Arts and architecture in India have been shaped by a synthesis of indigenous and foreign influences that have consequently shaped the course of the arts of the rest of Asia, since ancient times. Arts refer topaintings,architecture,literature,music,dance,languages andcinema. In early India, most of the arts were derivedVedic influences. After the birth of contemporaryHinduism,Jainism,Buddhism, andSikhism arts flourished under the patronage of kings and emperors. The coming ofIslam spawned a whole new era of Indian architecture and art. Finally the British brought their own Gothic and Roman influences and fused it with the Indian style. They have a culture infusion in their art.
The earliest production in theIndus Valley Civilization was characterised by cities and houses where religion did not seem to play an active role. TheBuddhist period is primarily represented by three important building types- the Chaitya Hall (place of worship), theVihara (monastery) and theStupa (hemispherical mound for worship/ memory) - exemplified by the caves ofAjanta andEllora and the monumentalSanchiStupa. TheJaina temples are characterised by high levels of detail that can be seen in theDilwara Temples inMount Abu. Early beginnings of Hindu temple architecture have been traced to the remains atAihole andPattadakal in present-dayKarnataka, and haveVedic altars and late Vedic temples as described byPāṇini as models. Later, as more differentiation took place, the Dravidian/ Southern style and or the Indo-Aryan/ Northern/ Nagara style of temple architecture emerged as dominant modes, epitomized in productions such as theBrihadeeswara Temple,Thanjavur, and theSun Temple,Konark.[1][2]
With the arrival ofIslam, a new style of architecture known asIndo-Islamic architecture emerged combining traditional Indian and Islamic elements. The earliest examples include theQutb complex, a series of monuments built by successive sultans of theDelhi Sultanate.[3] Thearchitecture of theMughal Empire includes theRed Fort,Taj Mahal,Agra Fort,Humayun's tomb,Jama Masjid andFatehpur Sikri.[4][5]
With colonization, a new chapter began. Though theDutch,Portuguese and the French were influencers, it was the English who had a lasting impact. The architecture of the colonial period varied from the beginning attempts at creating authority through classical prototypes to the later approach of producing a supposedly more responsive image through what is now termedIndo-Saracenic architecture- a mixture of Hindu, Islamic and Western elements.[6]
With the introduction ofModern Architecture into India and later with Independence, the quest was more towards progress as a paradigm fuelled byNehruvian visions. The planning ofChandigarh- a city most architects hate/love- byLe Corbusier was considered a step towards this. Later as modernism became less popular in the West and new directions were sought for, there was a movement in India toward architecture rooted in the Indian context. This direction calledCritical Regionalism is exemplified in the works of architects such asB. V. Doshi,Charles Correa, etc. Apart from this, the advent of globalisation and economic development since the 90s, has spawned a collection of modern IT campuses and skyscrapers, and as economic reform accelerates, metropolitan areas are gaining futuristic skylines.
Indian literature is generally acknowledged, but not wholly established, as the oldest in the world. India has 22 officially recognizedlanguages, and a huge variety of literature has been produced in these languages over the years. In Indian literature,oral and written forms are both important.Hindu literary traditions dominate a large part of Indian culture. Apart from theVedas which are a sacred form of knowledge, there are other works such as the Hindu epicsRamayana andMahabharata, treatises such asVaastu Shastra in architecture and town planning, andArthashastra in political science. Devotional Hindu drama, poetry and songs span the subcontinent. Among the best known are the works ofKalidasa (writer of the famed Sanskrit playShakuntala) andTulsidas (who wrote an epic Hindi poem based on the Ramayana, calledRaamcharitmaanas).
Tamil literature has been in existence for more than 2500 years.Tolkaappiyam has been credited as its oldest work, whereas the exact origins ofThirukkural is unknown. The golden age of Tamil literature was during theSangam period, roughly 1800 years ago. The classic works of this period areCilappatikaram,Manimekalai, and Sivakasinthamani. Tamil literature is known for its secular traditions, although its authors had strong religious beliefs.Thirukkural is considered to be the greatest of Tamil works.Kannada literature is probably the third oldest in Indian literature next toSanskrit literature andTamil literature. The earliest reported work in Kannada literature dates back to the fifth century. The first available literary in Kannada isKavirajamarga, written in the eighth century by Amoghavarsha Nrpatunga.Hindi literature started as religious and philosophical poetry in medieval periods in dialects likeAvadhi andBrij. The most famous figures from this period areKabir andTulsidas. In modern times, theKhadi dialect became more prominent and a variety of literature was produced inSanskrit.
The most renowned Bengali writer is Nobel laureateRabindranath Tagore, who received theNobel Prize for Literature. In the last century, several Indian writers have distinguished themselves not only in traditionalIndian languages but also in English. India's only native-born Nobel laureate in literature was theBengali writerRabindranath Tagore, but VS Naipaul, a diaspora Indian novelist born in Trinidad, also won the Nobel in 2001. Other major writers who are either Indian or of Indian origin and derive much inspiration from Indian themes areR. K. Narayan,Vikram Seth,Salman Rushdie,Arundhati Roy,Raja Rao,Amitav Ghosh,Vikram Chandra,Mukul Kesavan,Shashi Tharoor,Nayantara Sehgal,Anita Desai,Ashok Banker,Shashi Deshpande,Jhumpa Lahiri, andBharati Mukherjee.
Indian music includes multiple varieties offolk,popular,pop, andclassical music. India's classical music tradition, includingCarnatic andHindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and, developed over several eras, remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as sources of religious inspiration, cultural expression and pure entertainment. India is made up of several dozenethnic groups, speaking their ownlanguages anddialects. Alongside distinctlysubcontinental forms there are major influences fromPersian,Arab andBritish music. Indian genres likefilmi andbhangra have become popular throughout the United Kingdom,South andEast Asia, and around the world.
Indian stars now sell records in many countries, whileworld music fans listen to the roots music of India's diverse nations. Americansoul,rock andhip hop music have also made a large impact, primarily on Indian pop and filmi music. Other highly popular forms areghazal,qawwali,thumri,dhrupad,dadra,bhajan,kirtan,shabad, andgurbani.Filmi music is often said to have begun in 1931, with the release of Ardeshir M. Irani'sAlam Ara and its popular soundtrack. In the earliest years of the Indian cinema, filming was generally Indian (classical and folk) in inspiration, with some Western elements. Over the years, the Western elements have increased, but without completely destroying the Indian flavour. Most of the Indian movies are musicals and feature elaborate song and dance numbers. There is constant work for pop music composers — or music directors, to use the Indian term. Movie soundtracks are released as tapes and CDs, sometimes even before the movie is released.
Indian classical dance is performed in different styles. Its theory can be traced back to theNatya Shastra ofBharata Muni, a sage from Tamil Nadu (400 BC). The Natya Shastra is the most important ancient treatise onclassical Indian dance. It is also called the fifthVeda in reference to the foundation of Hindu religion and philosophy, from which sprang the related South Indian musical tradition ofCarnatic music. Its various current forms includeBharatanatyam,Odissi,Manipuri,Kathakali,Kuchipudi,Mohiniaattam,Kathak andSattriya.
Bharatanatyam is a classicaldance form originating inTamil Nadu. It is thought to have been created by Bharata Muni. In ancient times Bharatanatyam was performed bymandir (Hindu temple)Devadasis. Many of the ancient sculptures in Hindu temples are based on Bharatanatyam dance postureskaranas.
Odissi is one of the oldest surviving forms of dance, with depictions of Odissi dancing dating back as far as the 1st century BC. Like other forms of Indian classical dance, the Odissi style traces its origins back to antiquity. Dancers are found depicted in bas-relief in the hills of Udaygiri (nearBhubaneswar) dating back to the 1st century BC. TheNatya Shastra speaks of the dance from this region and refers to it as Odra-Magadhi.
Kathakali (katha forstory,kali forperformance orplay) is a form of dance-drama. It originated in theSouth Indian state ofKerala over 500 years ago. It is a spectacular combination of drama, dance, music and ritual. Characters with vividly painted faces and elaborate costumes re-enact stories from theHindu epics,Mahabharata andRamayana.
Kuchipudi is a classical dance form fromAndhra Pradesh,Telangana, a state ofSouth India. Kuchipudi is the name of a small village in the Divi Taluq ofKrishna district that borders theBay of Bengal and with residentBrahmins practising this traditional dance form, it acquired the present name.Mohiniaattam is a traditional dance from the South Indian state of Kerala.Mohini is anApsaras in the Hindu mythology and aattam inMalayalam means dance. So Mohiniaattam essentially means "dance of the enchantress". The theme of Mohiniaattam is love and devotion to god. The costume worn by the dancers are typically white coloured kasavusaree with golden borders.
TheKathak dance form arose from theVaishnava devotees dancing to the episodes fromKrishna's life. Originally a Northern Indian temple dance, it was transformed to a court dance in theMughal era. The new Muslim influence brought with it certain changes to the dance form: what had been a largely devotional practice now became more a courtly entertainment.
TheSattriya dance is believed to be a creation of the greatVaishnavite (bhakti) guruSrimanta Sankardeva considered the lead architect of Assameseliterature andculture. He created this magnificent Sattriya dance to accompany theAnkiya Naat (a form of Assamese one-act play, another creation of Sankardeva) which was usually performed inSatras (Assamese monasteries). Since the dance developed and grew within theSatras, it is named after these religious institutions.
Folk dances are performed for every possible occasion, to celebrate the arrival of seasons, birth of a child, a wedding and festivals. The dances are very focused on gestures, postures, and expressions. The dances burst with verve and vitality. Men and women perform some dances exclusively, while in some performances men and women dance together. On most occasions artists sing the main lyrics and are accompanied by instruments. Each form of dance has a specific costume. Most costumes are flamboyant with extensive jewels.
Bhangra is a form of music and dance that originated in thePunjab region ofIndia.Bhangra dance began as a folk dance conducted byPunjabi farmers to celebrate the coming ofVaisakhi, asikh festival. The specific moves reflect the manner in which villagers farmed their land. This musical art further became synthesized after the partition of India, when refugees from different parts of the Punjab shared their folk dances with individuals who resided in the regions they settled in. This hybrid dance became Bhangra. The dance started from just one move and evolved later on. It has been popularized by Punjabi artists from theSikh communities, with which it is now commonly associated.[1] Today,Bhangra dance survives in different forms and styles all over the globe – including pop music, film soundtracks, collegiate competitions and even talent shows.
Thirayattam is a ritual performing dance of south malabar region (kozhikode and malappuram Dt:) inKerala state. InMalayalam language, the word "Thirayattam" refers to a 'colourful dance'. This vibrant Ethnic art form blend of dance, instrumental music, drama, facial and body makeup, martial art and ritualistic Function.Thirayattam enacted in courtyards of sacred groves and village shrines, during Thirayattam festival.[7]
Indian drama and theatre has a long history alongside its music and dance.Kalidasa's plays likeShakuntala andMeghadoota are some of the older dramas, following those of Bhasa.Kutiyattam of Kerala, is the only surviving specimen of the ancient Sanskrit theatre, thought to have originated around the beginning of theCommon Era, and is officially recognised byUNESCO as aMasterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. It strictly follows theNatya Shastra.[8] NātyāchāryaMāni Mādhava Chākyār is credited for reviving the age old drama tradition from extinction. He was known for mastery ofRasa Abhinaya. He started to perform the Kalidasa plays likeAbhijñānaśākuntala,Vikramorvaśīya andMālavikāgnimitra; Bhasa'sSwapnavāsavadatta andPancharātra;Harsha'sNagananda.[9][10]
Shadow puppets are an ancient part of India's culture and art, particularly regionally as thekeelu bomme andTholu bommalata ofAndhra Pradesh, theTogalu gombeyaata inKarnataka, thecharma bahuli natya inMaharashtra, theRavana chhaya inOdisha, theTholpavakoothu inKerala and thethol bommalatta inTamil Nadu. Shadow puppet play is also found in pictorial traditions in India, such as temple mural painting, loose-leaf folio paintings, and the narrative paintings.[11] Dance forms such as theChhau ofOdisha literally mean "shadow".[12] The shadow theatre dance drama theatre are usually performed on platform stages attached toHindu temples, and in some regions these are calledKoothu Madams orKoothambalams.[13] In many regions, the puppet drama play is performed by itinerant artist families on temporary stages during major temple festivals.[14] Legends from the Hindu epicsRamayana and theMahabharata dominate their repertoire.[14] However, the details and the stories vary regionally.[15][16]
During the 19th century and early parts of the 20th century of the colonial era, Indologists believed that shadow puppet plays had become extinct in India, though mentioned in its ancient Sanskrit texts.[14] In the 1930s and thereafter, states Stuart Blackburn, these fears of its extinction were found to be false as evidence emerged that shadow puppetry had remained a vigorous rural tradition in central Kerala mountains, most of Karnataka, northern Andhra Pradesh, parts of Tamil Nadu, Odisha and southern Maharashtra.[14] The Marathi people, particularly of low caste, had preserved and vigorously performed the legends of Hindu epics as a folk tradition. The importance of Marathi artists is evidenced, states Blackburn, from the puppeteers speaking Marathi as their mother tongue in many non-Marathi speaking states of India.[14]
According to Beth Osnes, thetholu bommalata shadow puppet theatre dates back to the 3rd century BCE, and has attracted patronage ever since.[17] The puppets used in atholu bommalata performance, states Phyllis Dircks, are "translucent, lusciously multicolored leather figures four to five feet tall, and feature one or two articulated arms".[18] The process of making the puppets is an elaborate ritual, where the artist families in India pray, go into seclusion, produce the required art work, then celebrate the "metaphorical birth of a puppet" with flowers and incense.[19]
Thetholu pava koothu of Kerala uses leather puppets whose images are projected on a backlit screen. The shadows are used to creatively express characters and stories in theRamayana. A complete performance of the epic can take forty-one nights, while an abridged performance lasts as few as seven days.[20] One feature of thetholu pava koothu show is that it is a team performance of puppeteers, while other shadow plays such as thewayang of Indonesia are performed by a single puppeteer for the sameRamayana story.[20] There are regional differences within India in the puppet arts. For example, women play a major role in shadow play theatre in most parts of India, except in Kerala and Maharashtra.[14] Almost everywhere, except Odisha, the puppets are made from tanned deer skin, painted and articulated. Translucent leather puppets are typical in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, while opaque puppets are typical in Kerala and Odisha. The artist troupes typically carry over a hundred puppets for their performance in rural India.[14]
First sculptures in India date back to theIndus Valley Civilization, where stone and bronze carvings have been discovered. This is one of the earliest instances of sculpture in the world. Later, asHinduism,Buddhism andJainism developed further, India produced some of the most intricate bronzes in the world, as well as unrivalled temple carvings. Some huge shrines, such as the one atEllora were not actually constructed using blocks, but instead carved out of solid rock, making them perhaps the largest and most intricate sculptures in the world.
During the 2nd to 1st century BCE in far northern India, in what is now southernAfghanistan and northern Pakistan, sculptures became more explicit, representing episodes of the Buddha's life and teachings. Although India had a long sculptural tradition and a mastery of rich iconography, the Buddha was never represented in human form before this time, but only through some of his symbols. This may be becauseGandharan Buddhist sculpture in modern Afghanistan displaysGreek andPersian artistic influence. Artistically, the Gandharan school of sculpture is said to have contributed wavy hair, drapery covering both shoulders, shoes and sandals, acanthus leaf decorations, etc.
The pink sandstone sculptures of Mathura evolved during the Gupta period (4th to 6th century) to reach a very high fineness of execution and delicacy in the modeling. Newer sculptures inAfghanistan, in stucco, schist or clay, display very strong blending of Indian post-Gupta mannerism and Classical influence, Hellenistic or possibly even Greco-Roman. Meanwhile, elsewhere in India, less anatomically accurate styles of human representation evolved, leading to the classical art that the world is now familiar with, and contributing to Buddhist and Hindu sculpture throughout Asia. If you would like more information on this topic please let us recommend.
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The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings ofpre-historic times, thepetroglyphs as found in places likeRock Shelters of Bhimbetka, and some of them are older than 5500 BC. Such works continued and after several millennia, in the 7th century, carved pillars ofEllora,Maharashtrastate present an example of Indian paintings, and the colors, mostly various shades of red and orange, were derived from minerals. Thereafter, frescoes ofAjanta and Ellora caves appeared. India'sBuddhist literature is replete with examples of texts which describe that palaces of kings and aristocratic class were embellished with paintings, but they have not survived. But, it is believed that some form of art painting was practiced in that time.
Indian Art was given a new lease of life by theBritish in early 19th century when the newgovernment required painters to document Indian life and times. The English School paintings, as these new art were called had seen the emergence of India's greatest artists of all timesRaja Ravi Verma. Other important artists of the Colonial period includeJamini Roy,Amrita Sher-Gil,Ramkinkar Baij andRabindranath Tagore. After independence, Indian art became more diverse and artists likeM. F. Husain,F. N. Souza,Subodh Gupta,Devajyoti Ray, Sudip Roy,[21]Paresh Maity andBose Krishnamachari earned international recognition.
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India is a major regional center forcinema. The Indian film industry is the second largest in the world (1200 movies released in the year 2002). Each of the larger jrods supports its own film industry:Hindi,Bengali,Kannada,Tamil,Telugu,Malayalam,Odia. The Hindi/Urdu film industry, based inMumbai, formerlyBombay, is calledBollywood (a melding ofHollywood and Bombay). Similar neologisms have been coined for the Kannada (Karnataka State) film industry (Sandalwood) based on Karnataka being known for Sandalwood, Tamil film industry (Kollywood, from the Kodambakkam district ofChennai) and the Telugu film industry (Tollywood). Tollygunge is ametonym for the Bengali film industry, long centered in the Tollygunge district ofKolkata. The Bengali language industry is notable as including the directorSatyajit Ray, an international filmmaker and a winner of many awards, among them the Bharat Ratna (India's highest civilian award), theLégion d'honneur (France), and the Lifetime achievementAcademy Award. Odia film industry is known asOllywood and it has a history of film making since 1936. The Bollywood industry is usually the largest in terms of films produced and box office receipts, just as Urdu/Hindi speakers outnumber speakers of other Indian languages within India.
Radio broadcasting was, until recently a government monopoly under the Directorate General ofAll India Radio—established in 1936 and since 1957 also known as Akashvani—a government-owned, semicommercial operation of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. From only six stations at the time of independence, All India Radio's network had expanded by the mid-1990s to 146 AM stations plus a National Channel, the Integrated North-East Service (aimed at tribal groups in northeast India), and the External Service. There are five regional headquarters for All India Radio: the North Zone in New Delhi; the North-East Zone in Guwahati, Assam; the East Zone in Calcutta; the West Zone in Bombay; and the South Zone in Madras. All India Radio covers 99.37% of India's populace.
The government-owned network provides both national and local programs in Hindi, English, and sixteen regional languages. Commercial services, which were inaugurated in 1957, are provided byVividh Bharati Service, headquartered inMumbai.[22]Vividh Bharati, which accepts advertisements, broadcasts from thirty-one AM and FM stations in the mid-1990s.
India has an extensive network of medium wave and shortwave stations. In 1994 there were eighty-five FM stations and seventy-three shortwave stations that covered the entire country. The broadcasting equipment is mostly Indian made and reaches special audiences, such as farmers needing agroclimatic, plant protection, and other agriculture-related information. The number of radio receivers increased almost fivefold between 1970 and 1994, from around 14 million to nearly 65 million. Most radios are also produced within India.
The foreign broadcast service is a function of the External Services Division of All India Radio. In 1994 seventy hours of news, features, and entertainment programs were broadcast daily in twenty-five languages using thirty-two shortwave transmitters. The principal target audiences are listeners in neighbouring countries and the large overseas Indian community.
Satellite Radio was introduced to the Indian market in 2000 byWorldSpace, a Washington DC–based company. Currently WorldSpace beams 30 channels comprising music, news, and regional channels, a subscriber in India pays₹1,200 per annum. In addition, some premium channels are available at an extra cost. This service requires special receivers which are often subsidized by world space.
Recently The Department of Space (DoS) indicated it is exploring the possibility of setting up a multi-media satellite platform that would include satellite radio, video and data channels.
Television service is available throughout the country.Doordarshan is a government-owned broadcaster established in 1959 and a part of All India Radio until 1976. It operates of one national network and seven regional networks. In 1992 there were sixty-three high-power television transmitters, 369 medium-power transmitters, seventy-six low-power transmitters, and twenty-three transposers. Regular satellite transmissions began in 1982 (the same year colour transmission began).By 1994 some six million people were receiving television broadcasts via satellite, and the number was expected to increase rapidly throughout the rest of the decade. Cable television was even more prolific, with an estimated 12 to 15 million subscribers in 1994. Besides Doordarshan,Zee TV—an independent station broadcasting from Mumbai since 1992—uses satellite transmissions. In fact, because Doordarshan is the only network that is permitted to broadcast television signals domestically,Zee TV and other entrepreneurs broadcast their Indian-made videotapes via foreign transmitters. Other networks joining the fray areCable News Network (1990); Asia Television Network (1991); Hong Kong–basedStar TV (1991); Jain TV, near Bombay (1994); EL TV, a spin-off of Zee TV in Bombay (1994); HTV, an affiliate of theHindustan Times in New Delhi (1994); andSun TV, aTamil language service in Chennai (1994). In a communications breakthrough in July 1995, Doordarshan agreed, for a US$1.5 million annual fee and 50 percent of advertising revenue when it exceeds US$1.5 million, to allow CNN to broadcast twenty-four hours a day via an Indian satellite. regional, and local service. The number of television sets increased from around 500,000 in 1976 to 9 million in early 1987 and to around 47 million in 1994; increases are expected to continue at around six million sets per year. More than 75 percent of television sets were black and white models in 1992, but the proportion of colour sets is increasing annually. Most television sets are produced in India.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. Country Studies.Federal Research Division.
