/-. Inquiries: [email protected], 076 665 0430.

Ivory Panel, Ridi Vihara, Kurunegala
Photograph by Nihal Fernando

This panel was photographed by Nihal Fernando in the 1970s. A door frame in Ridi Vihara temple was inlayed with ivory carving.

“Handbook for the Ceylon Traveller” (a Studio Times publication, 1974 & 1983, out of print) records that Ridi Vihara is “a temple particularly worthwhile for its art treasures, including an ivory panelled door frame” and “an unsual curiosity - the flower altar of Delft tiles bearing Christian scenes, the gift of a Dutch Governor.”

Ivory Panel, Ridi Vihara, Kurunegala
Photograph by Nihal Fernando

This panel was photographed by Nihal Fernando in the 1970s. A door frame in Ridi Vihara temple was inlayed with ivory carving. This panel and another has subsequently gone missing.

While doing photography for “Eloquence in Stone”, we realised anew that, not only were we photographing a heritage on which nature was taking its toll, it was also a heritage which is being ravaged by man. The book ends with words of Nihal Fernando, “This is the dream I have had for the last fifteen years. I want to tell the story of this country and its people. I want to make people think about our past and what we are doing to it before it is too late.”

Eloquence in Stone, the Lithic Saga of Sri Lanka (a Studio Times publication) : Published in 2016 and priced at Rs 11,000/-. Soon to become a Collector’s Item. Available from Skelton Road, Colombo 5 @ Rs 8,000/-. Inquiries: [email protected], 076 665 0430.

With a Photograph from the Studio Times Archive as the centrepiece above the bed ….

Courtesy – Hill Club, Dipika Dharmadasa, DDN Design

Mahasenweva, Mahasengama
Photograph by Christopher Silva