About the Book:
A peculiar feature of the classical aesthetic thought in India has been the emphasis on the art experience as a special state of being, defined not so much by saundarya or beauty as by ananda or beatitude. Yet, saundarya has been a crucial ingredient in the aesthetic experience, prevalent not only in traditional art objects but also in articles of daily life. The discourse of saundarya, as distinct from its experience, was however conducted by or on behalf of the cultivated aesthete and was carried out within the ambit of classical thought. In contrast, modernity, understood not merely as modernisation but as a departure from traditional modes of thinking and behavior, has opened new vistas of human experience and creativity, some of them in total opposition to traditional aesthetic norms. But even as modernity opens new discourses and initiates fresh debates on saundarya, we are reminded that the experience of beauty is a primal need, not easily overcome or substituted by another Can a renewed quest for an understanding the perception and practice of saundarya in India ensure that it is not relegated to the status of an archaic relic or curio, but restored as one of the bindus or foci of our lives?
This volume, perhaps the first of its kind, is a unique contribution to the history of Indian aesthetic analysis. Its eminent contributors, ranging from aestheticians, linguistics, philosophers, historians, literary critics, art collectors, curators, performing artists, painters, and musicians of the highest calibre, are drawn from across three continents and diverse countries. Profusely illustrated, this visual and textual treat on the craft and culture of beauty in India, promises to be a collector's item.
Foreword
Preface: Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram
KARAN SINGH
Introduction: Evam Saundaryam
HARSHA V. DEHEJIA
ESSAYS
Saundarya and Indian Aesthetics
KAPIL KAPOOR
Some Images of Totality
RICHARD LANNOY
Transcending the Subjective-Objective Duality
in Indian Philosophy and Aesthetics
VIJAYA SUBRAMANI
Beauty as Anandashakti in Kashmir Shaivism
BETTINA BAUMER
Surasundaris: Celestial Beauties in Temple Art
DEVANGANA DESAI
Beyond the Body:
The Idea and Production of Saundarya
in Classical Indian Dancing
MANDAKRANTA BOSE
Panditraja Jagannatha's Aesthetic Theory:
A Modern Interpretation
INDRA NATH CHOUDHURI
Beauty in the Human Form in Sixteenth Century
Hindi Poetry and the Evolution of Ek Chashma Chehra
in Rajasthani Painting
ANAND KRISHNA
Aesthetic and Formal Imperatives in Indian Painting
J. P. LOSTY
Saundarya and Zibai:
Concepts of Beauty in Hindu and Islamic Textile Design
ROSEMARY CRILL
In the Flow of Modernity:
Some Reflections on Tirtha and Murti in Hindu India
MADHU KHANNA
ILLUSTRATIONS
NOTES
Saundarya and Saundarya Lahari
SWAMI VINAYA CHAITANYA
"Saundarya and Ananda are not different..."
SONAL MANSINGH
Saundarya and Sancharibhavas in Dance
SUNIL KOTHARI
The Unheard Melody
VIDYA RAO
Beauty as a Certain Stillness
ARPANA CAUR
A Collector's Eye for Beauty
JAGDISH MITTAL
Saundaryaheen Saundarya?
SHAILA PARIKH
Gandhi and Saundarya: Towards an Aesthetic Swaraj
SUNDHIR KUMAR
"The Very Embodiment of Beauty..."
A Dialogue with J. Prabhakar
RAMAN SRINIVASAN
ESSAYS
Aesthetics of Lakrachna
HAKU SHAH
Celebration of Life: Saundarya in Indian "Folk" Art
NARENDRA BOKHARE
Saundarya O Shringar:
Beauty and Love in Rabindra Sangeet
REBA SOM
The Last Sign? Aesthetics and Semantics
in Recent Art Theory
ANA AGUD
The Art of Despair: The Sense of the City
in Modern Bengali Poetry
SUDIPTA KAVIRAJ
Re-inventing the Idea of Beauty
GEETI SEN
Experience Parallel to Beauty:
Some Reflections on Atul Dodiya's Man with Chakki
RANJIT HOSKOTE
The Aesthetics of the Ordinary:
Evoking Narrative Wonder
Within the Linear Grammar of Modernity
RUKMINI BHAYA NAIR
The Artist and the Modern Public Sphere
RAJEEV BHARGAVA
Death in Aesthetic Experience
WAGISH SHUKLA
Death in Aesthetic Experience
WAGISH SHUKLA
Saundarya, Modernity and the Aesthetics of Duality
MAKARAND PARANJAPE
Notes on Contribution
About the Book:
A peculiar feature of the classical aesthetic thought in India has been the emphasis on the art experience as a special state of being, defined not so much by saundarya or beauty as by ananda or beatitude. Yet, saundarya has been a crucial ingredient in the aesthetic experience, prevalent not only in traditional art objects but also in articles of daily life. The discourse of saundarya, as distinct from its experience, was however conducted by or on behalf of the cultivated aesthete and was carried out within the ambit of classical thought. In contrast, modernity, understood not merely as modernisation but as a departure from traditional modes of thinking and behavior, has opened new vistas of human experience and creativity, some of them in total opposition to traditional aesthetic norms. But even as modernity opens new discourses and initiates fresh debates on saundarya, we are reminded that the experience of beauty is a primal need, not easily overcome or substituted by another Can a renewed quest for an understanding the perception and practice of saundarya in India ensure that it is not relegated to the status of an archaic relic or curio, but restored as one of the bindus or foci of our lives?
This volume, perhaps the first of its kind, is a unique contribution to the history of Indian aesthetic analysis. Its eminent contributors, ranging from aestheticians, linguistics, philosophers, historians, literary critics, art collectors, curators, performing artists, painters, and musicians of the highest calibre, are drawn from across three continents and diverse countries. Profusely illustrated, this visual and textual treat on the craft and culture of beauty in India, promises to be a collector's item.
Foreword
Preface: Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram
KARAN SINGH
Introduction: Evam Saundaryam
HARSHA V. DEHEJIA
ESSAYS
Saundarya and Indian Aesthetics
KAPIL KAPOOR
Some Images of Totality
RICHARD LANNOY
Transcending the Subjective-Objective Duality
in Indian Philosophy and Aesthetics
VIJAYA SUBRAMANI
Beauty as Anandashakti in Kashmir Shaivism
BETTINA BAUMER
Surasundaris: Celestial Beauties in Temple Art
DEVANGANA DESAI
Beyond the Body:
The Idea and Production of Saundarya
in Classical Indian Dancing
MANDAKRANTA BOSE
Panditraja Jagannatha's Aesthetic Theory:
A Modern Interpretation
INDRA NATH CHOUDHURI
Beauty in the Human Form in Sixteenth Century
Hindi Poetry and the Evolution of Ek Chashma Chehra
in Rajasthani Painting
ANAND KRISHNA
Aesthetic and Formal Imperatives in Indian Painting
J. P. LOSTY
Saundarya and Zibai:
Concepts of Beauty in Hindu and Islamic Textile Design
ROSEMARY CRILL
In the Flow of Modernity:
Some Reflections on Tirtha and Murti in Hindu India
MADHU KHANNA
ILLUSTRATIONS
NOTES
Saundarya and Saundarya Lahari
SWAMI VINAYA CHAITANYA
"Saundarya and Ananda are not different..."
SONAL MANSINGH
Saundarya and Sancharibhavas in Dance
SUNIL KOTHARI
The Unheard Melody
VIDYA RAO
Beauty as a Certain Stillness
ARPANA CAUR
A Collector's Eye for Beauty
JAGDISH MITTAL
Saundaryaheen Saundarya?
SHAILA PARIKH
Gandhi and Saundarya: Towards an Aesthetic Swaraj
SUNDHIR KUMAR
"The Very Embodiment of Beauty..."
A Dialogue with J. Prabhakar
RAMAN SRINIVASAN
ESSAYS
Aesthetics of Lakrachna
HAKU SHAH
Celebration of Life: Saundarya in Indian "Folk" Art
NARENDRA BOKHARE
Saundarya O Shringar:
Beauty and Love in Rabindra Sangeet
REBA SOM
The Last Sign? Aesthetics and Semantics
in Recent Art Theory
ANA AGUD
The Art of Despair: The Sense of the City
in Modern Bengali Poetry
SUDIPTA KAVIRAJ
Re-inventing the Idea of Beauty
GEETI SEN
Experience Parallel to Beauty:
Some Reflections on Atul Dodiya's Man with Chakki
RANJIT HOSKOTE
The Aesthetics of the Ordinary:
Evoking Narrative Wonder
Within the Linear Grammar of Modernity
RUKMINI BHAYA NAIR
The Artist and the Modern Public Sphere
RAJEEV BHARGAVA
Death in Aesthetic Experience
WAGISH SHUKLA
Death in Aesthetic Experience
WAGISH SHUKLA
Saundarya, Modernity and the Aesthetics of Duality
MAKARAND PARANJAPE
Notes on Contribution