The Art of India

Many of the arts of India reveal the complex nature of the culture, a culture that includes rites of passage, fairs and festivals, performance, art and craft, all drawing from ancient myths, legends, and beliefs. Traditional Indian households celebrate every stage of life, and creativity abounds in many avenues of expression. It is the purpose of this paper to provide a general overview of the art, dance and music of India with special attention to the relationship of the arts to the Indian culture itself.

Vast religious, sociological, and cultural rivers have met and mingled in India--the food-gatherers, who claim to be descendants of Shiva; the nomadic tribes, who probably originated the Krishna legend; and the agricultural societies with their craft technologies, myths, rites, and rituals (Aditi 26). Both the classical, margi, and the vernacular, deshi, coexist within this rich heritage, and the artisan guilds have been integral to these segments of society. The artisan guilds were male-oriented, but in the countrysides, the women, the poets, and the shamans weave the multidimensional Indian culture in dance, song, and icon.

Much of Indian art revolves around the cycles of life. Wedding ceremonies last for several days and include elaborate floor paintings made of ground white rice powder and henna paintings of intricate designs on the hands of the bride and the groom (Aditi 65). The occasion of the wedding includes many exchanges of gifts between

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an idealized beauty of the young Indian women (Harle 417). Indian architecture is closely related to the place of the art within its religious context. More notable Islamic mosques have built build in India than perhaps in all of the rest of the Muslim world (Harle 421). The dome is the supreme Indian achievement in religious architecture, although much of the fascination with mosques and temples lies in the enormous variety of the facades, both in design and ornamentation. Indian mosques are characterized, also, by an infinite variety of the minars, the tall towers from which the calls to prayer are made (Harle 421). Other magnificent buildings were created as mausoleums for important sultans, and some of these tombs are elegantly situated in vast formal gardens. The famous Taj Mahall at Agra was built by Shah Jahan for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahall. It is indisputably the greatest building of his reign and of the whole Mughal period, combining most of the elements of architectural style for this time period--the dome, high arches, and minarets (Harle 443). Those in India who chose the creative avenue of music for their profession embark upon a highly disciplined lifestyle. They chose a guru or guide as their teacher,

Category: Arts - T