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The Body Adorned: Sacred and Profane in Indian Art
The sensuous human form-elegant and eye-catching-is the dominant feature of premodern Indian art. From the powerful god Shiva, greatest of all yogis and most beautiful of all beings, to stone dancers twisting along temple walls, the body in Indian art is always richly adorned. "Alankara" (ornament) protects the body and makes it complete and attractive; to be unornamented is to invite misfortune.
In "The Body Adorned," Vidya Dehejia, who has dedicated her career to the study of Indian art, draws on the literature of court poets, the hymns of saints and "acharyas," and verses from inscriptions to illuminate premodern India's unique treatment of the sculpted and painted form. She focuses on the coexistence of sacred and sensuous images within the common boundaries of Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu "sacred spaces," redefining terms like "sacred" and "secular" in relation to Indian architecture. She also considers the paradox of passionate poetry, in which saints praised the sheer bodily beauty of the divine form, and nonsacred Rajput painted manuscripts, which freely inserted gods into the earthly realm of the courts.
By juxtaposing visual and literary sources, Dehejia demonstrates the harmony between the sacred and the profane in classical Indian culture. Her synthesis of art, literature, and cultural materials not only generates an all-inclusive picture of the period but also revolutionizes our understanding of the cultural ethos of premodern India.
In "The Body Adorned," Vidya Dehejia, who has dedicated her career to the study of Indian art, draws on the literature of court poets, the hymns of saints and "acharyas," and verses from inscriptions to illuminate premodern India's unique treatment of the sculpted and painted form. She focuses on the coexistence of sacred and sensuous images within the common boundaries of Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu "sacred spaces," redefining terms like "sacred" and "secular" in relation to Indian architecture. She also considers the paradox of passionate poetry, in which saints praised the sheer bodily beauty of the divine form, and nonsacred Rajput painted manuscripts, which freely inserted gods into the earthly realm of the courts.
By juxtaposing visual and literary sources, Dehejia demonstrates the harmony between the sacred and the profane in classical Indian culture. Her synthesis of art, literature, and cultural materials not only generates an all-inclusive picture of the period but also revolutionizes our understanding of the cultural ethos of premodern India.
- GenresArtHistoryArt History
219 pages, Hardcover
First published October 6, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 5, 2020
The book is most impressive for the diversity of its sources. In this there are inscriptions, sculptures and paintings of course, and also poetry, epic prose and everything artistic. Although a book on the history of art, it is truly a philosophic tract or rather a ex post facto meditation on the great Indian spirit. What did India believe about the human body and celebration of beauty? Where would ornamentation be placed within the cosmology of religion and spiritual thinking? Dehejia takes educated and more crucially, creative stabs at answering these questions. She has a few ingenious answers. The book must be read for that. But to read the book is to kill it. Instead, you should see it and taste it. Take darshan of it just as you would the fantastic Chola bronzes, Rajput paintings, and Bharhut sculptures.
August 20, 2020
Just read through certain paras along with the illustrations. Not cover to cover. I loved how it unravelled a few paintings discovering female sensuality across ages. Will go back to reading from here and there again. I feel like drawing or creating artwork inspired by it would honour the research.
February 27, 2017
Excellent book. First time I've ever heard mention the fact that Buddhist stupas and monasteries were covered in porn. God Bless them.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews