The book traces the art of terracotta that flourished with remarkable richness from early historic thought the succeeding periods in India. The main focus is on votive terracotta, which includes portable icons and sculptured veneer on architectural monuments of Bengal in the late medieval period. The terracotta relief as adornment to sacred architecture is cosmic and its form and content is similar to the narrative scrolls and the figured weave of Baluchari silk of Bishnupur. The book also introduces to the style of terracotta temples that transform indigenous domestic Chala into mansions of god-kings and develops the theme of ‘Mansion for the Soul’ in terms of four important temples in Bishnupur. The iconography has wide range from Vaishnavite and Shaivite pantheon to episodes from the life of Krishna, where Buddha is part of the ten Avataras of Vishnu, as well as scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata. And the Indo-Islamic motifs interweave with historic scenes from life. In ancient India, the magical aspect of terracotta is perceived in its atavistic nature, which incorporates the five elements, earth, water, air, fire, and ether. The terracotta images are of profound nature and have significant role in fertility and funerary rituals. The image was perceived to be a medium, which could perform magic. It is quite evident that once the cult of the sensuous goddess co-existed with that of the Buddha. A new concept of ‘Interpretatio romana’ may also be observed in the internationalism, inter-culturalism and assimilations during the early Christian era. The images of the early Buddhist period express vital divergence that serve as important interpretive tool to the anthropologist and the art historian.
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Art of Terracotta: Cult and Cultural Synthesis in India
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Arputha Rani Sengupta
Arputha Rani Sengupta is Associate Professor in History of Art at the National Museum Institute, Deemed University in New Delhi. She has lectured widely and published extensively her writings on diverse aspects of art in journals and contributed to leading publications, including the IGNCA. Her book on Art of Terracotta focuses on Cult and Cultural Synthesis in India. She investigates it further in her forthcoming book on the Buddhist Jewellery. Sengupta was Assistant Professor in History of Fine Arts in Stella Maris College at Chennai and at Lasbrey Teachers' College at Imo State in Nigeria. She specializes in cross cultural currents and globalisation during the early Buddhist period in India. She is currently writing on the Symbols and Substitutes in the Early Buddhist Art of India under ICHR grant. She has coordinated several symposiums on art in NMI and is editor of God and King: Devaraja Cult. She has studied Art History in the University of Madras, Chennai, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata and University of Washington, Seattle. A versatile practicing artist, she has exhibited extensively and has received several awards for her paintings.
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Bibliographic information
Title
Art of Terracotta: Cult and Cultural Synthesis in India
Author
Edition
1st ed.
Publisher
ISBN
8173200521
Length
xxii+269p., Figures; Tables; Plates; Bibliography; 28cm.
Subjects
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