Author: Eminent Contributors
Editor(s): Harsha V Dehejia
Publisher: Roli Books
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 304
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8174363025
Description
Harsha V Dehejia has gathered a galaxy of scholars from around the world to take the reader on a journey that celebrates the romantic heroine in the Indian arts. It’s a visually rich journey which takes us to opulent havelis and bucolic groves, temples and courtyards, where we meet kings and nobility and also artists and artisans, as we hear whispers of gopis and the footfalls of Krishna.
We encounter the nayika in miniature paintings and temple sculptures, pothis and calendars, dance and music but above all hear resonances of her heart throbbing longingly in our own selves for ultimately the nayika in the Indian tradition is a paradigm of the perennial quest of mankind for a divine and transcendent love.
At the heart of the many and varied artistic expressions of the romantic sentiment is the nayika or the heroine. Her various adornments and trysts, the many moods of her love realized through amorous moments of longing or belonging, her strong presence in the Krishna lore and equally in the Sufi narratives, her portrayals in the Ragamala and the Barahmasa traditions of poetry and painting, through the beautiful depictions in miniature paintings as well as popular arts, have captivated our attention through the many centuries of Indian artistic representations.
Her footfalls have been heard in courts and temples, She has been heard in courts and temples, she has been celebrated by the raja and the praja, she has a presence in homes and mansions and her persona resonates in enchanted forests and groves. She is all this and more, but above all she is all this and more, but above all she is the epitome of perfect beauty and the paradigm of the seeker of ultimate reality.
In these essays, she comes alive in all her splendour and radiance, she captures our attention through her sheer sensuality as she looks into the mirror and prepares for that special moment. She delights in the many romantic situations and brings alive the concept of bhakti shringara or a certain spirituality that can only arise from indulging in love, but above all she stands self-assured and dignified, whispering that not only is there truth in love but that love is truth.
Contents
The Things Unsaid
Uddipan Vela, As We Light the Lamps
Te Ganesis of the Nayika in the Natyashastra
Turning the Heroine’s Head: The Emergence of the Nayika Form in Mediaeval Indian Manuscript Painting
The Quest for Krishna
Footprints in the Dust: The Gopis as a Collective Heroine in the Bhagavata Purana
Myriad Moods of Love
Karpuramanjari: The Artless Heroine
The Sufi Nayika: Qutban’s Mirigavati
The Romantic Heroine in Rajasthani Painting
Nayikas in the Haveli of Shrinathji
A Life as Svamini: Imbibing the Bhava in Pushti Marg
The Multiple Veils of the Beloved
The Heroine’s Bower: Framing the Stages of Love
Radha in Kishangarh Painting: Cultural, Literary and Artistic Aspects
The Nayika of Sahibdin
The Rasikapriya of Keshavads: Text and Image
Connoisseur’s Delight: The Nayika of the Basohli Rasamanjari
The Nayika in Barahmasa Paintings
Awash in Meaning: Literary Sources for Early Pahari Bathing Scenes
Dancing to the Flute
The Nayika of the Deccan
Pious Love: Iconography of the Nayika as a Devotee
Adorning the Beloved: Krishna Lila Images of Transformation and Union
The Aesthetics of Red in Rajasthani Painting
The Nagas and the Kanya: The Romance in Painting
The Raas Lila: The Enchantment with Innocence
Nawabs and Nayikas: The Romantic View from the Court of Lucknow
The Indian Courtesan: Symbol of Love and Romance
The Romantic Nayika: A Dancer’s View
Sri Radha: The Supreme Nayika of Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Radha: The Goddess of Love in Bengali Folk Literature
Radha Bhava and the Erotic Sentiment: The Construction of Feminity in Gaudiya Vaishnavism
The Mughal Nayika
Wife, Widow, Renunciant, Lover: The Mirabai of Calendar Art
Shringara and Love in Early Jain Literature
The Nayikas of Nagarjunakonda
The Nayika in Ayppati: The Tamil Vrindavan in Periyalvar’s Periyalvartirumoli
The Nayika and the Mirror
The Nayika and the Bird
The Vaishnava Ethos and Shringara Bhakti
Vidai: As We Float Our Lamps on the River
Contributors