The sensuous human form-elegant and eye-catching-is the dominant
feature of premodern Indian art. From the powerful god Shiva,
greatest of all yogis and most beautiful of all beings, to stone
dancers twisting along temple walls, the body in Indian art is
always richly adorned. "Alankara" (ornament) protects the body and
makes it complete and attractive; to be unornamented is to invite
misfortune.
In "The Body Adorned," Vidya Dehejia, who has dedicated her
career to the study of Indian art, draws on the literature of court
poets, the hymns of saints and "acharyas," and verses from
inscriptions to illuminate premodern India's unique treatment of
the sculpted and painted form. She focuses on the coexistence of
sacred and sensuous images within the common boundaries of
Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu "sacred spaces," redefining terms like
"sacred" and "secular" in relation to Indian architecture. She also
considers the paradox of passionate poetry, in which saints praised
the sheer bodily beauty of the divine form, and nonsacred Rajput
painted manuscripts, which freely inserted gods into the earthly
realm of the courts.
By juxtaposing visual and literary sources, Dehejia demonstrates
the harmony between the sacred and the profane in classical Indian
culture. Her synthesis of art, literature, and cultural materials
not only generates an all-inclusive picture of the period but also
revolutionizes our understanding of the cultural ethos of premodern
India.
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