Indian Art History Books

The present Volume is the latest endeavour to freshly enquire into the relevance and validity of commonly-held categorizations of ancient Indian religious architecture as Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain, often noticed in the extant standard writings on this genre of the art studies. It has been observed that while this may somehow appear true and may also have some sort of relevance primarily from the standpoint of its creators and users, who used to perform some kind of religious rites or indulged in some sorts of religious discourses and debates or even paid their obeisance to the revered deities, seated in the sanctum sanctorum, evidently to earn some spiritual merits, or, even from the perspective of its associated iconography and its lavish symbolism in its exteriors and interiors, but, viewed restrictedly from the architecture’s standpoint, these do not hold true and seem to represent only its peripheral dimensions. Architectural arrangements in these religious spaces, categorized differently, are essentially common, irrespective of their affiliations with Hindu, Buddhist and Jain, and betray the shared concepts amongst them evolved through the millenniums with very few alterations exceptionally to be called as distinct.

The Volume examines critically both the morphological and conceptual contours of these spaces right from the Vedic times to the later periods when the evolution came to its full zenith in the form of temples. How the earliest notions conceived in the making of the Yajña-vedis and chitis percolated in all the shades of later religious architecture has been explicitly elucidated. How a number of trees originally imagined as the resorts of the spirits and divinities got identified with several Hindu deities, Buddhas and the Tirthamkaras as well, and sired the notion of religious pillars to be erected in their honour as their own insignias, has all been elaborately explained to mark the conceptual and morphological affinities inherent in these so-called different religious spaces. The transformation of the rock-cut chaitya-gŗihas, slowly and gradually, into the temple architecture with many of their features not only carried forward but taken to new heights, narrate the same story. The analysis establishes that ancient Indian religious architecture is a narrative of shared concepts, of mutuality, inclusiveness, cross-connections, free exchanges of ideas and their broader adaptations, Interdependence through several points of convergences and conceptual affinities beyond the sectarian boundaries of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain. This is also endorsed by the prevalence of common terminologies – stūpa, chaitya, prāsāda, mandira, stambha, yașți, vedikā, etc. among the Hindu, Buddhist and jain forms of architecture, their comparative importance in a particular shade notwithstanding. Thus the Volume provides a new stimulus to the students, scholars and art-historians to take the studies of ancient Indian religious architecture with a new insight and perspective which expose its overall synthesizing and overarching effect that predominantly caused its outflow and evolution in ancient India beyond the sectarian bias.

The Author
An aluminus of the University of Allahabad with meritorious academic records, Dr. Prem Sagar Chaturvedi joined the Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture D. D. U. Gorakhpur University in 1972. He served this institution in several capacities and finally retired as Professor and Head on June 30, 2012. He had the chance of working both as a disciple and colleague under the sage guidance of late Professor V. S. Pathak, an eminent scholar and indologist under whose supervision he obtained Ph. D. degree for his outstanding work Some Aspects of Technology in Vedic Literature. Because of his deep understanding of literary and archaeological sources, Dr. Chaturvedi has gained expertise in several branches of historical discipline. These include Vedic and Buddhist Studies, Ancient Technologies, Art and Architecture, Archaeology and Socio-Religious studies. He is mostly known for his highly acclaimed original work, Technology in Vedic Literature in which by deft-handling of the Vedic, Avestan and Indo-European data, he has drawn the profiles of several prehistoric and protohistoric technologies, such as wood, leather, textiles, ceramics, etc. many of which being extremely fragile by nature could not be procured materially except in some very exceptional situations, and hence, hardly find any allusion in archaeological writings although most of them were synchronously practiced by the early man along with the lithic. He has discussed some more facets of technology in The Vedic Technology, a Chapter contributed to the Volume, The Dawn of Indian Civilization of PHISPC, a dream project envisioned by late Professor D. P. Chattopadhyay and in several other writings in different publications. Besides these, he has exposed quite brilliantly some basic concepts of arts and aesthetics in a number of articles contributed to various journals. He has also authored and edited the volume Archaeological Findings from the Homeland of Buddha in which major archaeological discoveries of the region traversed by Buddha have critically been analyzed and their significance has properly been exposed before the scholarly world so much so that it stands as the most updated and authentic account of the archaeological studies of the region. Dr. Chaturvedi has guided several researches on different areas of history, attended a number of national and international academic meets, delivered lectures in different academic forums and contributed more than sixty research papers in various journals and publications. At present, he is engaged as a Senior Academic Fellow with Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi, and is working on the Project History and Culture of Sarayūpāra Region on the Basis of Extant Archaeological Remains.

Contributors
R.N.Misra, an eminent art historian, formerly National Tagore Professor, Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, and former Professor and Chairman, School of Studies in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Jiwaji, University, Gwalior (M.P.)

Maruti Nandan Prasad Tiwari was formerly Professor and Head with the Department of History of Art, Banaras Hindu University, and Varanasi.

Prem Sagar Chaturvedi, a Senior Academic Fellow with the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi, was formerly Professor and Head, Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, D. D. U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur (U. P.).

Dhyanendra Narain Dubey is Assistant Professor in the Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, D.D.U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur.

Susmita Pande is Professor and Head in the School of Studies in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Vikram University, Ujjain.

Ashvini Agrawal , Professor of Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology, Punjab University, is former Dean, Faculty of Arts and Chairman, Department of Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology, Punjab University, Chandigarh.

Amar Singh was Professor in the Department of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow.

Alok Tripathi, Professor and former Head, Department of History, Assam University, is at present Director, Centre for Archaeology and Museology, Assam University, Silcher.

Chadrashekhar Gupta, formerly Professor and Head, Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Nagpur University, Nagpur.

Rahman Ali was formerly Professor and Head, School of Studies in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Vikram University, Ujjain (M. P.). He was Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and School of Law in the same University.

Piyush Bhargava, Associate Professor, Department of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology, Lucknow University, Lucknow.

Alok Shrotriya is professor and Head, Department of Ancient Indian History, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak (M.P.).

Pragya Chaturvedi is Associate Professor, Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, D.D.U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur.

Suniti Pandey is Assistant Professor in the Department of Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology, University of Allahabad, Allahabad.

Shitala Prasad Singh is Associate Professor, Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, D.D.U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur.

Hari Narayan Dubey, an expert in Purāņic studies, he has recently retired as Professor, Department of Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology, Allahabad University.

Vipula Dubey is Professor and Head, Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, D. D. U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur.

Rajawant Rao, Professor, Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, D. D. U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur,

Iravati was formerly Associate Professor and Head, Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Vasanta P. G. College for Women, Varanasi.

Harsh Kumar, Associate Professor, Department of Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology, Allahabad University, Allahabad.

Digvijay Bhatnagar, Professor and Head, Department of History, Udaipur University, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Rekha Chaturvedi, Professor, Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, D. D. U. Gorakhpur University,.

Tulika Banerjee is an Associate Professor in Mahila P. G. College, Basti, U.P.

Durgananandan Tiwari, Associate Professor in Archaeology and Museology, Sampoornanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi,

Shanti Swaoop Sinha is Associate Professor in the Department of History of Visual Arts and Design, Faculty of Visual Arts, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.

Anand Prakash Srivastava, Principal, Sri Ram Kishun P. G. College, Gokul, Karasada, Varanasi,

Atm Prakash Singh is a teacher with keen interest in art studies.

Hari Gopal Srivastav, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, Jawaharlal P. G. College, Maharajganj

Ram Pyare Mishra, Assistant Professor, Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, D.D.U. Gorakhpur University.

Vinod Kumar is a research scholar in the Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, D.D.U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur.

Rajesh Kumar Dhar Dubey is a Post Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, D.D.U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur.

Preeti Tiwari is a research scholar in the Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, D.D.U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur.

Ruchi Srivastava is a research scholar in the Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, D.D.U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur.

Roman Diaspora in the making of India thrived on a syncrtic goddess ushered by the Greco-Buddhist reliquary cult. Lustrated by royal elephant identified with Africa, goddess Gajalakshmi on lotus of rebirth coexists with Isis-Venus and Nemesis symbolized by the Wheel of Low (Retribution), winged griffin and other rebus memory devices .Metaphors originally distilled faith in afterlife but these necromantic signs are now translated as Buddha’s external presence in a neural religion. Unprecedented cult images of goddess invoked as Maha Maya (Mega Maia) and Maha Vuhara Devi on the Great Boat (Mahayana) radically transformed the cultural landscape of South Asia. Subject to Influences, Meaning of art correlated with Mystery religions moved eastward from the Mediterranean to reach the gateway to heaven (Torana).The search for immortality demonstrates inter-connectedness of all art objects from Gandhara to Sri Lanka giving to ample scope for portraiture, Narrative techniques and symbolic Communication. Backed by new mortuary practices and esoteric rituals magic of art and new Brahmi script invented from invented from Aramaic was crucial to afterlife. Not surprisingly Tamil Brami on pot shards was found in Berenike and Oman. The two Volumes examine Late- synthesis in order to create new premises for investigating its Greco-Roman past centered on the powerful impulse to ti induces descent of the Lord (Bhagavato ukramti) through Immaculate conception and ambiguity in its cultural moorings. In the process, patrons, priest-kings and historical figures emerge as contributor to the obscure space of the funerary cult. Lasting less than four centuries in India, veneration of luminous Buddhas had far reaching consequences in Asia. Simultaneously, transcending human limitations goddess Mahalakshmi is singular witness to transformations through two millennia of Indian civilization.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Art Historian ArputhaRani Sengupta (born June 14, 1947) examines semiotics of iconography with wide range of meaning in the South and Central Asian Buddhist cultures in the milieu of Greco-Roman world. Her primary interest is to study the ways in which trans-cultural non-linguistic phenomena in art history can generate meaning and provide information on the role of cultural synthesis and knowledge production. Her powerful deductive Alternate History is a new form of empiricism that reveals synthesis of heterodox beliefs and philosophy in the Greco-Buddhist reliquary art and cult during the early Christian era. The former Professor at National Museum Institute, New Delhi and Stella Maris College, Chennai is adjunct faculty in the Delhi Institute of Research and Heritage Management. Sengupta has undertaken cross-disciplinary research on prehistoric and early historic burial goods in South Asia and on Buddist Symbole and Substitute with research grant from the Ministry of Culture and Indian Council for Historical Research. Publications include Art of Terracotta: Cult and Cultural Synthesis in India (2004), Jewellery from Buddha Zone in Central and South Asia (2012), Kailasanatha Temple. The Realm of Immortals (2009), and Makimekalai: Dancer with Magic Bowl (2005). Edited volumes include Cult of the Goddess (2012) and Devaraja Cult in South and Southeast Asia (2004).

Buddhism is vast field spanning a wide variety of concerns. For twenty five centuries Buddhism has inspired the greatest achievements of Asian thought and culture, and today the impact of its message is beginning to be felt in the western world as well. The greatness of the religion lies in the method of its spread. In the entire world religions, Buddhism is the only religion which made its way without persecution, censorship or inquisition. As H.G. Wells, the great Historian stated “Buddhism has done more for the advance of world civilization and true culture than any other influence in the chronicles of mankind”. Buddhism is not confined to any particular race, nation or country it is universal. Similarly the torch of Dhamma spread to the lands of gold and islands of gold (Suvarnabumi and Suvanadvipa). Andhradesa had been the strong hold of Buddhism from early times and the Andhakas as the Andhra Buddhists were known to Pali literature had been in the forefront of all the later developments in Buddhism. The Mahayana schools of Andhra, and the Andhra Mahayanists who settled at Srilanka have chosen the Southeast Asian countries where there were already commercial colonies set up by Andhra merchants. Nalinaksha Dutt rightly observes that to South India particularly Andhra goes the credit of being the birth place not only of Mahayana but also its earliest exponents Acharya Nagarjuna and Aryadeva. Buddhism is perhaps the earliest of the missionary religions; it adopted itself to the local condition and absorbed the local systems into itself without any prejudice to its fundamental tenets. That is one of the reason for the rise of different schools and sects not only in India but also Southeast Asian countries. The absorption of the local primitive beliefs and rituals led to the rise of peculiar or even strange principles in each of the countries and in no two countries Buddhist practices look alike. With the rise of worship the Mahayana pantheon like Avalokiteswara, Amitaba, Vajrapani, Manjusri, Prajnaparamita, Tara, Trailokyanatha, Lokanada, Lokeswara huge temples were constructed to these gods all over Southeast Asia. Theravada and Mahayana coexisted in these countries from early centuries but from about the 12 th century A.D Theravada became predominant.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Professor Sitaramamma Jagarlamudi born on 5 th August 1958 in Andhrapradesh. Completed her Post Graduation from Acharya Nagarjuna University in Ancient Indian History and Archeology in 1980. Later joined in the Centre for Mahayana Buddhist Studies for her PhD and selected for the U.G.C N.E.T fellowship. In 1988 she joined as an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Mahayana Buddhist Studies. In 1998 promoted as the Associate Professor and from 2006 onwards serving as the Professor in the Centre for Mahayana Buddhist Studies in different capacities as Head, Chair person Board of Studies. Published more than 60 Research Articles in the National Journals and 25 International publications. Guided 15 PhD Scholars. Participated in various National and International Conferences and presented Research papers. Published one book on The History of Mahayana in Andhradesa.

Dr. Arora's present book is indeed a most welcome addition to the growing field of comparative mythological studies. The work is a very thorough investigation into some of the major themes and motifs in Indian mythology in a much wider and comparative perspective. He has carefully selected them from Indian, Greek, West-Asian, and other sources. The result obtained by him provides an amazing story of interaction between various cultural traditions through space and time. This is a painstaking work of research and a substantial contribution not only to the History of Indian Civilization but also to that of the ancient world. Dr. Arora has approached his question with an open mind with result that his findings do not betray pre-suppositions and prejudices one often finds in such studies. Printed Pages: 268.

Comparative mythology is, indeed, a very absorbing and exciting subject. But it is also a tricky subject. Any investigation pertaining to this discipline involves some obvious risks. For instance, on the one hand, one is often tempted to read much in apparent-and even superficial-similarities of ideas in the mythologies of different cultures and then to fit in those ideas into a pre-conceived ideological framework; and, on The other hand, there is the tendency towards puritanical isolationism which rejects any suggestion of borrowing or external influence. I would like to congratulate Dr. Arora, the author of this interesting monograph, on having taken care to see that in avoiding Scylla he has not fallen into Chary bdis. He has tried to strike a commendable balance between various ramifications of the two extreme positions. Verily, judicious restraint may generally be said to be the keynote of his entire writing.

Dr. Arora has wisely chosen for comparative study only a few important topics in Indian mythology, such as the creation of the world, the four ages, the great flood, births and deaths of mythical personalities, metamorphoses, and supernatural maidens. And one hardly fails to notice that Le has assiduously brought an impressive array of literature, primary and secondary, to bear upon his treatment of these topics. But what has struck me most agreeably in this book is that Dr. Arora has not indulged in any unwarranted theorisation. He has left the facts so meticulously brought forth by him to speak for themselves—of course throwing out, off and on, intelligent suggestions which would certainly serve as helpful signposts.

Altogether we have here a valuable source-book in the field of Hindu mythology, and I welcome it as holding out sure promise of greater things to come.

Erotic sculpture around places of worship of any society would require an explanation. Its unignorable presence outside Hindu temples when the religion itself has been known for its other-worldly ideals and spiritual aspirations has both astonished and puzzled visitors. The Brahmin panda (guide) accompanying the inquisitive tourist at sites like Bhubaneswar or Konarak as well as the scholarly Hindu steeped in a less free later day morality find the anomaly embarrassing and proffer idealistic explanations in which sexual expression is interpreted either as a symbolic representation of Eternal Bliss or as the overt manifestation of kama, the third purusartha. Such explanations fail to account for themes like orgies and bestiality and the vast upsurge in sexual depiction in sculpture between AD 900 and 1400. What is the rationale of erotic depictions in religious art? What is their thematic content? Is erotic sculpture confined to temples of particular religious cults? Could esoteric Tantrikas display their own secret practices? This inquiry is concerned as much with the question of religious sanction as with the sociological factors generating the permissive atmosphere and mood for the depiction of sexual motifs. The proliferation of feudal chiefs and rulers, their interest in temple-building, the feudalization of temple institution and its growing wealth and power, the degeneration of devadasi (sacred, prostitution) system are found to be some of the medieval developments responsible for the profuse display of eroticism. Eroticism in sculpture is compared with the dominant themes in the other modes of art prevalent during the period. The present study examines practically the entire corpus of the empirical material on erotic motives and action over the period from the third century BC to the fifteenth century AD. In the course of the examination the author brings to light a wide variety of themes in the erotic sculpture of India. The illustrations represent prominently the lesser known sites like Bavka, Modhera, Bagali, etc., along with familiar sites like Khajuraho, Konarak and Bhubaneswar and are not merely illustrative; they throw up questions for examination to begin with, and serve also as supporting evidence for the argument advanced. In the present edition the bibliography is upto dated and new illustrations added with notes. Printed Pages: 287 with 157 b/w illustrations and 26 line drawings.

About the Author

Dr. Devangana Desai was born in 1937 in Bombay. An academic training both in Philosophy and Sociology roused in her a keen interest in the Sociology of Art and Religion. Her Ph.D. dissertation submitted in 1970 to the University of Bombay forms the basis of the present book. She has to her credit a large number of papers on Ancient Indian Terracottas, Temple Art and Architecture, and Ramayana scenes in Indian sculpture. Dr. Desai was awarded the Silver Medal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay (1977) for her contribution to oriental research. She received the Homi Bhabha Fellowship in 1978-1980 and worked on "Narration in Indian Sculpture (upto AD 1300)". She has participated in several national and international seminars of Art History including the "Discourses on Siva" Symposium convened by the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1981, and the "Destiny of Man" Seminar held during the Festival of India in Britain in 1982.

She was awarded the prestigious Dadabhai Naoroji Memorial Prize in 1983 for her research in Indian Art. Dr. Desai is the Editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay and Chairman of the Museum Society of Bombay.

From the Jacket:

Margaret Stutley is the author, with her husband, of A Dictionary of Hinduism, an indispensable reference work based on many years of research. In the present volume she draws on her study of religious cults and folklore to provide an introduction to the ancient magic and folklore of India. But the main source is the Atharvaveda, compiled about 1400 BC and containing much earlier lore, some of it originating in Sumeria, Babylonia, Iran and ancient Egypt.

The book demonstrates that there are many parallels between Indian and European folklore, since both Europeans and the north western Indian peoples are of Caucasian origin. The wearing of lucky charms, talismans and amulets is common to both , as well as the belief in lucky and unlucky days, birds and animals, the fear of curses and of the evil eye - still common in Africa, the Mediterranean countries and the East.Another common element is the fear of demonic possession, which has increased so much in the West that in 1972 the Bishop of Exeter set up a commission to devise the ritual for the exorcizing of evil spirits from people and haunted places.

Margaret Stutley points out that magical elements exist in every religion since it is their presence that makes a system of beliefs into a religion. Thus magic and cult are essentially the same, all rites being basically magical. She also shows that in all societies different stages of belief exist side by side, and range from naïve magico-religious beliefs to the most advanced spiritual and philosophical views.

About the Author:

Margaret Stutley is a private scholar who, with her husband James, retired over twenty years ago to North Wales. A Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, she became interested in Buddhism and Hinduism in her teens and has since, with her husband, formed a library of Indological works, including most of the important works of modern scholarship upon which Ancient Indian Magic and Folklore and A Dictionary of Hinduism are based.

About the Book:

Kathakali literally meaning "story-dance" is the pantomimic dance-drama of Malabar comparable to a great extent with the European ballet in the West with an additional advantage of having rich gestural code necessary to convey the theatrical pleasures to the spectator.

This book is a detailed analysis of the dance and art of Kathakali, its origin, technique, the costume, make-up and the gestural code, with a separate chapter on "Evolution of Kerala's Art" by Krishna Chaitanya.

This edition has been completely revised and enlarged and contains new set of illustrations to further facilitate understanding and appreciation of the Art.

Foreword

IN making a critical study of the art and dance of Kathakali, the ancient dance-drama of Kerala, Gayanacharya Avinash C. Pandey a has produced this comprehensive book of an unparalleled nature. I feel no less pleasure than great honour that I am invi- ted to express a few words on it.

So far none has dealt with this subject in any language so elaborately and so systematically as this young authority on Indian music and dancing has. He has presented the entire technical subtlety in a lucid style making it to rank as the first book on Kathakali literature, dance and art. Its authenticity as the first today and the first tomorrow shall ever guide all dancers, students, commentators and contemporaries of all ages.

The book deals with the origin of Kathakali, its art and dance, rasas and costume and make-up, and gestural code; and makes wide study on the origin of Mudras-their permutation and combi- nation. The interesting chapter on its mime-make-up and cos- tume-vividly reinforces the intricacy and artistical development which this kala gained within a short evolutionary period of a little over 200 years.

The writer has taken great pains in tracing out those neglected pieces of this art which were hitherto unknown and unmined. While dealing with hand poses in use in Kathakali, Gayanacharya has tabulated the connotation of groups of ideas which each mudra represents. It will help considerably all dancers to remember various expressions express able by them.

Kathakali is "an interpretative dance-drama to the accompani- ment of music." The highly specialised form of pantomimic representation makes this art to depict the actual life of our gods and people.

While tracing the origin of Kathakali, the author has made an interesting survey of those human factors which can contribute in the evolution of dance. Guided by regional effects, habit, custom, and tradition, Gayanacharya believes that Kathakali has taken its birth to connote "poetry in their (dancers) figures." The wide appeal of sentiments and emotions helps the Kathakali actor to depict an object or a thought in alively and realistic colour. The author has been successful in giving the basis and importance of the use of various colours in Kathakali make-ups. The unique feature of the book lies in the discussion and analysis of "Kathakali Dance Exercises" and the" Talas used in Kathakali" I ts practical utility has been enriched and enhanced by these.

The work presents a scholarly exposition of every art of Kathakali and is an invaluable companion with everyone interested in matters Kathakali. It is the first authoritative work in my opinion.

Introduction

LIFE in itself is a composition of arts, peculiar to its own measures.

There is in every living creature an instinct to make one or the other movement of the body which a dancer calls "gesture". Gesticulating, he recalls to memory the sacred life of the great Hindu avatars (incarnations) and the people. To him, dancing lies at the root of all processes towards bhakti (worship and devotion) and attainment of salvation. He visualises creation of the universe as a result of the ecstatic dance of Brahma, the Creator. He ascribes every kriya (action) of God to a creative dance in which man forms the minutest dancing atom. Every human action, as that of an animal, has a direct command of the soul and that action is termed dainik nrtya (every-day dance). The existence of the supreme power of the abstract life, or, of God, in every kriya of the living being in a latent form helps in developing the various dynamic forces of the human nature, and the awakening of these forces leads man to "dance".

Nrtya is the outcome of five kriyas of God, viz., srsti, or, Avirbhava (Universe or creation), Isthiti (Preservation or Protection), Samhara (Destruction), Tirobhava (Veiling, Embodiment, Illusion or Giving Rest) and Anugraha (Release or Salvation). These subjective and objective actions, in turn, are the different forms of Brahma, Visnu, Rudra, Mahesvara and Sadasiva. "In the night of Brahma, Nature is inert, and cannot dance till Siva wills it; He rises from His rapture and dancing sends through matter pulsing waves of awakening sound, and lo! matter also dances appearing as a glory round about Him."

Siva, the greatest of all our deities, is depicted in the cosmic pose of a dancer who perpetually stands for an image of reality and truth, the keys to the complex and complicated tissues of human life and lives in general, which form an independent theory of Nature, not simply satisfactory and adaptable to a single clique, race, or nation, nor acceptable or worthy of consideration to the philosopher, thinker, and worshipper of one century only, but universal in its appeal to the votary, the worshipper, the mediator, the philosopher, the thinker, the lover, the gametic and the artist of all ages and all countries.

The four significant actions of Lord Siva connote that the universe is created, protection is granted, release is offered and destruction is undertaken, all at the will of God : The drum stands for creation, fire for destruction, protection proceeds from the hand of hope, the foot held aloft gives release.

Of all the arts, the art of dancing first expresses itself in human person. Music, acting, poetry form a single compartment of human personification, while sculpture, painting and all other arts of design proceed in another stream. There is no primary art beyond these two arts, and their origin is much earlier than man himself-and dancing came first. It may be that earlier to human existence, dancing and architecture were the result of the same impulse. Edmund Selous suggests that the nest of birds is the chief early form of building and the creation of nest may have first arisen out of their ecstatic sexual dance."

All forms of dances have their histrionic background of evolution. Topographic conditions, climate, language, deport- ment and mise en scene of folk dances indigenous to a nation and the physical built of the people are the main guiding conditions for the suggestion of a particular type of dancing. The striking example is of the dance-forms prevalent in the plains of the Indus, the Ganges, and the Brahmaputra rivers, Rajasthan, Tanjore and Kerala. There is considerable difference between the artistic representation of one form of Bharat Nritya (miscalled "Kathak") dancing in the Gangetic and the Indus plains and the other in Rajputana; between Manipuri dance of Bengal and of Assam; between Sadir dance of Tanjore and Dassiattam of Tamilnad ; between Bharat Natyam and Kathakali between Garba, the folk- dance of Gujerat and Rasa Lila, the folk-dance of Uttar Pradesh, etc.

Nrtya, Gita and Vadhya are the three essential factors of our Sangita. Dancing (Nartana) has three off-shoots, viz., Natya, which essentially represents a theatrical performance; Nrtt, which conveys rhythmic movement of the body without alluding abhinaya or bhava and, therefore, largely drawing its art from the footwork; and, Nrtya, meaning rhythmic movement of the body anent some bhava stipulated in a piece of abhinaya, thus alluding some story. The joyous strokes of the feet of children or the rise and fall or the philosophers' thoughts, all are governed by the same law of rhythm. If this law of rhythm, lying at the root of all Indian dancing, is overlooked, one would fail to understand the supreme manifestation of physical life-life not only in the external space of human action, but also in the internal space of self-realisation, The significance of dancing lies, in its truest form, in a single and an intimate, concrete appeal of a general rhythm-that general rhythm which does not merely mark life, but the universe in its wide sense; and if one is still persistent to consider it a narrow suggestion, it is the sum total of all cosmic influences which reach and affect human life. It need surprise none that rhythm, ever tending to be moulded into a time, should mark all the physical and spiritual manifestations of life.

Dancing is the supreme expression of religion and love alike- of religion from the earliest time of human existence and of love from the age much anterior to the birth of man! Tracing the history of the origins of dancing in the human person, it is seen intimately entwined with the human behaviour in respect of the tradition of war, labour, entertainment, education, whereas some of the wisest philosophers and the ancient civilisations have con- sidered the dance as "the pattern in accordance with which the moral life of men must be woven.

Ganesa commands universal respect among the indigenous religious schools and sects of the Hindus, Jainas and Buddhists. He is a god who is unique in many ways--his peculiar physiognomy, his double character, as a vighnakarta (creator of obstacles) and as a vighnaharta (remover of obstacles). He is worshipped first to ensure success of all religious and secular functions and enterprieses. GAnesa is also the god of dance and music. The cult of Ganesa spread to various countries of Asia.

The rise of Ganesa to pre-eminence in the orthodox Hindu pantheon, as one of the panca devatas, is truly remarkable. it is an ancient version of mundane legend: from Log Cabin to White House.

There have been many studies of this god in recent years; this one is the most comprehensive, fully documented in original sources, textual and artistic, and profusely illustrated. It traces the origin and development of pauranika Ganesa, from pre-pauranika Vinayaka, a vighnakarta, into pauranika Ganesa, a vighnaharta analyses his distinctive features and studies his representation in art both in India and in the other countries of Asia. It seeks to unravel the enigma of a non-Vedic, non-epic and a non-Aryan god coming to occupy a place of honour in Hindu pantheon. The techniques adopted by the followers of Ganesa to promote his cult and status and the enduring results achieved make a fascinating study in 'PR' work.

About the Author:

Y. Krishnan (born 1922) M.A., LL.B is a scholar in Indology- Indian History, Religion, Philosophy and Art. He has published over 150 research papers on these topics in Journals of standing in India and abroad. These also cover the partition of India.

He had a long and distinguished record of service under the Government of India-in the Railways, Indian Administrative Service and the Audit & Accounts Departments from where he retired as Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General of India in 1980. He was a member of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission from December 1988 to January 1995.

He has also published three books: Audit in India's Democracy; The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development; The Doctrine of Karma: Its Origin and Development in Brahmanical, Buddhist and Jaina Traditions. At Present he is doing a book on India's partition.

About the Book

In all religions of the world which maintain sacrificial rituals and in which the portion offered to Gods is given to fire, that portion is normally offered raw except in Vedic India, where its previous cooking is necessary. The reasons for such a treatment forms the subject matter of this book.

The author, through an exhaustive examination of Vedic, Brahmanic and Srauta Sutric texts, traces the beginning and development of the idea of cooking as transforming energy, from early Vedic hymns to the classical and fully complete sacrifices of the later Brahmanic times.

The work is divided into two major parts: The first, comprising four chapters, follows the emergence and development of the first intuition the rishis had of their use of fire as God of energy; the second part, consisting of the remaining four chapters takes into account four emblematic rituals where heat is especially prominent, discussing, how the presence of heat has worked in shaping those rituals and the spirituality that has arisen from them. An introduction has cast the problem in its human, temporal and geographical conditions, while a conclusion has brought the entire matter to its heavenly accomplishment.

About the Author:

Born in Roma (Italia), Uma Marina Vesci received her education in Roma itself, graduating in Ancient History and Archaeology with a thesis on: " the use of Musical Instruments in the religious Life of Ancient Greece". Further, she specialized in History of Religions with a thesis on: "God, Man and Salvation in the Spiritual change in the VI century B.C. from China to Greece". At the end of 1963 she won a scholarship to India where she continued her studies centered on Hinduism and especially on Vedic texts. Since then she has continuously lived in India to the present with support from various scholarships and fellowships in B.H.U. (Varanasi), Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Simla, at center of Advanced study in Philosophy, Visva Bharati(Shantiniketan), and in the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre in Delhi and Varanasi. In this last capacity she has taught comparative religions for a short while in Patiala at the Dept. of Religious Studies. Dr. Vesci has contributed many articles on Indological subjects to numerous international journals and has lectured widely.

The book surveys the structure of Indian sculpture in its relevant aspects. The underlying and essential qualities are viewed in their permanency throughout the special conditions that the single monuments imply. Their outward connections, geographical and chronological, are seen to resolve themselves into ethical problems and those of the artistic process itself.

While stylistical investigations are the basis of this book, Indian sculpture is dealt with as conditioned by the Indian craftsman. His consciousness makes him known to himself as a part of nature and his work is the form of this 'naturalism'. Its degree and aspects vary according to the levels of his consciousness.