|
|
Paintings
Sculptures
Dances
Theatre
Cinema
|
|
| |
|
The art treasures of India are among the greatest in the world. They include 4,000-year old statuettes of lifelike vitality, fine paintings, and many types of images of Buddha. They also include temples carved into solid rock, huge temples with elaborately sculptured towers, and graceful mosques, palaces and tombs, all ornamented with delicate decorative work.
Archaeologists have unearthed ruined cities from a period around 2000 B.C. known as the Harappan civilization. Objects found there and at other sites served, both, religious and practical purposes. After , this time, there is a break in the record of artistic objects. Very few objects from the period 1600-500B.C. have been found. But, from about 200 B.C., an unbroken sequence of art objects survives to give art,historians, some idea of the long rich tradition of Indian art. |
| Paintings |
| The roots of the Indian Painting can be traced back to the days of the Indus Valley civilization. Paintings on pottery reflect a keen sense of painting among the Indus valley people. The paintings of the Ajanta and Ellora caves exhibit the creative genius of the artists of that period. Enduring tough weather conditions, these paintings have, surprisingly, survived for such a long period of time. A better perspective to study the painting forms of the whole of the nation is to divide it into various heads such as the Paintings of North India, South India, East India, West India, Central and Deccan India and under some special captions such as the Rajasthani Paintings, Mughal Paintings and the Colonial and Modern Paintings. |
 |
 |
Sculpture first flourished in India in the 2000's B.C., during the Harappan period. Little sculpture survives from the period immediately after that. The beginning of traditional Indian sculpture can be dated to the 300's B.C. and to the establishment of empires that ruled most of south Asia. Much of India's sculpture was made for religious buildings. Before about A.D. 1200, the main religions were Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. Training in the techniques of sculpture was passed down within the family. The subheads under which the Sculpture section has been divided are Indus Valley; Buddhist and Jain; Hindu; Islamic, Colonial and Modern. |
| Dance Forms |
| Classical Indian dances are among the most graceful and beautiful in the world. They all make use of a complicated, visual language, consisting of hand gestures, body movements, and postures. The job of the artist is to take in emotions, such as amazement, anger, hatred, humour, or love, and communicate them to the audience. The major classical dance forms of India are Bharata Natyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Manipuri, Orissi and Kuchipudi. |
 |
 |
Indian theatre is one of the oldest in the world. The origin of Indian theatre can be linked with the tale that the fifth Veda 'Natya' originated as per the desire of Brahma to entertain Gods. Its exact origins are uncertain, but sometime between 200 B.C. and A.D. 200, the wise man Bharata wrote the Natyasastra, an essay which established traditions of dance, drama, makeup, costume, and acting. Explore the world of Indian theatre, its various stages of development and view some of its masterpieces. |
|
