Course

Module 1: Foundations of Indian Art and Aesthetics

Foundations of Indian art – aesthetics and philosophical foundations; inter-disciplinarity of Indian arts; art as yoga (Kal?yoga); six limbs of Indian Painting (?a?a?ga); K?mas?tra of V?tsy?yana and the Sixty-Four Arts (Chatu??a??i Kal??); symbolism and iconography in Indian Art; Rasa theory

Module 2: Early and Classical Indian Art Traditions

Prehistoric and Proto-historic Art of India; Indus Valley Civilization; Birth of Art – episodes from the Vi??udharmottara Pur??a and Citralak?a?a; Introduction to the N??ya??stra of Bharatamuni: The Foundational Text

Module 3: Indian Sculpture and Painting

Indian sculptural art – forms, materials and narratives; Indian painting traditions- from cave paintings (Ajanta, Bagh) to Pahari, Mughal, Rajput Schools to Thanka paintings and regional folk traditions (Mithila, Gond, Warli, Kalamkari, Pattachitra, Kalighat, etc.)

Module 4: Contemporary Discourses in Art

Modern Indian aestheticians – Rabindranath Tagore, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Govind Chandra Pandey, Kanti Chandra Pandey, Kapila Vatsyayan; introduction to western art philosophies, principles of modern and contemporary art

Course Objectives

•   To introduce students to the philosophical and aesthetic foundations of Indian art and its inter-disciplinary nature.
• To provide students with historical insights into the emergence of art in ancient India and its connection to texts, rituals and performance.
• To familiarize students with the diverse sculptural and painting traditions of India and their role in shaping regional and cultural identities.
•  To develop an appreciation for modern and contemporary aesthetic discourses in Indian and Western art

Course Outcomes

After completing this course, students will be able to:

CO1 : Demonstrate an understanding of the core aesthetic concepts and philosophical frameworks that inform Indian art

CO2 : Identify key features and cultural significance of prehistoric, proto-historic, and early classical Indian art

CO3 : Analyse the formal, material and narrative aspects of Indian sculpture and painting traditions, ranging from ancient cave murals to classical and vernacular regional forms, recognizing their contextual, stylistic and symbolic dimensions.

CO4 : Compare and critique key ideas of modern Indian aestheticians and western art philosophers and articulate how contemporary and cross-cultural discourses influence aesthetic and design sensibilities of the present.

Evaluation Pattern

Reading Material

1. Ananda Coomaraswamy, The Dance of Siva, Gyan Publishing House (2023)
2. Arindam Chakrabarti, The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art, Bloomsbury Academic (Bloomsbury Publishing PLC), 2016
3. Krishnamoorthy, Some Thoughts on Indian Aesthetics and Literary Criticism (Special lectures, University of Mysore), University of Mysore, 1968
4. Susan L. Huntington (and John C. Huntington), The Art of Ancient India: Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Weatherhill, 1985
5. Harvard Arnason and Elizabeth C. Mansfield, History of Modern Art, Seventh Edition, Pearson, 2013