Art, down the ages

''India was the motherland of our race and Sanskrit, the mother of Europe’s languages; she was the mother of our philosophy; mother through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all.”

Introducing his book, Indian Art and Culture, Dr Ausaf Sayeed quotes American philosopher and writer Will Durant on India to set the context of his narrative. The book, says the author, is not a treatise on art and culture. However, it turns out to be just that.

It is a comprehensive perspective on the fabric of Indian culture and the many layers that go into the making of it — from music to literature, from cinema to architecture. The author, a geologist turned diplomat, delves deep into the roots of Indian civilisation, drawing influences from the past and scoping out the ‘Indianness’ that makes it relevant even today.

Tracing back to the days of the Indus Valley civilisation and the many waves of migration that ebbed and flowed into the cultural landscape of India, Dr Sayeed
enlists the several unique cultural symbols, and diverse beliefs and traditions practised by different races over a period of time. Wandering through the past, the author draws upon the “unmistakable unity and continuity” that characterise these many elements of Indian art and culture. The book is rather precise and concise and could serve as a reference text.

Mixing trivia with facts, opinion with documentation, Dr Sayeed writes on the evolution on Indian culture, drawing references from mythology, history, religion, literature, science, folklore and arts. He quotes Bharata’s Natyashastra while discussing the advent of dance in India and highlights the many ragas sung by Tansen, the legendary singer. He points out that the world’s first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC and our contribution to the world of mathematics in the form of the zero. He tells you why the spinning wheel replaced the chakra in the national flag and how the national
anthem was a verse adaptation of an essay written by Tagore. From Aryabhatta to Ashoka, from the Golden Age of the Guptas to the era of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Sayeed takes you on a journey down the ages.

Just when you think that the book reads like a refresher course in Indian history, the chapters take you down the many dynasties that ruled India and their architectural styles. From stupas to temples to caves to stepwells, we trace monuments from the Mauryan era, to the Guptas, to Chandelas and the various South Indian dynasties like Cholas and Pallavas. We then glance though the various schools of art from Gandhara, Mathura, Amaravathy and Pala and end with a treatise on imperial Delhi — a showmanship of Indo-Islamic architectural style.

Dr Sayeed takes the musical route and leads us on a journey down ragas and chants. History, mythology and religion are fused together in this melodious chapter as we read about the various styles of classical and folk music, compositions and forms, and an orchestra of sounds from a medley of musical instruments. The pages take us into a world of different rhythm as the author now enters the world of natyashastra. Indian dance has its origins in a blend of myth and art, as the earliest evidence of a bronze figurine of a dancing girl was excavated from the Indus Valley period. We enter a world of mudras and read about the folk dances and the dance forms of every region. The chapters that follow discuss performing arts, theatre, cinema, folk arts, crafts and even vivid paintings that add colour to the pages. A treatise on literature expressed through the world of many languages of tribes and multiple ethnic races and their many beliefs and religious practises find a mention here.

At one level, the book reads like a documentation of the many elements that encompass Indian art and culture. At another level, it delves deep into India’s heritage and traces the very basis of this cultural landscape — the many races of people, their civilisations and customs that have formed this potpourri called India, breathing life into it.

Indian art and culture
Dr Ausaf Sayeed
Har-Anand
Publications
2011, pp 337
Rs 895