India as inspiration for the continent

Published : Dec 03, 2004 00:00 IST

Text and photographs: BENOY K. BEHLRediscovering Indian PaintingThe last of a five-part series.

SINCE time immemorial, India has been a great trading nation. By the beginning of the Christian era, there was considerable maritime trade between India and the rest of South and South-East Asia. This resulted in the spread of Indian culture, which was welcomed with open arms throughout the region.

In ancient times, the philosophies of Hinduism and Buddhism spread from India to practically every corner of Asia. As art was an integral part of life and religion, the concepts of Indian art spread far and wide, along with the philosophy. Ideals were laid down in the philosophies, for living in the world and seeking the truth beyond. These were conveyed and reiterated constantly through paintings and sculptures.

Deep cultural contacts between India and Sri Lanka began in the 3rd century B.C., when Emperor Asoka's daughter Sanghamitra took Buddhism to Sri Lanka. This was one of the great landmarks in the cultural history of Asia. In centuries to come, Sri Lanka became the main centre of the earliest form of Buddhism, known as Theravada Buddhism. In the meantime, in India, the philosophies of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism were developed and became popular.

The earliest paintings of Sri Lanka are found in a cave atop the massive Sigiriya rock. The 5th century paintings, in their graceful lines and deeply thoughtful expressions, carry forward the traditions of art born at Ajanta. It is wonderful to see the close similarity of these with the contemporaneous Ajanta paintings. It appears as if the same hands could have made them.

The painter's gentle touch shows u s that his eyes are filled with sympathy and compassion for humankind. The paintings come as a balm and through their lilting grace remind us that there is an end to the sorrow of the world. They carry forward the tradition of apsaras (celestial beings), who carry offerings of flowers for deities and venerable beings.

In the 12th century, the Chola empire included South India and parts of Sri Lanka. The great blossoming of painting seen in the Brihadeesvara temple at Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu is closely reflected in the marvellous paintings in Sri Lanka. The 12th century mural paintings at Polonnaruva portray the Buddhist Jataka tales. These present a marvellous confluence of the early gentle traditions that came from Ajanta and a new sense of grandeur that came into painting under the imperial Pallavas and Cholas. The styles and traditions of Indian art form a life of their own in Sri Lanka. It is a unique and beautiful blending of idioms, which makes this art distinctly Sri Lankan.

The Dambulla caves in Sri Lanka preserve and nurture the ancient tradition of making cherished paintings deep in the heart of mountains. The sanctity of the secluded interiors provides an atmosphere of peace, far from the clamour of the material world. These holy caves have paintings from early times to the 18th century. At Dambulla, glimpses are seen of the shared Theravada Buddhist traditions of the art of Sri Lanka and the countries of South-East Asia. The austere form of Theravada Buddhism considers art for the sake of beauty itself, to be a sensory pleasure and an indulgence. Therefore, Theravada art conveys the religious message in a simple and direct manner. The paintings are more two-dimensional and stylised.

Myanmar was a great crucible of Buddhist influences and art, which came to it over the centuries. At the end of the first millennium, Myanmar had a deep and direct relationship with the centre of Buddhist philosophy, Bodh Gaya in eastern India. In fact, in the 11th and 12th centuries, the kings of Myanmar made replicas of the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya at their own capital of Bagan.

Simultaneously, in the 11th century, King Aniruddha of Myanmar declared Theravada Buddhism to be the state religion. To proclaim his deep reverence, he made thousands of pagodas in Bagan. The interiors of the pagodas would once have been profusely painted. Remnants of paintings from the 11th to the 18th century survive in some of the temples.

At the beginning of the second millennium, Bagan was a sanctified place with great art whose inspiration came both from eastern India and from Sri Lanka. With the fall of Buddhist centres in the plains of India, scholars and artists from India took refuge in the deeply religious sanctuary of Myanmar. Here a great confluence was created of the exquisite and refined art of the Pala kingdom and the simple reverence of Theravada Buddhism. The structures of the pagodas and the styles of the paintings have similarities with both the temples and art of eastern India and of the Chola period in South India. Says Professor Khin Maung Nyut, Myanmarese art historian: "Artists from India settled here and began guilds, imparting their knowledge of painting to the local painters. We also have records of Myanmar Buddhist kings sending envoys to India, with monks and accompanying artists and artisans. They probably learnt about paintings during their visit to India". These are some of the finest and gentlest paintings of the entire Buddhist tradition. The themes are those of the life of the Buddha and the Jataka stories of his previous lives.

The paintings that survive in Bagan from the 16th century onwards show the transition to the styles of Theravada Buddhism. This art, which would develop later in Bagan, is stylised, with emphasis on linearity. The two-dimensional forms do not have the shading and volume of earlier paintings, and yet have a unique beauty and grace. Repetition of forms and figures is used to ingrain the religious message deep into the minds of the viewers, leaving no scope for ambiguity.

In the later paintings of Myanmar, the style and conventions of painting are those that by then had become widespread in the Buddhist countries of South-East Asia. By this time, owing to foreign invasions, the vital inspiration of Buddhist and Hindu art from the plains of India had died out.

FROM early times, Thailand received Buddhist influences from Sri Lanka and Myanmar. These met Brahmanical traditions from neighbouring Cambodia and also from the culture brought by the sea trade with India.

The culture of Thailand developed as a marvellous synthesis of the Hindu and Buddhist influences coming from many sources. The religion followed by the Thai people is Buddhism, and one of the strongest cultural traditions is that of the Indian epic Ramayana. Interestingly, the Ramayana, or the Ramakien as it is known in Thailand, is not seen as a religious legend but as a great literary epic.

The Thai art historian Dr. Santi Lekhsukhum says: "Many things changed after the religious culture arrived in Thailand from India in the 7th century. The 7th century was a great time for this region of South-East Asia, not only for Thailand. Painting would have begun at the time when religions arrived from India."

Thailand has had a flourishing tradition of mural paintings on Buddhist themes and on the stories of the Ramayana. The great temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok represents the happy coexistence of Buddhist and Hindu traditions. The temple is dedicated to the Buddha and it has many walls that are elaborately painted with scenes from the Ramayana.

Thai murals are very stylised and closely related to the dance dramas of the land. The costumes, crowns and jewellery are typical of Thailand. The gentle expressions and graceful gestures are deeply rooted in the tradition of compassion, which is found everywhere in the best of Hindu and Buddhist art.

Ayuthaya was one of the great capitals in South-East Asia in the 14th century. The temples or vats in Ayuthaya have some of the earliest remnants of Thai mural paintings. After the period of Ayuthaya, fine mural paintings of the slightly later style are found at the Buddhaisawan Chapel in Bangkok. These paintings depict many scenes from the life of the Buddha and a wide panorama of ethereal beings and earthly worshippers.

The paintings follow distinct styles in the depiction of different classes of figures. Divine, mythological and royal persons are depicted in the `classic' style with its graceful and sinuous lines. Their expressions are gentle and compassionate and they are garbed in traditional Thai finery. In Thai mural paintings, the artist seems to have the most freedom in depicting common earthly beings. We see common men with expressions that border on caricature and in postures that are often humorous.

NEPAL is geographically very close to the cultural centres of the plains of north India. There is a great heritage of philosophy and art that Nepal has shared with India over the centuries. With the disruption of Buddhist centres in India, monks and scholars took refuge in Nepal. They carried with them their greatest treasures, their valued manuscripts and paintings. Thereafter Nepal became the principal land that continued the Buddhist art heritage of the plains of eastern India.

From across the Trans Himalayan plateau, Nepal also received the concepts of Kashmir Shaivism. The valley of Kathmandu was like a great crucible where the philosophical ideas from eastern India met those from Kashmir. Vajrayana Buddhism and Hinduism in Nepal appear similar and there are no definite lines that separate them. Paintings were made in large numbers for both Hindu and Buddhist faiths.

Through the medieval period, Nepal was influenced by styles of painting of the powerful Mughal and Rajput courts in India. Bakhtapur, in the Kathmandu Valley, was one of the great capitals of Nepal. The best-preserved mural paintings in the Kathmandu Valley are to be found here, in the 17th century palace of Bhupatindra Malla.

The clothes worn by the figures in these paintings remind us of the deep influence of the Mughal court in Nepal. There are royal portraits here, as well as paintings of the theme of Krishna. The narrative form of the paintings closely follows medieval Indian traditions. In fact, in style and in theme the Hindu paintings of Nepal are very similar to early Rajasthani paintings.

Bhutan is a small mountain kingdom that has maintained its seclusion and the privacy of its Tantric Buddhism. The paintings have deep roots in the ancient traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism. The Bhutanese artists take us into a world of vivid imagination. They show us the spectacle of life, in the physical world and transformed by the magical imagination of Guru Padmasambhava, who is believed to have established Buddhism in Bhutan in the 8th century. The deities and the spirits seem immersed in the Cham dance created by the Guru.

Bhutan has preserved the sanctity of the art of religious painting. It is the one land where paintings are till today made with deep reverence and meditative care. Artists from Bhutan continue the tradition of painting across the Himalayas. It is their work that is seen on the walls of the magnificent Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh.

The deep Tantric philosophy and art, which was created in the plains of eastern India and in Kashmir, flourishes as a living tradition till today. In the high mountains of the Himalayas, the art of religious painting is preserved away from the clamour of the fast-changing world. Indeed, the mountainous crucible has been a paradise, which has assimilated and preserved the finest traditions of Vajrayana Buddhist painting.

The island of Bali in Indonesia takes its name from a powerful character in the Ramayana. Since early times, Hindu and Buddhist influences came to the islands of Indonesia. When Islam gained prominence in Java and Sumatra after the 15th century, Bali became the main centre of Hindu and Buddhist culture and art.

Kalinga, on the coast of Orissa, had a flourishing trade with Bali. Even today, on the coast of Orissa, `Bali-Yatra' commemorates the journey to Bali in days gone by. We see in the traditions of the paintings of Bali very close reflections of the palm leaf manuscript illustrations of Orissa.

The paintings of Bali are stylised, with sharply angular faces and animated gestures. These are also deeply reminiscent of the earlier Indian tradition seen in the Jain manuscript paintings of western India.

Buddhism and its art were accepted whole-heartedly all over Central Asia and China. From here the message of the Buddha travelled further to Korea and Japan. In the far east of Asia, Japan is the most distant land that received the influences of Buddhism and Hinduism, Sanskrit scriptures and the art of the Indian subcontinent.

Says Reverend Gyomyo Nakamura of Nipponzan Myohoji: "We Japanese Buddhist people respect ancient Indian civilisation because Buddhism arrived in Japan in A.D. 500 and the Japanese people were able to develop ancient Japanese civilisation through Buddhism, so they adopted Indian painting, Indian structures and Indian philosophies."

Reverend Horyuki of the Todai-ji (Temple) in Nara says: " Japanese Buddhist paintings are influenced by India. When you go to the Horyuji, you find many wall paintings that have been influenced by India, especially Ajanta. Shinto gods are invisible, while the Buddhist god is visible. That is why, when Buddhism came to Japan, it had a very big influence on artists. Maybe artists were very happy to get Buddhism in Japan because they could make sculptures and paintings because now their God was visible."

The philosophy of aesthetics that developed in India has been nurtured and perfected in Japan. More than any other culture in the world, the culture of Japan is deeply sensitive to the beauty of everything that is around us. The effect of peace and the harmonious feeling that this appreciation of beauty brings to people are best understood in Japan. The temples and the paintings of Japan are the finest remaining blossoms of a great art and philosophy that once spanned the continent of Asia.

The art of Asia has been informed by a deep vision of the eternal harmony of the world. It is this vision of life that shaped the grace and forms of the paintings of Ajanta. The art travelled with its philosophy of compassion across Asia to create a vision that shaped the culture of a whole continent.

Benoy K. Behl is an art-historian, filmmaker and photographer. His photographic exhibitions on Buddhist Sites and Art Heritage and on the Churches of Goa are now touring many countries around the world.

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