Name - Anusree Dey 

Course - B.A history

honours 

Subject - Indian Art and

Architecture 

Roll no.- 413

Semester - 4th 
Assignment topic- trace the historiographical shifts in the study of Indian art and
architecture.

Various aspects of Indian art and architecture

Indian art can be traced back to the prehistoric Paleolithic age. The subcontinent has been

home to many migrant populations and many religious creeds, each contributing to the

culturally rich art forms that make up Indian civilization. Therefore, a critical aspect of Indian

art has been its association with religion, which across time and space has induced and

encouraged different art forms. Another essential aspect of Indian art is the element of

diversity, which arises from diverse cultural traditions. The Indian subcontinent down the

ages has produced some of the greatest Jaina, Buddhist, and Mughal art forms that have

materialized various religious ideals. The great temples and other religious shrines of ancient

and early medieval India embody the abstract philosophical and religious ideas of these

diverse cultural traditions of the subcontinent. Many art historians agree that Indian artworks,

in a sense, are not just for their aesthetic appeal but also as a form of transcendent, absolute

reality. Shilpashastras greatly emphasize spirituality. All arts, whether they were performing

or architectural acts, were considered divine and were perceived to be interrelated.

 
According to Partha Mitter, Indian art made no distinction between fine art and decorative

arts according to the western context. This led to the great tradition of decorative utensils, for

example, pottery, in which the basic form could be ornamental or decorated. We have

different specializations as far as different kinds of pottery forms are considered, like

polished or unpolished pottery, color combinations, etc. Different ornamentation became an

essential aspect of Indian art and architecture. Another interesting feature is the aspect of

different meanings of realism all together. The goal of the Indian artists was to embody

philosophical and humanistic ideals in their creation, which leads the artist and the spectators

to experience the ultimate transcendent reality. Therefore, different meanings of realism

emerged from time to time. The nature of the Indian artist's work was transitory and elusive;

it was not the depiction of complete reality as it existed, and it was also a reality that was

embedded in the divine spirit, the universal truth.

The paradigm shift came from the practice of portraiture during Mughal painting, and the art

forms that evolved under that umbrella considered portraiture to be a very important aspect of

painting. The emphasis was more on collective consciousness, and this lack of collective

consciousness didn't mean there was a shortage of artists, but it seems that the artists

perceived the world in the process of creating higher and more sophisticated types of art

forms that conveyed a deeper meaning, which resulted in Indian artists being largely

unknown in ancient and medieval India because the artist was part of the collective

consciousness of people and there was minimal scope for individualism. that could be

recognized as far as art projection is concerned.

 
Various historiographical shifts

The historiography of Indian art and architecture stretches over a long period, and therefore

the perception and position of Indian art and architecture do not remain static. Parul Pandhya

Dhar, in her article "A History of Art History," explores this transition from the perspective

of westerners, Orientalist canon, and nationalist scholars. She also highlights the evolution of

style, material, historical contexts, patterns of patronage, representation of gender, study of

iconography, and changing perspective throughout the timeline.

. One of the foremost developments in the field of Indian history and culture was the

establishment of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784 by William Jones. It laid the

foundation for understanding India’s enriching past. However, there were several

shortcomings. First, for William Jones, architecture was merely "monuments of antiquity and

not specimens of art". Second, art and architecture at this period received attention merely

from regional aspects, as they enabled us to understand the geography, history, customs,

languages, literature, and folklore of a people. Industries like ‘handicraft’ or ‘manufacture’ of

Indian art only evoked British interest, primarily because they were of economic interest.

Some individual initiatives were also taken, like that of Colin Mackenzie, who translated the

inscriptions and manuscripts. He also prepared detailed maps of some southern Indian sites

and documented the Amravati Stupa. Even though several traditional Indian scholars played

an important role in unraveling India’s past, like Ram Raz and Rajendralala Mitra, their work

remained detached from the monument-centric approach to Indian art and architecture.

Descriptions of ancient and medieval Indian monuments had been part of the travelogues of

European travelers. Paintings by artists such as William Hodges and the Daniells had visual

representations of India’s culture and heritage. Picturesque views of Indian monuments were

one of the favorite subjects that were painted, published, and displayed at exhibitions in
Europe. The visuals had hence become an important tool for analyzing and interpreting the

cultural and historical construction during the British colonial period.

It was only in the 19th century that the methodological study of Indian architecture began. It

was due to the efforts of James Fergusson and Alexander Cunningham. While the former

began a systematic study of Indian architectural history, the latter laid the foundations of

Indian archaeology by establishing the Archaeological Survey of India in 1861. On one hand,

Cunningham’s extensive emphasis on excavations and field and archival documentation

systems made the base of archaeology stronger, while on the other, Fergusson read the

monument to its last detail and treated it as "the most reliable source of cultural

interpretation." Fergusson also attempted to understand Indian architecture in a global context

and through the comparative method. For him, Indian architecture, along with Egyptian and

Classical Greek, was a "true" representation of stylistic art as compared to the "imitative"

styles seen during the revival of the Classical and the Gothic in Europe. Such analyses, macro

surveys, and comparative approaches, with lithographs, drawings, and photographs, helped in

creating more precise and insightful documentation, unlike preceding centuries, which

focused only on "picturesque".

However, both Fergusson and Cunningham believed in the superiority of Western aesthetics,

techniques, and canons. The orientalised outlook led them to categorize the material remains

of India’s past within colonial constructs. While Cunningham classified objects as "Indo-

Grecian,' 'Indo-Scythian,' and 'Indo-Sassanian,' this reflected prejudice about the derivative

nature of Indian art at the time. Ferguson adopted racial and religious classifications of the art

periods and styles by terming them Aryan, non-aryan, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and

Muhammadan. The usage of race and religion portrays the narrow perspective of the
orientalist towards Indian art and architecture, where "the yardstick for judgement was

always 'Western'. Fergusson’s approach was continued by his successors, James Burgess,

Henry Cousens, Alexander Rea, A.H. Longhurst, and Percy Brown. In addition, the

Orientalist writings neglected the usage of Indian texts and contexts in interpreting Indian art

and architecture. This resulted in obviously incorrect speculations about the origins and

derivations of Indian architectural forms, such as the ‘origin’ of the Indian temple from the

Buddhist stupa.

In contrast to the orientalized perception of Indian art and architecture, nationalist historians

saw Indian art and architecture in a much broader context. Babu Rajendra Lal Mitra was one

of the first nationalists to contest the hegemony of European understanding. Though he was

trained in accordance with Western terms of reference and Greco-Roman standards,

nevertheless, his works, like those on the antiquities of Orissa and Bodhgaya, reflected his

acute awareness of the regional context of Eastern Indian artistic manifestations. It was due to

his efforts that the perception of art and architecture from a regional point of view was given

importance.

Despite all of these periodic contributions and achievements, the formative years of Indian

history had to deal with a number of issues. Historians like Upinder Singh and Gautam

Sengupta highlighted that the common perception of history, archaeology, and art history was

that they were considered allied disciplines. This prevented art and archaeology from

developing as individual subjects. Beside issues like ‘region’ versus "nation," "Orientalist"

versus "Nationalist’ continued. Adjacent to all these problems was the question of Indian
sculpture. Not only were they viewed through the lens of classical Western standards, but

their presentation in terms of the presence of many heads and multiple arms of divinities,

animal-headed gods, and explicitly sexual scenes on temple walls evoked several derogatory

responses to Indian art. The lack of ‘realism’ or ‘naturalism’ further degraded the position of

Indian sculpture. Though abstract patterns and architectural ornament were still valued in

comparison to figural sculpture, sculpture and painting did not gain favour as "fine art’ until

the early decades of the twentieth century.

The systematic analysis of Indian sculpture began only after Foucher made a study of

Gandhara sculptures. It was natural for Gandharan art to receive attention as they reaffirmed

the idea of Indian longstanding and surviving culture. Following Fouché, Lolita Nehru

refined the detailed study of Gandhara. Other scholars, like Ludwig Bachhofer, also analyzed

the stylistic development of Indian sculpture from Bharhut, Sanchi, and Amaravati. The

nationalist interpretation challenged colonial prejudices and tried to figure out the "Indian-

ness’ of Indian art. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy was one of the first nationalists to oppose the

orientalist construction. By using textual sources like vedic and post-vedic texts,Buddhist and

Jain literature, treaties on art and architecture, and epigraphic and numismatic sources, he

linked text with visuals, attempting to free Indian art and architecture from colonial

prejudices. He brought forward the metaphysical, religious, and symbolic underpinnings of

Indian art and architecture. There were other scholars like Stella Kramrisch, Heinrich

Zimmer, and Ratan Parimoo who were inclined towards knowing the origins, meanings, and

motivations of Indian art. With the usage and interpretation of the textual sources, there was a

steady increase in the study of Indian art and architecture. It not only led to a more focused

and detailed study of iconography, iconometry, terminology, principles of architecture, and

canons of painting but also expanded the discovery of Indian artistic heritage. By the second

half of the 20th century, there was further enhancement in the study of Indian art and

architecture from a regional point of view. Several regional architectural texts were

uncovered by scholars like Ram Raz, Manmohan Ganguli, N.K. Bose, P.K. Acharya, and

N.V. Mallaya, and interpretation at a more local and traditional level had begun. The writings

of K.R. Srinivasan, M.A. Dhaky, and M.W. Meister were some of the notable works that

analyzed the texts in relation to the temple architecture. Their efforts led to the development

of the Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture (EITA) project.

Along with the interpretation of the text in understanding the art and architecture,

understanding the symbolic meaning of the iconographies also began. Unlike the nineteenth

and early twentieth centuries, which were marked by misinterpretation of Indian sculpture

and icons, this period witnessed "culture-specific readings of the meanings embedded in

Indian images." While Gopinath Rao relied on sastras, puranas, agamas, and tantras to

understand Hindu deity images, Benoytosh Bhattacharya relied on Buddhist iconographic

texts such as Sadhanamala and Nispanna yogavali. Even Jainiconographies were studied by

scholars like B.C. Bhattacharya, Jyotindra Jain, Eberhard Fischer, and most importantly,

Umakant P. Shah. Non-canonical literature like classical Sanskrit poetry was also included in

the domain of textual references for interpreting iconography, and it was done by C.

Sivaramamurti. The diverse interpretations and sources highlight the growing development of

art and architecture from their primitive stages. The unraveling of such complex imagery has

also paved the way for more approaches to interpreting the icons of Indian art.

 
Several works have also been taken into consideration in order to comprehend the social

dimensions of Indian art (the artists' identity, role, status, organization, and migrations in

relation to patrons). Scholars such as S. Settar, R.N. Misra, and others attempted to study the

journeys of the artists who had left their mark on their creations. All these, along with

shedding light on the lives of the craftsmen, also highlighted the intense competition,

rivalries, and claims of supremacy among artists in search of prestige and patrons. These

measures vastly improved our understanding of the cultural society of India.

The 20th century also saw issues of gender being addressed. Vidya Dehejia was the first to

question the issues of ‘gaze,’ ‘representation,’ ‘agency,’ women artists, male

sexuality,spectatorship," and femininity. Devangana Desai studied the rationale, context, and

function of erotic sculptures on religious monuments like the tantra paintings. Seema Bawa

also addressed the "gender neutral" stance in mainstream Indian art historical studies of the

Bharhut and Amaravati sculptures. Even the subject of gender in Harappa art is now studied

from an archaeology, anthropology, and art perspective. Though these gendered readings

surface many aspects of Indian art and architecture, the subject of gender is still an

undiscovered field in Indian history.

Another major improvement in the archaeological sector was the establishment of the

Architectural Survey of Temples within the Archaeological Survey in 1955–56. They aimed

to preserve the regional characteristics of the temple through "extensive fieldwork and

intensive examination of the data collected there." Micro-nuance studies of temples began

when M.A. Dhaky analyzed the Maru-Gurjara architecture of Western India from its
antecedents, the ‘MahäMaru’ and 'Mahä-Gurjara. Scholars like Joanna G. William have

highlighted the regional peculiarities of northern India during the period of Gupta dominance.

Similarly, the study of this temple architecture on a regional and chronological basis was

done by Krishna Deva, K.R. Srinivasan, K.V. Soundararajan, S.R. Balasubrahmanyam, S.K.

Saraswati, R.D. Banerji, and others.

The architectural historians also moved beyond archaeological reporting, surveys, and

documentation. They started studying: formalistic and stylistic analyses, chronological

assessments, ritualistic studies, iconological considerations, issues of patronage and power,

artists and artisans, and a revaluation of temple aesthetics, which have considerably helped in

broadening the scope.

The history of Indian paintings has also evolved. Initially, it was Ajanta and Mughal

paintings that remained in focus. However, gradually, South Indian mural paintings,

Rajasthani and Pahari miniatures, paintings of the Western and Eastern Indian manuscript

traditions, and Ladakhi paintings also started receiving attention. Scholars like Kramrisch, C.

Sivaramamurti, Moti Chandra, Karl Khandalavala, Pramod Chandra, Anand Krishna (1973),

and B.N. Goswamy have contributed immensely to studies in the style,connoisseurship, and

context of other regional and diverse paintings.

One of the major shifts in Indian paintings was the shift in the perception of the Ajanta

paintings. Earlier, the focus was only on general identifications of the subject matter and the
minutiae of dress, costumes, and ornaments. However, with the coming in of scholars like

Ghulam Yazdani, the study of Ajanta was enhanced to a great point. He introduced

photographic documentation, inscriptional notices, detailed identification of subject

matter,intricacies of technique, and ornamentation, and developed a chronological framework

for the study of Ajanta paintings. The emphasis was also shifted toward material culture, as

depicted in M.K. Devilkar's Ajanta paintings. Moreover, Dieter Schlingloff’s intensive

research on Ajanta paintings led to a revision in the identification and interpretation of

several jätakanarratives. Walter Spink's extensive research on Ajanta revealed the chronology

and political and historical backdrop of the paintings. In the Ajanta paintings, he also

highlighted the interconnected aspects of architecture, sculpture, and painting. Even efforts

were made to rethink the historiography of the Mughal paintings by several scholars, like

Ursula Weekes and Ebba Koch. All of this has contributed to the shift away from a

Eurocentric approach to Indian art and architecture.

The study of Indian art and architecture was deeply enhanced with the advent of digital

technology. Initially, the folios of paintings from a single manuscript were scattered in

different museums and private collections, which made it difficult to access them all together.

However, with the digital turn, the access and frontiers of knowledge are extended. Not only

can scattered follicles be digitally reassembled, but they can also be compared. Such

methodology also increases research on Indian miniature and manuscript traditions.

To conclude, the historical construct and cultural interpretation of Indian art and architecture

have evolved a lot since their beginning. Throughout the time period, a transition can be seen
in terms of perception, development, style, and methods. This is a great achievement for the

history of Indian art and architecture; however, a thrust to move forward should always exist

so that the field of Indian art and architecture can thrive more.