Entrance to the Nata Dewale Grounds, Kandy (c. 1880): Art, History and Details

Entrance to the Nata Dewale Grounds, Kandy (c. 1880) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Scowen & Co. (British, active Ceylon, 1876–1895).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This is probably the entrance to a site for the worship of Natha, the Ceylonese counterpart of the all-compassionate Buddhist deity Mahayana Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. The shrine in Kandy dedicated to him, considered an especially lucky and sacred place, was where some royal ceremonies were held, including that for the naming of new kings.

Object facts

• Title: Entrance to the Nata Dewale Grounds, Kandy
• Date: c. 1880
• Creator attribution: Scowen & Co. (British, active Ceylon, 1876–1895)
• Culture: India, 19th century
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: Albumen print from glass plate negative
• Dimensions: Image: 28 x 22.1 cm (11 x 8 11/16 in.); Paper: 28 x 22.1 cm (11 x 8 11/16 in.); Mounted: 35.4 x 27.5 cm (13 15/16 x 10 13/16 in.)
• Collection: PH - British 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2018.39

Collection credit

Gift of Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Barbara Timmer

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.