Originary Concepts of Classical Indian Art Part I

Originary Concepts of Classical Indian Art Part I: Rupartha –Form and Content

A. Srinivas Rao

30^th May 2012

“Rupam rupam pratirupam bhavati” Rig Veda 6.47.18

“Every form is an image of an original form”.

Head of Buddha, 4th -5th CE Gandhara

Most writing on Indian art tends to gloss over the substantial conceptual basis to its aesthetic foundation, which though not systematic is yet insightful. However Indian aesthetic ideas often spill from literary to performing to plastic art forms and gives rise to what maybe considered synesthetic of a mixture of media and having what some have called an oneiric or dreamlike quality. It is a story that needs to be told with care as it is sometimes dismissed as less intellectually robust than “Western” art. Aesthetics takes as its subject matter beauty and is studied by non artists (as humorously suggested) and as the gag goes “Aesthetics is to artists what ornithology is to birds”. Aesthetics, the content of this subject in India takes its roots from grammar, dramaturgy and literature spilling over into sculpture, architecture and painting and finally into music and dance. Its axial conception is the spectator centric aesthetic experience also called “Rasa” whose translation is loosely “sapience”.  We shall in this essay explore the elements of “Form and Content” or “Rupa-artha”, and reserve the complex idea of “Rasa” for another essay.