Abacus
In architecture, a wide slab at the top of a load-bearing column, formin...
Abhinavagupta
Abhinavagupta (c. tenth–eleventh century) was an ascetic, philosopher an...
Abhinaya
According to the Natyashastra, it may be understood as a combination of ...
Abhiniskramana Sutra
A treatise on the life of the Buddha, it retells, among other episodes, ...
Abhishekam
The ritual anointing or bathing of an idol with offerings such as milk, ...
Abstract Expressionism
An art movement that developed in New York in the 1940s and led to the f...
Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak
An official in Akbar's court, Abu'l Fazl (b. 1551; d. 1602) was a close ...
Academic Realism
A style of painting that was influenced by European academies of art fro...
Achutyadeva
Achyutadeva (b. n.d.; d. 1542 CE) was a ruler of the Vijayanagara empire...
Action Painting
A style of abstraction where paintings are produced through vigorous and...
Adimurti
Also known as Para Vasudeva, it is a manifestation of the Hindu deity Vi...
Adipurana
A Sanskrit poem on the life of Rishabnath, the first Tirthankara of Jain...
After-Cast
The process of making a cast using a mould taken from a finished sculptu...
Agamas
A collection of Hindu literary and scriptural texts that establish syste...
Agamic Texts
Meaning “tradition” or “received knowledge” in Sanskrit, the term refers...
Agastya Teertha
A manmade lake in the vicinity of the Badami Cave Temples, it constructe...
Agni
The god of fire in the Vedic pantheon and one of the five elements of In...
Ahilyabai Holkar
Ahilyabai Holkar (b. 1767; d. 1795) was a Maratha queen and known for he...
Ahmadnagar
A city in present day Maharashtra founded in 1494 and named after its fo...
Airavata
Meaning 'belonging to Iravati' or 'produced from water', Airavata is a c...
Aiyanar Sasta
The guardian deity of several folk and Hindu traditions in south India. ...
Ajivika Sect
An early sramana (ascetic) sect led by Makkhali Gosala in the fifth cent...
Akshobhya
One of the five Tathagatas or the five transcendental Buddhas in Vajraya...
Alam
A religious processional object used by the Shi’a community on Ashura, t...
Albert H Longhurst
Albert H Longhurst (b. 1876; d. 1955) was a British archaeologist and ar...
Albumen Paper
Photographic printing paper that is coated with albumen, or egg white, a...
Alexander Cunningham
Alexander Cunningham (b. 1814; d. 1893) was a British army engineer and ...
Alizarin
An organic compound found in the roots of some madder plants and the cha...
All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society Award
The annual prize conferred by All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society alo...
Alpona
A ritual Bengali practice of making designs and paintings featuring reli...
Alum
A double salt of aluminium and potassium that is used as a mordant in te...
Alvar
A group of twelve Vaishnavite Tamil poet-saints who advocated for person...
Amar Chitra Katha
A series of Indian comics begun in 1967 by Anant Pai, based on religious...
Ambar Charkha
A version of the traditional charkha which uses multiple spindles as opp...
Amitabha
A principal figure in Pure Land Buddhism, he is one of the five Dhyani B...
Amli
Also known as amlikar, it is a needle-embroidered Kashmiri shawl dating ...
Amoghasiddhi
Within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism, Amoghasiddhi i...
Amuktamalyada
A sixteenth-century epic poem in Telugu, authored by the Vijayanagara ki...
Ananda Nilayam
The name of the vimana (the sanctum sanctorum and the tower over it) of ...
Anandatandava
Meaning “dance of bliss,” it is a cosmic dance performed by the Hindu de...
Anantasayana
A representation of the Hindu god Vishnu, which shows him reclining atop...
Andal
Andal, also known as Kotai, was a ninth-century Vaishnava poet-saint act...
Andhaka
A malevolent asura king from the Hindu pantheon who fought a war with Sh...
Aniline Dye
A category of synthetic dyes made with a base material of coal-tar deriv...
Animism
It is a belief system that attributes a spiritual essence to plants, ani...
Anne Morrell
An author, textile artist and academic working with histories of textile...
Antarala
A small antechamber connecting the garbhagriha (inner sanctum) of the te...
Apasmara Purusha
Also known as Muyalaka or Muyalakan, he is a dwarf within Hindu mytholog...
Appar
A Shaivite poet-saint from seventh century Tamil Nadu. He was one of the...
Apsara
Celestial female beings in Buddhist and Hindu cosmology known for their ...
Apsidal
A term referring to the shape of an apse, an architectural element that ...
Archaeological Museum Mohenjo-Daro
A museum in Sindh, Pakistan, established in 1967, which has in its colle...
Architectural Views
A genre of painting that focused predominantly on buildings and their in...
Architrave
A beam, window or door frame that rises above the stamba or column to pr...
Ardhamandapa
A half-open pillared hall in Hindu temples. The ardhamandapa serves as a...
Ardhanarishwara
A composite form of the Hindu god Shiva and his consort Parvati, depicte...
Ardhaparyanka
An asana or posture wherein the figure is depicted half-sitting on one f...
Ari
An embroidery tool resembling a crochet needle, it comprises an elongate...
Arjuna
A mythical warrior and one of the five Pandava princes in the Mahabharat...
Art & Heritage Foundation
A Kolkata-based non-profit organisation established in 2002 to promote a...
Art Alive Gallery
A Delhi-based gallery found in 2001 by Sunaina Anand. The gallery has sh...
Art Brut
An art movement that emerged after World War II in reaction to academic ...
Art Heritage Gallery
A Delhi-based art gallery established in 1977 by Ebrahim and Roshen Alka...
Art Informel
Coined by French art critic and curator Michel Tapie in 1952, the term s...
Art Nouveau
A cultural movement in art, architecture and applied and decorative arts...
Arts Network Asia (ANA)
Founded in 1999 by Ong Keng Sen, it is an independent organisation compr...
Arun Khopkar
Arun Khopkar (b. 1945) is a Mumbai-based filmmaker and scholar who has m...
Aruna
The charioteer of Surya, the sun god in Hindu mythology. In iconographic...
Asaf Jahi Dynasty
A dynasty that ruled the kingdom of Hyderabad from 1734 until its depos...
Ashtadikpalas
It is the collective term for a set of eight deities –– Kubera, Yama, In...
Asia Society, New York
A non-profit organisation established in 1956 by John D Rockefeller III ...
Asian/Pacific/American Institute
An institute established in 1996 at New York University to focus on rese...
Asiatic Society Of Bengal
An organisation in Kolkata, West Bengal, that holds a vast collection of...
Asiatic Society Of Bombay
An organisation in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that holds over three thousand a...
Assemblage
Art made by assembling disparate elements from everyday or found objects...
Asura
A clan of power-seeking figures in the Hindu pantheon. Often mistranslat...
Atisha
Atisa Dipankara Srijnana (b. 982; d. 1054) was a religious leader and ma...
Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb (b. 1618; d. 1707) was the sixth Mughal emperor of India. He s...
Axis Mundi
A Latin phrase meaning “world axis” and referring to the centre of the e...
Ayudhapurusha
The anthropomorphic representation of divine weapons in the Hindu panthe...
