Krishna Bandish Mala...
Krishna Bandish Mala
by: Harsha V. Dehejia , Vijay SharmaKrishna shringara has a unique place in khayal bandishes, where words and music, raga and tala make bandish come alive. The paintings of khayal bandishes (Bandishmala) make one feel reminiscent of the Ragamala paintings. It makes a sahridaya travel to the supreme realms of Krishna shringara, elating him to the experience of poetry, art and bhakti.
$32.00
ISBN: 9788124608555
Year Of Publication: 2016
Edition: 1st Edition
Pages : 167p.
Language : English
Binding : Hardcover
Publisher: D.K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.
Size: 23
Weight: 600
Krishna shringara is a perennial legacy from the dasham skandha of the Bhagavata Purana, where the romance of Krishna in terms of his lilas and kridas is presented, to the tracks of Jayadeva, Narsinh Mehta, Vallabhacharya, the ashtachhaap kavis of Haveli Sangeet, Chaitanya, Bengal Vaishnava tradition, and the glorious period of Ritikavya. All these poetic streams flow into the river of khayal tradition, which in turn has significantly influenced the growth of khayal bandishes.
Krishna shringara has a unique place in khayal bandishes, where words and music, raga and tala make the bandishes come alive. The paintings of khayal bandishes (Bandishmala) make one feel reminiscent of Ragamala paintings. Khayal bandish travelled orally across centuries from village to temple and palace to proscenium.
The paintings make a sahridaya travel to the supreme realms of Krishna shringara, which ends in shringara bhakti.


- Elements of Indian Art by: S.P. Gupta, Shashi Prabha Asthana, $40.00
The book is a study of the fundamental principles of ancient Indian art and architecture, dealing with essentials of Hindu thinking and practice of art like the Hindu view of Godhead, iconography and iconometry, and symbols and symbolism in Hindu art. Referring to major classical Indian literary works shedding light on art and architecture, it undertakes a survey of Indian art and temple architecture from the 3rd century bc through the medieval period, highlighting the directional changes that marked the history of art, specifically sculpture and painting. It elaborately views the various terms and concepts associated with the field of art and iconography like mudras, asanas, pithas, explaining the nature of Buddhist and Jain deities as well as those of Hindu sects like Saivism, Vaisnavism and Saktism. Pointing out the importance of studying Hindu temple architecture in order to fully appreciate Hindu art which was meant for propagation of dharma, it analyses the basic features of the temple architecture and its regional variants. Tracing the differences in conception and delineation of a Hindu temple, a Muslim mosque and a Christian church, the research focuses particularly on the principles of visualisation of symbols and signs in Hinduism and Christianity. It also reveals how the West has viewed Indian literature and art, exposing the inner contradictions of some European thinkers who while praising literary works of Kalidasa and others condemned the Hindu images. The work contains more than 200 illustrations, half-tone and line drawings, that make the discussion easy to comprehend for a range of readers — scholars, students as well as laymen
- Ramayana Culture by: Mandakranta Bose $32.00
These essays, originally presented at an international conference, are in the forefront of the modern response to an ancient work that has gained a new critical and social relevance in contemporary scholarship. Approaching the Ramayana from several angles in an attempt to understand its aesthetic and ideological meaning, they examine the epic through the perspectives of textual criticism, art, architecture and film. Thereby they address critical issues such as the seminal status of Valmiki, the underlying problem of canonicity itself, the importance of other — so-called derivative — Ramayanas, the implications of gender representation, and the cultural manipulation of social ideals relating to the position of women and the idealisation of love that achieves its highest value in marriage. Using the methods of rigorous textual and historical investigation, each essay seeks not only to uncover the layers of meaning in the complex structure of the epic in its varied forms but also to situate it critically in the cultures of South and Southeast Asia.
- Art, Aesthetics and Philosophy by: S.G. Kulkarni, Kavita Chauhan, $20.00
The savants of the twentieth century have excavated the past to discerningly reveal the present. Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi and Ananda Coomaraswamy, among others, interpreted Indian aesthetics, civilization, culture and philosophy unearthing the Indian wisdom against the wrong interpretations and teachings of the Western colonial scholars. This volume, a collection of papers presented at a national seminar on the Philosophy of Ananda Coomaraswamy held in February 2011 at the University of Hyderabad, approaches Coomaraswamys philosophy on Indian aesthetics, life and religion from different perspectives.
The volume brings forth different facets of Coomaraswamy: as a catalyst in spiritualizing Indian arts; his views on modernism and anti-modernism; his efforts in aestheticizing India; his polemics of decolonization through art criticism; his aesthetical philosophy; his perception and understanding on art, culture and Indianness; his metaphysics; and his philosophical approach to visuals and materials from the lens of an art historian. It sketches Coomaraswamys multifaceted persona, enunciating that the crux of modern Indian philosophy is one of vision, rather than building theories.
In a nutshell this book presents the varied reflections on Coomaraswamys personality as a philosopher, art historian, art curator and his strong positioning against the colonial teachings of Western art historians and philosophers on Indias art, civilization and culture, projecting an image of Indianness in every sphere. - Birds and Animals in Mughal Miniature Paintings by: Zaheda Khanam $54.00
The depiction of flora and fauna has been an intrinsic part of Indian painting traditions. The Mughals in their turn, in their fascinating paintings, used the bird and animal imagery to lend a special quality to their art of painting. This book, with over 70 illustrations, is a survey of the birds and animals used in Mughal paintings, especially during the reigns of Emperors Akbar and Jahangir. With historical details, it shows that the depiction of various kinds of birds and animals played a significant role in conformity with the context or the demands of the narratives. The artists painted both wild and domestic animals with equal competence. Outlining the differences in the paintings under the Mughal rulers themselves with regard to depiction of fauna, it notes that while Akbar was interested in historical, mythological or anecdotal events, Jahangir introduced album paintings and evinced interest in individual portrait studies of fauna. In all, it showcases the meticulous depiction of fauna in Mughal art and its persevering beauty. It mentions the names of a host of artists who executed the paintings and the many illustrated manuscripts mythological, historical and on popular fables that saw lavish use of paintings with faunal imagery. The book will interest historians especially those studying art history of the medieval period.
- Ardhanarisvara in Art and Literature by: Neeta Yadav $60.00
The scholarly work throws light on the artistic, aesthetic, literary and philosophical aspects of the Ardhanarishvara form of Shiva the form which is a divine expression of the amalgamation of the male and the female and is said to contain the whole world in it. Providing a conceptual and historical back-ground of the doctrines relating to Shiva and Shakti worship it involves an iconographical study of the Ardhanarishvara image, with the focus on its dress, ornaments, coiffure, posture and other features. With many visuals of the Ardhanarishvara images even the unpublished ones, it describes the images found in different parts of India and discusses the emergence of the deity relying on literary sources and theories. Explaining how the idea and actual representation of the unity of Shiva and Shakti came to acquire supreme importance with the growth of sects each worshipping the deity in its own form, Dr. Yadav points out that the Ardhanarishvara aspect is basically the output of the Tantra philosophy. Providing maps and line-drawings and a list of the places that have yielded Ardhanarishvara images, she makes an interesting and indepth analysis, based on extensive field-work, to come up with some brilliant and new explanations of the meaning and implications of the Ardhanarishvara.