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Curated groups of articles from across our Encyclopedia
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The Ties That Bind: Indian Wedding Textiles
Weddings in India revolve around diverse religious and folk ceremonies, with rituals and offerings to ward off evil a...
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Stories from Signatures: Discovering Hoysala Master Sculptors
Having built 1,500 temples within a span of 180 years (c. 1100–1280), the Hoysalas are among the greatest builders of...
Includes 5 articles
Jakanachari
Dasoja
Ruvari Mallithamma
Chavana
Madanikas at Chennakeshava Temple, Belur
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Through the Eye of the Needle: Embroidery and Appliqué in the Subcontinent
Ornamentation has been a key aspect in the long history of craftsmanship in the Indian subcontinent — and this is per...
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Customs of Combat: Martial Art Traditions of India
Traditional Indian martial arts combine physical skill with mental discipline and spiritual thought. Varying in style...
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Across Borders: Art Objects that Reveal Cultural Exchange
South Asia’s trade connections by land and sea have shaped the region’s art and culture in varied and subtle ways sin...
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Jewels for Royalty: Gems and Ornaments from the Indian Subcontinent
Central to traditional costumes and ceremonies in South Asia, elaborate jewellery has a long history in India. Orname...
Indian mask-making traditions are typically practised by specific non-dominant castes or Adivasi communities. They are worn as part of a costume in a range of traditional performances from martial arts like Chhau to narrative dance forms like Kathakali. In most dance or theatre forms, masks are used as a way of maintaining iconographical consistency regardless of the performer, while in others, such as Cham and Bhagavata Mela Natakam, the mask is also a way to channel a supernatural entity. In a few traditions, the mask is also considered a sacred object, such as the Bhuta mask or the Narasimha mask used in Prahlad Nataka performances.
Most Indian masks are made of perishable materials like paper pulp or wood, and as a result, surviving historical examples are rare and much more recent than the performances in which they are used. In some cases, such as Kathakali, the mask is actually a thick and vivid layer of make-up that effectively replaces the performer’s face. Exceptions to this perishability include bronze Bhuta masks, examples of which date back to the eighteenth century.
Mask-making, like many Adivasi and folk traditions, is typically inherited and is less frequently practised today due to insufficient commercial incentives.
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Part of the costuming of Theyyam performers in Kerala, Theyyam masks combine face painting and masks to represent deities during performances. Once the performer’s face and body are painted in preparation for the performance, they wear the masks and…
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Also known as mukha (face), Bhaona masks are primarily made of bamboo and wood and used in the Sattriya performative tradition of Bhaona in Assam. Representing different characters from the performative repertoire, the masks are intrinsic to the larger…
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Large, colourful masks of clay and wood, chhau masks are used for chhau performances in the states of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. There are three major styles of chhau: Mayurbhanj, Seraikela, and Purulia. Each has a differing…
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Worn by practitioners of the cham dance in Bhutan, Nepal and India, cham masks are symbolic and ritualistic objects in Vajrayana Buddhism. These masks are believed to embody wrathful, protective deities and inspire fear and terror in the…
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Colourful masks used in open-air performances in the coastal parts of Karnataka and northern Kerala, bayalata masks generally cover the wearer’s entire face and can be used with makeup and elaborate headgear. They feature in all forms of…
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Painted facial makeup and masks, therukoothu masks are used for therukoothu performances. The makeup for therukoothu performers is related to traditions of icon production, sacred mask making and face painting in the state. Each character's makeup…
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Painted masks made of wood or papier mache, Prahlad Natak masks are used for Prahlad Natak performances in Odisha. The performative repertoire borrows from classical as well as folk sources. Though there are female roles in…
Two closely linked embroidery traditions historically practiced by the women of undivided Punjab since the late medieval period, both phulkari and bagh embroidery involve the arrangement of floral, geometric and sometimes narrative imagery on a red base fabric, also known as khaddar. Literally meaning “flower work,” phulkari is recognised by its neat, regular patterns that leave large portions of the khaddar visible. With the bagh embroidery — bagh means garden — the khaddar is almost completely covered, exposed only as thin lines in the design. Hence the name, which likens the embroidered garment to a field of flowers. Due to the intricate work involved, baghs are almost never made today.
The origins of the crafts are debated, with some scholars suggesting that it was introduced to India through Central Asia by the Jat community in the late medieval period, while others state that the craft is a variation of Persian embroidery designs.
Traditionally, odhinis and chaddars were embroidered and these were often given as gifts at major events in women’s lives, particularly marriage. The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw the beginning of the commercial application of the craft on other garments, such as coats, for women living in the cities. Following the Partition, phulkari and bagh embroidery went into a decline in India and Pakistan through the 1950s, but has since been partially revived and commercialised through efforts by government and corporate entities.
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A type of bagh embroidered on a red base cloth with rectangular cells, each containing a different geometric motif in threads of various colours, the bawan bagh has between forty-two and forty-eight cells placed in the main field…
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A textile tradition practised in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan as well as in Haryana, bagh embroidery is ritually important and used to decorate textiles such as chaddars and odhnis, which are also referred to as…
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A type of bagh characterised by a large, decorated triangle along its longer sides, ghunghat baghs are worn by brides as a ghunghat or veil during wedding ceremonies. The bagh is worn in such a way that a…
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A type of phulkari typically donated to temples and gurudwaras, darshan dwar phulkari has a red base fabric embroidered with threads of various colours, most often yellow. The name of the textile translates to “the gateway (dwar) for…
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A reversible phulkari that features prominently in wedding rituals, a chope is a large red chaddar (or wrap) embroidered with yellow and gold thread. The chope’s design is composed of geometric forms, mainly triangles and lattice formations, with…
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A type of phulkari made on a neela khaddar, or base cloth, dyed with indigo, the nilak phulkari is characterised by red and yellow embroidery. A small amount of iron is sometimes added to the indigo to generate…
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Featuring rich bagh embroidery, vari da bagh is a type of chaddar or shawl used in Punjabi wedding ceremonies, its name translating literally to ‘garden of the wedding trousseau’. This bagh from north India has a main field…
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A type of phulkari with an unbleached white or cream base fabric as opposed to the red khaddar typically used in other phulkaris, thirma phulkaris are embroidered with floral or geometric motifs. Phulkaris with all-over embroidery can also…
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A type of phulkari embellished with sheeshe (small, dull pieces of glass) that are stitched in patterns across the fabric, the shishedar phulkari acts as a nazarbuti for the wearer. While nazarbutis in other phulkaris are typically presented…
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A type of phulkari worn by Punjabi brides during their wedding ceremonies, the suber phulkari is an embroidered odhani that is used as a veil by a Hindu or Sikh bride as she takes the ritual pheras, or…
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A type of phulkari that depicts human and animal forms, often in a narrative format, the sainchi phulkari derives its name from the Punjabi word sainchi, meaning “authentic,” as the embroidered stories are either real events or didactic…
Mudras are a set of hand gestures that serve as symbols in Buddhist art and iconography, representing the Buddha’s various roles and states of mind. Their earliest instances are seen in sculpture from Gandhara in the first century CE, and they appear to have been codified by the third century CE.
The fingers of the hand are thought to represent five levels of consciousness needed to attain Buddhahood, therefore various gestural configurations are seen as syntheses of these factors. Mudras also represent the dominant themes in particular episodes of the Buddha’s life, making the gestures useful as narrative and pedagogical devices for viewers familiar with the symbolism. They are typically shown being performed by figures of religious authority such as the Buddha and bodhisattvas.
Of the large number of such gestures, the five primary mudras are the abhaya mudra (the most common), the dharmachakra mudra, the bhumisparsha mudra, the varada mudra and the dhyana mudra. They are also associated, respectively, with the five celestial Buddha-aspects known as the Tathagata or Dhyani Buddhas, and accordingly form part of their iconography.
Mudras are also found in Hindu and Jain iconography, albeit to a lesser extent and only after being established in Buddhism. Classical dance forms, particularly those in India that have emerged in association with religion, also feature a repertoire of mudras.
Learn more about the common mudras through these articles.
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One of the five common mudras or sacred gestures in Buddhist iconography and practice, the bhumisparsha or ‘earth touching’ mudra represents the moment of prince Siddhartha’s attainment of Buddhahood or enlightenment. It symbolises his invocation of the earth-goddess…
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A common mudra or sacred gesture in Buddhist and Hindu iconography and practice, the anjali mudra denotes reverence and devotion, and is also used as a salutation gesture. It is made by bringing the hands together in front…
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One of the five common mudras or sacred gestures in Buddhist iconography and practice, the abhaya or ‘fearlessness’ mudra represents protection, reassurance and pacification; it is believed to have been used by the Buddha to calm a rampaging…
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One of the five common mudras or sacred gestures in Buddhist iconography and practice, the dhyana or ‘meditation’ mudra denotes a state of concentration, representing the prince Siddhartha’s final meditation before enlightenment as the Buddha. Though developed as…
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One of five common mudras or sacred gestures in Buddhist iconography and practice, the dharmachakra or ‘wheel of law’ mudra represents the Buddha’s first sermon at Sarnath. The teachings of this sermon are considered to have set the…
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One of the five common mudras or sacred gestures in Buddhist iconography and practice, the varada or ‘boon-granting’ mudra represents generosity and compassion and is also called the dana or ‘charity’ mudra. In both sitting and standing positions,…
Folk painting traditions in India are distinct from murals and illustrated manuscripts because they are intended for a mass audience and are often moved from place to place by performers who use these paintings as narrative aids.
In many such painting traditions including Phad, Cheriyal and Manjusha, the painting and performance of the narrator is a joint effort and is undertaken by artisans from non-dominant caste communities. The content of the paintings varies from tradition to tradition but typically has a strong regional character, whether it is entirely devoted to the deified folk heroes of Phad paintings, or the regional versions of the Puranas illustrated in Cheriyal painting. In the case of traditions like Patua, illustrations are tailored to the myths and stories of the communities that make up each town or village that the performers visit.
At times, but not always, the performances are attended by audiences that belong to Adivasi and non-dominant caste groups. Such arrangements are a major component in regional networks among marginalised groups, in addition to barter and trade textiles, produce and handicraft items.
In painting traditions like Patachitra and Phad, as well as related practices like mask-making, the objects themselves have sacred value and are treated as portable shrines.
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The tradition of iconographic painting practised in West Bengal and Odisha on scrolls made out of cloth, patachitra tradition is among the many art forms to emerge from the Jagannath Temple, Puri. Initially, patachitra was called…
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A form of traditional cloth-painting made for the worship of matas, or goddesses, mata ni pachedi is associated with western India’s nomadic Vaghri community, which has traditionally lived along the banks of the Sabarmati river in…
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A tradition of watercolour painting that originated in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Kalighat painting was practised by artisans from the Patua community between the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth century. The name derives from the city’s Kalighat temple, around…
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A narrative painting and performance tradition, Cheriyal scroll painting has been practised in the town of Cheriyal in Siddipet district, Telangana since the seventeenth century. Cheriyal scroll paintings are made by artists known as Nakashis, who belong to…
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Practised primarily in Bhagalpur, Bihar, Manjusha painting includes narrative scrolls, murals as well as painted temple-shaped boxes or pots called manjusha, from which the tradition derives its name. The painted boxes, along with the narrative scrolls, are of…
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A form of scroll painting from the Mewar region of Rajasthan, Phad painting chronicles the stories of local folk heroes and deities (or bhomiya), such as Ramdevji from the Meghwal and Regar castes, Devnarayanji or Devji from the…
The Indian subcontinent is home to several traditional tabletop games, including some that have come to be known by other names today, such as Snakes and Ladders (originally known as Moksha Patam) and Ludo (Pachisi). Games and game ideas moved to and from India along trade routes: Ganjifa was brought to India by the Mughals, Naqsh was a confluence of Ganjifa and card games played by Portuguese sailors, and Pallanguzhi arrived through trade with eastern Africa, where its ancestor mancala was invented. Games like Moksha Patam, Carrom and Pachisi travelled to Europe, UK and USA through colonial agents.
Indian board games are typically cross and circle games with randomisers, played by two to four players. The players’ status was reflected in the choice of game or the type of board, with emperors like Akbar playing a life-sized version of Chaupar. At one time considered talismans and even a form of currency, cowrie shells were used as an affordable randomiser or token for board games by most people, while wealthier classes used ivory dice.
The idea of luck in games, extrapolated as divine play, is a recurring theme in Indian mythology, notably in the Mahabharata and the Skanda Purana. Most Indian tabletop games contain underlying moral commentary and heavy symbolism. Among variations of Ganjifa, the images on the cards and the suit divisions are indicative of the social and religious context from which they emerged.
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Also known as moksha patam, gyan chaupar is a board game originally played in medieval India and Nepal. The board in gyan chaupar is traditionally made of cloth or paper, and features a series of squares,…
A sculpture or building made by cutting a single piece of rock into the desired shape is called a monolith. Monolithic architecture may be considered a subset of rock-cut architecture; it is carved internally and externally, while still attached to the surrounding landscape. Monolithic sculpture, however, may be separated from its original location and moved elsewhere, prime examples of which are the Lion Capital at Sarnath, the Gomateshvara statue at Shravanabelagola, Karnataka and the Ugra Narasimha statue at Hampi.
The decision to carve a living rock is widely assumed to have been based, at least partially, on convenience as evenly sized blocks did not have to be quarried and transported to the construction site. Another reason is spiritual; living rock architecture is seen to possess a connection to nature. The earliest example is the caves in the Barabar hills where Buddhist ascetics could take refuge from the weather since caves (even artificial ones) were considered an extension of the natural world as opposed to the material civilisation which the ascetics had disavowed. Such monolithic architecture has thus been reserved exclusively for ambitious religious buildings, such as the Pancha Rathas at Mahabalipuram and the Kailasanatha temple in Ellora.
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One of the earliest stone sculptures made under the patronage of the Mauryan king Ashoka, the lion capital at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, depicts four male Asiatic lions seated on a round abacus with their backs to…
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Also known as the Kailasa and Cave 16, the Kailasanatha temple at Ellora is the largest monolithic rock-cut monument in the world. At 32 metres high and 78 metres long, it is widely considered remarkable for its size,…
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Stone sculptures, often reliefs, that are carved from living rock and are typically associated with monolithic architecture. Monuments built by excavating and carving rock on site differ from structural buildings that are made with materials such…
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A complex of five monolithic, rock-cut, granite structures located in Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, the Pancha Rathas – meaning “five chariots” in Sanskrit – are attributed to the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, and were carved between…
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Two rock-cut shrines excavated during the seventh and eighth centuries CE, the Thirumalapuram cave shrines are located on a hillock in Thirumalapuram (also known as Varunachimalai) in the district of Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. The two shrines, which have…
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A large granite statue of Narasimha, the Ugra Narasimha statue was commissioned in 1528 CE by Krishnadevaraya, a ruler of the Tuluva Dynasty of Vijayanagara (present-day Hampi, Karnataka). At the time of its construction, and until…
India’s international trade history is extensive and it can be divided based on periods and routes. Trade primarily occurred in the Indian Ocean from the Bronze Age onwards and arguably still continues, connecting the Indian peninsula to Southeast Asia, the Persian Gulf ports, the Red Sea ports and the East African coast. The oldest known use of this route was between the Indus Valley cities and ports in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, as evidenced by stamp seals, textiles dyed with indigo and madder root, and agate beads.
Following the expansion of the overland and maritime silk routes, Indian trade with the Mediterranean reached its peak in the first century CE, leading to artefacts like an ivory yakshi statue — believed to be from either Bagram or Bharuch — finding its way to Pompeii. Mediaeval Indian Ocean trade, particularly in the case of dyed cotton textiles with kalamkari or block-printed designs, flourished until colonial encroachments in the eighteenth century. Thereafter, Indian goods became models for imitation and alteration during the British Raj, eventually being replaced through mechanisation. This effectively ended the major role that India played in global trade until the country’s economy was liberalised in 1991.
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Square or rectangular objects used for stamping that are typically made from steatite, featuring carvings on the front and a perforated boss on the back, stamp seals are one of the most extensively found cultural artifacts from the…
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A carved ivory statuette of a female figure, the Pompeii Lakshmi was recovered during archeological excavations at the site of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in 1938. The statuette, along with the city, had remained buried under…
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The process of stamping designs and patterns on base fabrics such as cotton or silk using dye-soaked, hand-carved wooden blocks. The technique is central to a variety of printing traditions across India in which blocks are used to…
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Recognisable by its stylised almond-like shape, the badaam motif bears visual similarities to the Persian boteh, or buta, and the kairi, or kalka motif. Its name is derived from the Persian term badaam, meaning “almond”. The badaam motif…
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Also known as moksha patam, gyan chaupar is a board game originally played in medieval India and Nepal. The board in gyan chaupar is traditionally made of cloth or paper, and features a series of squares,…
Early Indian photographers were usually hobbyists from wealthy families, as they had access to the equipment and leisure time needed to practice the craft. Typically male — with rare exceptions like Annapurna Dutta — these photographers imitated British and European practitioners in their methods and choice of subjects. This included monuments, landscapes and portraits. The latter included commissioned portraits of royalty or wealthy clients, and anthropological documentation of Indians from non-dominant caste or indigenous groups. This exchange between Western and Indian photographers occurred mainly through journals, exhibitions and amateur photographic societies in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta (now Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, respectively).
By the twentieth century, cameras were affordable (while still being a major investment) and portable, making it feasible to learn and apply photography as a skill. Photographers and photojournalists, such as Narayan Virkar, Homai Vyarawalla and Kulwant Roy, were more conscious of the socio-political applications of the camera than their nineteenth-century predecessors. They documented the freedom movement, took portraits of prominent leaders, and captured instances of colonial suppression. Others, like AL Syed, Mitter Bedi and Madan Mahatta, worked in homegrown industries that had embraced photography, such as fine art, cinema, advertising and tourism.
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An early-twentieth-century commercial painting studio, the Khubiram–Gopilal enterprise specialised in devotional pichhwai and popular manorath images in the pilgrimage town of Nathdwara in Rajasthan, India. They were among the few documented practitioners of the time in…
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A professional photographer and engineer from Lucknow, present-day Uttar Pradesh, Darogah Abbas Ali is best known for his photographic albums featuring cultural sites and architectural views of the city. Although his books are well documented and…
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Born in 1894 in undivided Bengal, Annapurna Dutta was one of the first professional female photographers at a time when photography was largely a male-dominated profession. She is known for her portraits of families in the domestic space,…
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A nineteenth-century photographer, doctor and academic, Narayan Daji was one of the few Indian members of the influential Photographic Society of Bombay and also one of its earliest council members (1857–61). A largely self-taught photographer, he achieved distinction…
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An Indian portrait photographer and photojournalist who was active in the early twentieth century, Narayan Vinayak Virkar is best known for documenting the aftermath of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre by General Dyer, and also for his portraits…
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Known for his photographic practice and pro-reform state policies, Sawai Ram Singh II was the Maharaja of Jaipur, reigning from 1851 until his death in 1880. Informally known as the “photographer prince of India,” he was…
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A pioneering Indian photojournalist photographing for much of the twentieth century, Kulwant Roy was behind some of the most iconic images of the Indian freedom movement and the post-Independence decades. Although he fell into obscurity towards…
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A pioneering Indian photographer in British India, Lala Deen Dayal, also known as Raja Deen Dayal, was known for his architectural and landscape views of India, as well as those of the lives of the colonial…
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One of India’s earliest commercial photographers who specialised in portraiture, Hurrychund Chintamon was based in Bombay (now Mumbai). He received his training at Elphinstone College in 1855 under WHS Crawford, a secretary of the Photographic Society of Bombay,…
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An official photographer for the British government and a widely recognised photojournalist from the twentieth century, Homai Vyarawalla is best known for her work documenting the final days of the British Raj and the emergence of…
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One of the chief painters and photographers associated with the Shrinathji Temple at Nathdwara, Rajasthan, Ghasiram Hardev Sharma was a significant figure in the Indian art practice of the nineteenth century. He worked under the head priest and…
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An Indian photojournalist whose work spans much of the twentieth century, Sunil Janah documented India through the waning decades of British colonialism as well as its post-Independence transformation. He is best known for his photographs of the Bengal…
Re-discovered art objects from pre-modern India provide valuable clues about the artistic styles, patronage, material use and religious iconography of their time and place. In rare instances, however, objects of clear importance but no context are found, sparking debate among historians about their place in South Asian history. When ensuing debates are sustained over time, they often elevate the artwork well beyond its actual historical significance.
Colonial-era historians have been accused of making ill-fitting comparisons between Indian art and movements in European history, such as Gothic architecture or Hellenistic sculpture. Early Indian art historians who received a Western education but whose values were shaped by the independence movement, may bring a nationalistic lens that emphasises the antiquity of an Indian art object while rejecting the foreign influences it may have received. The effect of colonisation — and by extension, Victorian morality — in India can be seen in writing that forefronts the spirituality of Indian art, while downplaying the importance of violent or erotic imagery. In some cases, over-extrapolation motivated by religious agendas may pose as fact, creating myths for later historians to dispel.
Practical factors that affect the process of reassembling this lost context include technological limitations for dating artefacts, lost or missing objects, undeciphered languages and so forth.
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The multi-volume photographic and print publication, The People of India: A Series of Photographic Illustrations, with Descriptive Letterpress, of The Races and Tribes of Hindustan, was an illustrative document of the various social and ethnic groups across the…
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Also known as Bhimbetka Shelter III F-19 and Bull Rock, this rock shelter derives its name from its depiction of a large, boar-like creature and is prominent among the hundreds of structures that comprise the Bhimbetka cave paintings…
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A life-sized Chunar stone statue of a female deity or guardian figure, possibly a yakshi, excavated from Didarganj, near present-day Patna, the Didarganj yakshi statue is widely celebrated for its intricacy, polished surface and overall symmetry,…
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A bronze statuette depicting a free-standing nude female, the Dancing Girl was excavated from the Indus Valley Civilisation site of Mohenjo-daro (in present-day Sindh, Pakistan). Dated to c. 2500 BCE of the Mature Harappan Phase and recovered in…
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A well-known stamp seal from the Indus Valley, the Pashupati seal is carved in steatite and gets its name from the Sanskrit word for “lord of all animals,” referring to the Hindu deity Shiva. One of…
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A carved ivory statuette of a female figure, the Pompeii Lakshmi was recovered during archeological excavations at the site of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in 1938. The statuette, along with the city, had remained buried under…
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Small ring-shaped stones, typically made from sandstone or steatite, with a carved upper surface that curves in towards a central void and an unmarked, but highly polished, underside. Ringstones of this type date back to the Maurya and…
Dating back to the tenth century, traditional Indian hand-knotted carpets and rugs rose to prominence in the sixteenth century under sustained Mughal patronage. Carpets were a major trade textile in the colonial period as well and were sometimes made by inmates in prisons.
Indian carpets are typically made of knotted wool with a woven cotton base. Most traditions use the asymmetrical Persian knot, for which a strand of yarn is tied around two adjacent warp threads, and fineness is determined by the kind and number of knots. Carpets typically feature recurring motifs, including palmettes, geometrical shapes, flowers, the tree of life and occasionally, animals. Some Indian carpets also contain representations of landscapes.
Since the sixteenth century, many Indian carpet varieties have borrowed design elements from Iran and Central Asia; but they were soon distinguished from these traditions by the relatively brighter colours of Indian dyes. Additionally, Tibetan rugs like khabdan have been produced by Tibetan artisans at centres in Himachal Pradesh and Assam since the 1950s.
Notable types of carpets and rugs from across India include gabba, kaleen, galeecha and dhurrie. Most historic carpet and rug manufacturing centres were located in the northern and western regions of the Indian subcontinent, while contemporary centres include some in the south and north-east India as well.
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Thick, flat woven rugs or carpets, dhurries in India are primarily used as floor coverings. They are characterised by weft-facing weaves in plain, striped, extra-weft (peddle) or tapestry (cut-shuttle) designs. The decorative woven patterns of a…
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Woven in Kerman, Southeast Persia (now Iran), Kerman carpets were introduced to India through trade routes with Iran and were widely used during the Mughal era. The most popular varieties of the carpets include those woven by the…
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A thick, flat-woven rug or carpet produced in Karnataka, India, that is primarily used as a floor covering, is known as Navalgund dhurrie. Navalgund or navedu in Kannada, refers to the peacock which frequently appears as a design…
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Made by the indigenous Mising community of Assam also known as the Mishing or the Miri, this gadu is a thick fluffy blanket used during the winter season. Traditionally woven on a mini handloom, the process of weaving…
The decorative aspect of an art object is crucial to most Indian crafts, and is central to traditional beliefs about beauty and, in some cases, divinity or magic. This is outlined in aesthetic theories such as alamkara and dhwani, and put into practice through texts such as the Shilpa Shastras and the Raga Vibodha. Ornamentation is seen as an enlivening layer on existing craft objects and is applied to clothing, jewellery worn by human figures in art, the adornment of buildings with sculptures, the mood of a melody, and the inventive use of metaphor in language.
In some cases, materials with real-world value are used to ornament an object, such as gold and silver zari thread applied to Banarasi brocades and gota work in Rajasthan, or expensive pigments like ultramarine blue (derived from lapis lazuli) and gold used in illustrated manuscripts. Valuable materials may also be simulated, as in the case of beetle-wing embroidery, or embellishments like coins and cowrie shells used in Banjara embroidery. Temporary murals, such as Mandana, Sohrai and Khovar painting, are often used to mark important events by decorating a home or other important spaces. Ornamentation can also serve a talismanic function, as in the case of Kolam floor painting from Tamil Nadu, even when this is done by ritually marring existing decorative elements with motifs like the Nazar Battu in phulkari embroidery.
For more details on ornamentation, peruse the articles below.
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Comprising a set of miniature paintings, a ragamala depicts the visualised forms of six ragas, or melodies, of Indian classical music as well as their derivatives or raginis. The term itself literally means “garland of ragas,”…
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Characterised by the use of rich gold and silver zari to weave motifs that appear embossed, the Benarasi brocade, named for the handloom weaving centre of Varanasi (formerly Benaras) from where it arose, has a distinctive…
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Used to embellish clothing as well as home furnishings with the iridescent wings, or elytra, of the Jewel beetle of the Buprestidae family, beetle wing embroidery has been historically used in India, Southeast and East Asia…
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A traditional mural painting used to decorate nuptial chambers, Khovar painting is practised by several indigenous and artisan communities residing in the Hazaribagh region of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand. Along with Sohrai painting, Khovar is one…
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Along with Khovar, Sohrai is one of two historical mural painting traditions of the Hazaribagh region of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand. Sohrai murals are created on the external walls of homes to mark the festival of…
A major result of the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991 was a surge in economic and cultural exchange between India and the world. Globalisation ushered in a sharp increase in the prices and sales of Indian art during the Indian Art Boom of the early 2000s. The Boom period established the careers of several emerging artists in India following the work of writers like Geeta Kapur, who laid out a historical backdrop of Indian Modernism. This sparked an academic interest in cultural production amidst the newly opened, fast-growing Indian economy, allowing for financial speculation on contemporary Indian art. Due to the rapid changes in the commercial infrastructure for Indian art, the Boom period is often criticised as the beginning of an era of opportunism, exclusivity and elitism in the Indian art community.
Artists of the time commented on changes in Indian consumption patterns and visual culture following liberalisation. They built on Modernist questions on how a nation is built, identified visible signs of India’s ascendant urban middle class, developed a vocabulary of symbols that emerged from uniquely Indian modernity and its tense relationship with the past, and exposed regional class and caste politics on large and small scales.
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A period in the early to late 2000s when the market value of Indian art rose exponentially, the Indian Art Boom was marked by the creation of an international market for Indian Modernists, the establishment of…
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A prominent modernist painter, Tyeb Mehta is best known for his renditions of totemic Indian forms, particularly the goddess and the bull. Throughout his career, Mehta’s critical success was matched by considerable commercial interest in his work, fetching…
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A Hungarian-Indian Modernist painter, Amrita Sher-Gil is considered the first professional woman artist in India. She is primarily known for her paintings of rural India and her self-portraits, which reflected her engagement with her identity and…
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With a practice that spans sculpture, painting, collage, video, photography and text, British-Indian artist Bharti Kher is known for her radical and heterogenous oeuvre, characterised by the recurring motif of the sperm-shaped bindi. Her art addresses…
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A contemporary artist working across mediums such as painting, sculpture, video, photography and telescopes, Jitish Kallat’s work reflects on our current times, the cosmos and historical recall. Kallat received his BFA in painting from the Sir JJ School…
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A multidisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles and Mumbai, Neha Choksi works with performance-based film and video art, incorporating sculpture, photography and paper-based art. Often taking the form of physical situations and interventions, her art seeks to create…
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A Mumbai-based multimedia and multi-format artist, Shilpa Gupta uses text, video and found objects along with drawings, interactive media installations and performance in her practice. The key concerns of her work are cultural identity, uncritical stereotypes,…
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A contemporary artist who works across mediums such as drawing, photography, sculpture and video Reena Saini Kallat was born in Delhi and received a BFA in painting from the Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai in…
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Founded in 1992 by Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula and Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Raqs Media Collective is a contemporary multimedia art practice based in Delhi. It explores themes of identity, location, power and history through a multidisciplinary practice that includes…
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Born in Khagaul, Bihar, Subodh Gupta is an artist who specialises in installation art using readymades to reflect on issues of migration, class and globalisation. Objects of mass domestic utility — from cowpats to metal pots and pans,…
Introduced to India in the mid-nineteenth century by British officers, photography was meant to aid in anthropological and administrative surveys of the population. The practice acquired a commercial dimension through the emergence of photography studios, which were not obliged to fulfil colonial directives and could become a site of aesthetic possibilities. The lone travelling photographer and his limited equipment were soon replaced by purpose-built studios strategically situated in major cities, to better cater to British clientele and Indian royal families. Some grew into franchises that spanned multiple locations across the subcontinent.
The earliest photography studios in India were run by Europeans, who weren’t affiliated with the East India Company, such as F Schranhofer and Augustus G Roussac in 1849 and 1850 respectively. Soon after, British studios like Bourne & Shepherd, established in 1863, attained significant commercial success. This system of photography was adopted and perfected by Indian studios like Deen Dayal & Sons, established in 1874. Later Indian photography firms were notable for their innovations with the medium as well as the space, such as Mahatta & Co which started its studio on a houseboat, and the combination of painting and photography practised by Khubiram Gopilal in Nathdwara.
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An early-twentieth-century commercial painting studio, the Khubiram–Gopilal enterprise specialised in devotional pichhwai and popular manorath images in the pilgrimage town of Nathdwara in Rajasthan, India. They were among the few documented practitioners of the time in…
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Established by photographer Lala Deen Dayal in the mid-1870s, Deen Dayal & Sons was one of the first Indian-owned photography studio franchises and was known for its architectural and topographical views, as well as portraits of royalty and…
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An early-twentieth-century commercial photographic studio in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Del Tufo & Co specialised in portraits. It was established c. 1900 by the Italian photographer Innocenzo del Tufo (1844–1912) and his second wife Inez Maria Gibello…
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Owned by the Mahatta family since its establishment in 1915, Mahatta & Co is a photography studio that has had branches in cities including Rawalpindi, Murree, Srinagar and New Delhi, where it is currently located. Apart from its…
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Founded in 1882 by PA Johnston and Theodore Julius Hoffmann, Johnston & Hoffmann was the first and largest studio based in Calcutta (now Kolkata), with later branches being opened in Darjeeling, Shimla and Rangoon, Burma (now…
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One of England’s largest photography printing studios and archives of the nineteenth century, Francis Frith & Co produced and published prints of scenic views and monuments across England, continental Europe and Asia. Established by businessman-photographer Francis Frith in…
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One of the first commercial photography studios in India, Bourne & Shepherd was established in 1863 in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, as a partnership between photographers Samuel Bourne and Charles Shepherd. The studio gained recognition for its architectural, landscape…
Photographic albums gained popularity soon after the camera arrived in mid-nineteenth-century India. Beginning in the 1850s, most photographic albums consisted of carte de visite portraits or card-sized photographs made in batches that fit onto a single plate, thus saving materials and money. Such albums were usually made by photographers such as Hurrychund Chintamon, on commissions from wealthy Indian families. A carte de visite album, unlike later ones that used full-sized photographs, was seen as an expensive but still affordable luxury that became an intergenerational heirloom. Scholars have stipulated that the photo album may have been particularly appealing due to its similarity to the muraqqa: albums of miniature paintings that were made for royal families or individuals in Islamic courts.
The assumption of truthfulness in a photograph was often undermined by the album format with photographers using staged scenes or techniques like combination printing. Ethnographic surveys by colonial officers took the form of photo books from the 1860s onwards, and are considered deeply problematic today. This medium was also used to stage exoticised or stereotypical scenes of Indian life meant to intrigue the viewer rather than reflect reality, such as Darogah Abbas Ali’s albums on the erstwhile court of Oudh at Lucknow.
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A photographic format for small albumen prints, the carte de visite — French for ‘visiting card’ — is typically associated with portraiture and consists of a 9 x 6 cm photographic print mounted on a slightly larger card…
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The multi-volume photographic and print publication, The People of India: A Series of Photographic Illustrations, with Descriptive Letterpress, of The Races and Tribes of Hindustan, was an illustrative document of the various social and ethnic groups across the…
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A photographic album made in 1874 in Calcutta (now Kolkata), The Beauties of Lucknow consists of twenty-four portraits of women employed in the court of the princely state of Awadh (or Oudh) in northern India. Although the album…
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A two-volume photographic album of albumen prints by William Johnson and William Henderson, it details the appearance, costumes and lifestyles of the ethnic groups that constituted the population of colonial Bombay (now Mumbai). The volumes, titled The…
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A book of photographs authored by Darogah Abbas Ali and published in 1874, The Lucknow Album was intended as an illustrated guide to the monuments and ruins of Lucknow, the erstwhile capital of the kingdom of Oudh. The…
Typically invoked to protect homes, temples or individuals, guardian spirits are a standard presence in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain iconography. These entities are most prominently represented when shown flanking doorways on buildings or in illustrated manuscripts and are depicted more subtly for individual protection in talismanic pendants and garments. Guardian spirits may sometimes be deities in their own right, such as the god Kubera who often assumes the role of a dvarapala, or doorway guardian, in Buddhist temples. While guardians such as Yakshas and Yakshis are depicted in a stately human form, others have animal or chimeric forms, such as Makaras or the many types of Yali. Fearsome entities such as these — also known as grotesques — are meant to represent the powerful natural forces controlled by the temple deity.
Outside organised religions, guardian spirits also occur in regional or Adivasi folklore, such as the Rakhondars of Goa, Jimmidaarin yaya worshipped by the Gond people and several others. Some deities are considered guardians by virtue of controlling diseases, such as the goddesses Sitala and Mariamma, who, it is believed, protect their devotees from smallpox.
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Mythological figures often represented visually in a pair, the yaksha and yakshi are found across early Buddhist, Jain and Hindu art. Yakshas are male figures, and yakshis are their female counterparts. They were believed to be…
The Bengal School, as it came to be known, was India’s earliest modern art movement. Revivalist and anti-colonial in its goals, the movement gained prominence after the Partition of Bengal in 1905 and grew out of an increasing disdain among the Indian art intelligentsia for Western aesthetic sensibilities and the exoticising gaze with which India’s natural, cultural and mythological heritage was often depicted. This included a rejection of Company paintings commissioned by British collectors and researchers, as well as the work of artists like Raja Ravi Varma who painted in a Western naturalist style.
The movement turned to Indian styles like miniature painting, Mysore painting, folk and indigenous art traditions, used local materials like tempura, and derived its subject matter from Indian history and mythology. Abanindranath Tagore and others also collaborated with Japanese artists in an attempt to formulate a pan-Asian aesthetic that stood in contrast to European Realism.
EB Havell and Abinandranath Tagore are considered the founders of the Bengal School. Other prominent artists in the movement include Abinandranath’s brothers Gaganendranath and Rabindranath Tagore, and from the following generation, Nandalal Bose, Kshitindranath Mukherjee, AR Chughtai, Asit Kumar Haldar and K Venkatappa. Significant institutions established by the movement include the Government College of Art, the Indian Society of Oriental Art and Visva-Bharati University in Shantiniketan.
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Belonging to the influential Tagore family of Jorasanko, Calcutta (now Kolkata), Abanindranath Tagore emerged as an artist and writer at a time of great political and cultural upheaval in nineteenth-century India. He is credited with the…
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One of the oldest art institutions in India, the Government College of Art and Craft is regarded as the birthplace of the *Bengal School, a nineteenth-century art movement that rejected European Modernism for a distinctly Indian approach to…
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An artist, actor, and stage and costume designer, Gaganendranath Tagore belonged to the distinguished Tagore family of Jorasanko in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Events in his personal life, the influence of his family members, his own taste…
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Founded at the turn of the twentieth century by EB Havell and Abanindranath Tagore, the Bengal School was a Modernist Indian art movement that came about in an atmosphere of nationalistic fervour in colonial India. During this time,…
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Founded in 1915 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) by the Tagore family, the Bichitra Club was a studio that explored various styles and methods of painting and printmaking. It derives its name from the Bengali word bichitra, meaning “variety,”…
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A pedagogue and one of the first Indian Modern artists, Nandalal Bose is known for his contributions to the visual identity of the Indian nationalist movement and newly-independent India. As the first principal of the pioneering…
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Originating with the Bengal School in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in the mid-nineteenth century, Revivalism is a key art movement of Indian Modernism, characterised by a focus on Indian cultural, political and artistic identity through the revival…
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Born into the influential Tagore family of Jorasanko in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1861, Rabindranath Tagore was a famed poet, philosopher, writer, dramatist, educationalist and artist in colonial India. An important literary figure in the twentieth…
CLUSTERS
Curated groups of articles from across our Encyclopedia
Indian mask-making traditions are typically practised by specific non-dominant castes or Adivasi communities. They are worn as part of a costume in a range of traditional performances from martial arts like Chhau to narrative dance forms like Kathakali. In most dance or theatre forms, masks are used as a way of maintaining iconographical consistency regardless of the performer, while in others, such as Cham and Bhagavata Mela Natakam, the mask is also a way to channel a supernatural entity. In a few traditions, the mask is also considered a sacred object, such as the Bhuta mask or the Narasimha mask used in Prahlad Nataka performances.
Most Indian masks are made of perishable materials like paper pulp or wood, and as a result, surviving historical examples are rare and much more recent than the performances in which they are used. In some cases, such as Kathakali, the mask is actually a thick and vivid layer of make-up that effectively replaces the performer’s face. Exceptions to this perishability include bronze Bhuta masks, examples of which date back to the eighteenth century.
Mask-making, like many Adivasi and folk traditions, is typically inherited and is less frequently practised today due to insufficient commercial incentives.
Part of the costuming of Theyyam performers in Kerala, Theyyam masks combine face painting and masks…
Large, colourful masks of clay and wood, chhau masks are used for chhau performances in…
Colourful masks used in open-air performances in the coastal parts of Karnataka and northern Kerala,…
Painted facial makeup and masks, therukoothu masks are used for therukoothu performances. The…
Two closely linked embroidery traditions historically practiced by the women of undivided Punjab since the late medieval period, both phulkari and bagh embroidery involve the arrangement of floral, geometric and sometimes narrative imagery on a red base fabric, also known as khaddar. Literally meaning “flower work,” phulkari is recognised by its neat, regular patterns that leave large portions of the khaddar visible. With the bagh embroidery — bagh means garden — the khaddar is almost completely covered, exposed only as thin lines in the design. Hence the name, which likens the embroidered garment to a field of flowers. Due to the intricate work involved, baghs are almost never made today.
The origins of the crafts are debated, with some scholars suggesting that it was introduced to India through Central Asia by the Jat community in the late medieval period, while others state that the craft is a variation of Persian embroidery designs.
Traditionally, odhinis and chaddars were embroidered and these were often given as gifts at major events in women’s lives, particularly marriage. The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw the beginning of the commercial application of the craft on other garments, such as coats, for women living in the cities. Following the Partition, phulkari and bagh embroidery went into a decline in India and Pakistan through the 1950s, but has since been partially revived and commercialised through efforts by government and corporate entities.
A textile tradition practised in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan as well as…
A type of bagh characterised by a large, decorated triangle along its longer sides, ghunghat…
A type of phulkari typically donated to temples and gurudwaras, darshan dwar phulkari has a…
A reversible phulkari that features prominently in wedding rituals, a chope is a large red…
A hereditary embroidery tradition, phulkari was historically practised by women of the Punjab region in…
A type of phulkari embellished with sheeshe (small, dull pieces of glass) that are stitched…
A type of phulkari worn by Punjabi brides during their wedding ceremonies, the suber phulkari…
A type of phulkari that depicts human and animal forms, often in a narrative format,…
Mudras are a set of hand gestures that serve as symbols in Buddhist art and iconography, representing the Buddha’s various roles and states of mind. Their earliest instances are seen in sculpture from Gandhara in the first century CE, and they appear to have been codified by the third century CE.
The fingers of the hand are thought to represent five levels of consciousness needed to attain Buddhahood, therefore various gestural configurations are seen as syntheses of these factors. Mudras also represent the dominant themes in particular episodes of the Buddha’s life, making the gestures useful as narrative and pedagogical devices for viewers familiar with the symbolism. They are typically shown being performed by figures of religious authority such as the Buddha and bodhisattvas.
Of the large number of such gestures, the five primary mudras are the abhaya mudra (the most common), the dharmachakra mudra, the bhumisparsha mudra, the varada mudra and the dhyana mudra. They are also associated, respectively, with the five celestial Buddha-aspects known as the Tathagata or Dhyani Buddhas, and accordingly form part of their iconography.
Mudras are also found in Hindu and Jain iconography, albeit to a lesser extent and only after being established in Buddhism. Classical dance forms, particularly those in India that have emerged in association with religion, also feature a repertoire of mudras.
Learn more about the common mudras through these articles.
One of the five common mudras or sacred gestures in Buddhist iconography and practice, the…
A common mudra or sacred gesture in Buddhist and Hindu iconography and practice, the anjali…
One of the five common mudras or sacred gestures in Buddhist iconography and practice, the…
One of the five common mudras or sacred gestures in Buddhist iconography and practice, the…
One of five common mudras or sacred gestures in Buddhist iconography and practice, the dharmachakra…
One of the five common mudras or sacred gestures in Buddhist iconography and practice, the…
Folk painting traditions in India are distinct from murals and illustrated manuscripts because they are intended for a mass audience and are often moved from place to place by performers who use these paintings as narrative aids.
In many such painting traditions including Phad, Cheriyal and Manjusha, the painting and performance of the narrator is a joint effort and is undertaken by artisans from non-dominant caste communities. The content of the paintings varies from tradition to tradition but typically has a strong regional character, whether it is entirely devoted to the deified folk heroes of Phad paintings, or the regional versions of the Puranas illustrated in Cheriyal painting. In the case of traditions like Patua, illustrations are tailored to the myths and stories of the communities that make up each town or village that the performers visit.
At times, but not always, the performances are attended by audiences that belong to Adivasi and non-dominant caste groups. Such arrangements are a major component in regional networks among marginalised groups, in addition to barter and trade textiles, produce and handicraft items.
In painting traditions like Patachitra and Phad, as well as related practices like mask-making, the objects themselves have sacred value and are treated as portable shrines.
A folk tradition of scroll-painting in Bengal, patua combines visual and oral storytelling narrated by…
A tradition of watercolour painting that originated in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Kalighat painting…
A narrative painting and performance tradition, Cheriyal scroll painting has been practised in the town…
Practised primarily in Bhagalpur, Bihar, Manjusha painting includes narrative scrolls, murals as well as painted…
A form of scroll painting from the Mewar region of Rajasthan, Phad painting chronicles the…
The Indian subcontinent is home to several traditional tabletop games, including some that have come to be known by other names today, such as Snakes and Ladders (originally known as Moksha Patam) and Ludo (Pachisi). Games and game ideas moved to and from India along trade routes: Ganjifa was brought to India by the Mughals, Naqsh was a confluence of Ganjifa and card games played by Portuguese sailors, and Pallanguzhi arrived through trade with eastern Africa, where its ancestor mancala was invented. Games like Moksha Patam, Carrom and Pachisi travelled to Europe, UK and USA through colonial agents.
Indian board games are typically cross and circle games with randomisers, played by two to four players. The players’ status was reflected in the choice of game or the type of board, with emperors like Akbar playing a life-sized version of Chaupar. At one time considered talismans and even a form of currency, cowrie shells were used as an affordable randomiser or token for board games by most people, while wealthier classes used ivory dice.
The idea of luck in games, extrapolated as divine play, is a recurring theme in Indian mythology, notably in the Mahabharata and the Skanda Purana. Most Indian tabletop games contain underlying moral commentary and heavy symbolism. Among variations of Ganjifa, the images on the cards and the suit divisions are indicative of the social and religious context from which they emerged.
