HINDU
ART & CULTURE Hindu Art and Hinduism:-
A diverse body of religion, philosophy,
and cultural practice native to and predominant
in India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being of
many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one
eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly
evils. Hinduism originated in northern India and spread to the south and later
to the mainland of Southeast Asia and Indonesia. The religion has
no founder but developed over a period of centuries
out of India's various pantheistic cults. Nor is it
based on a single text. There are countless writings,
tales, myths and legends. One key feature of Hinduism is the notion
that all living beings form part of an eternal cycle of
reincarnations from which humanity can only break free with immense effort.
The existence of the world is also seen as part of this cycle.
Creation came about, it exists and it will once more be destroyed. In the course
of time a new world era will dawn again. This process continues
throughout eternity. Three gods are central in Hinduism: Brahma, Shiva
and Vishnu. They form a Divine Trinity. Of these, it is Vishnu who preserves
creation and Shiva who is the destroyer.
The Hindu divinities are worshipped both in temples and in the home. Making
generalizations about the visual culture of any group of people
is a crude endeavor, especially with a culture
as diverse as that of Hindus. With this thought in mind, know
that this survey, as any must be, is tremendously limited in its
breadth and depth.
Hindu art, unlike Buddhist art, shows
the human figure curved, voluptuous and filled
with potential motion. Parvati above is shaped and dressed (only in jewelry
to emphasize her sexuality and a crown) like the Yakshi. Ganesha,
the elephant-headed god in the center, is corpulent, the result of "good
living." Vishnu on th e right is portrayed with a fit,
but soft body, and with four arms to show his many powers.
The body types of the figures
above are intended to be sensual. Indian art from its very beginning in the
Indus Valley already portrayed a soft and
sensual human figure. Ancient beliefs in India, which later
infused both Buddhism and Hinduism, understood the human body as
an aesthetic form second only to the deities,
and human sexuality as a metaphor for the union of the human soul with the divine.
The
Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, Khajuraho,Madhya, Pradesh, India.
