SOUTH ASIAN ARTS

the literary, performing, and visual arts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Despite a history of ethnic, linguistic, and political fragmentation, the Hindu majority population of the Indian subcontinent share a cultural tradition of great antiquity. The coexistence of a sophisticated courtly culture alongside relatively uncorrupted folk and tribal tradition, and the interaction between the two, has given rise to the complexity and fascination of South Asian arts. The encyclopaedic quality of Hindu scriptures has ensured that virtually every aspect of Indian life is pervaded by religious assumptions; this is nowhere more obvious than in the arts. Myths of the popular gods, Vishnu and Siva, in the Puranas (ancient tales) and the Mahabharata and Ramayana epics supply material for representational and dramatic arts. the literary, performing, and visual arts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Despite a history of ethnic, linguistic, and political fragmentation, the people of the Indian subcontinent are unified by a common cultural and ethical outlook; a wealth of ancient textual literature in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and regional languages is a major unifying factor. Music and dance, ritual customs, modes of worship, and literary ideals are similar throughout the subcontinent, even though the region has been divided into kaleidoscopic political patterns through the centuries. The close interrelationship of the various peoples of South Asia may be traced in their epics, as in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Kinship between the gods and heroes of regions far distant from each other is evident, and the place-names themselves often evoke common sources. Moreover, there have been continual attempts to impose a political unity over the region. In the 3rd century BC, for example, the emperor Asoka had almost all of this region under his sway; in the 11th century AD, Rajendra I Cola conquered almost the whole of India and a good portion of Southeast Asia; and the great Mughal Akbar again achieved this in the 16th century. Though the expansion and attenuation of boundary lines, the bringing together or pulling apart politically of whole regions, have characterized all of South Asian history, the culture has remained essentially one. The geography of the region encouraged a common adoration of mountains and rivers. The great Himalayas, which form the northern boundary, are the loftiest of mountains and are conceived to be the embodiment of nobility, the abode of immaculate snow, and the symbol of a cultural ideal. Similarly, the great rivers such as the Brahmaputra and the Indus are regarded as the mothers of their respective regions, assuring prosperity through their perennial supply of water. The association of lakes and springs with water sprites and sylvan fairies, called nagas and yaksas, is common throughout the region. Karkota, the name of an early dynasty, itself signifies naga worship in Kashmir. Sculptures of nagas and yaksas found in widespread sites suggest a common spirit of adoration, as do sculptures, paintings, temples, and religious texts that for centuries were preserved within an oral tradition without losing their immaculate intonation. The same classical dance is seen in sculpture in Gandhara in Pakistan, in Bharhut in the north, and in Amaravati in the south. The relation of the various arts to each other is very close in South Asia, where proficiency in several arts is necessary for specialization in any one. Thus, it is believed that without a good knowledge of dance there can be no proficiency in sculpture, for dance, like painting or sculpture, is a depiction of all the world. For its rhythmic movements and exposition of emotion, dance also requires musical accompaniments; hence, knowledge of musical rhythm is essential. For the stirring of emotion either in music or in dance, knowledge of literature and rhetoric is believed to be necessary; the flavour (rasa) to be expressed in music, dance, sculpture, or painting requires a literary background. Thus all the arts are closely linked together. The arts were cultivated in South Asia not only as a noble pastime but also in a spirit of dedication, as an offering to the Almighty. Passages in literature refer to princes studying works of art for possible defects. One inscription that mentions the name of the sutra-dhara (architect) of the 8th-century Mallikarjuna temple at Pattadakal epitomizes the accomplishments and ideals, in both theory and practice, of the artist. Artists traditionally have enjoyed a high position in South Asian societies. Poets, musicians, and dancers held honoured seats in the royal court. An inscription mentions the appreciation bestowed by Rajendra Cola on a talented dancer, and the architect of the temple at Tiruvorriyur, who was also patronized by Rajendra, was eulogized for his encyclopaedic knowledge of architecture and art. Nonetheless, the folk arts were closely linked with the elite arts. Tribal group dances, for example, shared common elements with classical art, dance, and music. Among the artistic traditions of the Indian subcontinent, sculpture in the round (citra) is considered the highest artistic expression of form, and sculpture in relief (ardhacitra) is next in importance. Painting (citrabhasa, literally the semblance of sculpture) ranks third. Feeling for volume was so great that the effect of chiaroscuro (i.e., use of light and shade to indicate modelling) was considered very important in painting; a passage from a drama of the 5th-century poet Kalidasa describes how the eye tumbles over the heights and depths suggested in the modelling of a painting. A classical text on art, Citrasutra enumerates noteworthy factors in paintings: the line sketch, firmly and gracefully drawn, is considered the highest element by the masters; shading and depiction of modelling are valued by others; the decorative element appeals to feminine taste; and the splendour of colour appeals to common taste. The use of a minimum of drawing to produce the maximum effect in suggesting form is considered most admirable. Portraits play an important role in the visual arts of South Asia, and there are many literary references to the effective depiction of portraits both in painting and in sculpture. A 6th-century text, the Visnudharmottara, classifies portraiture into natural, lyrical, sophisticated, and mixed, and men and women are classified into types by varieties of hairlong and fine, curling to right, wavy, straight and flowing, curled and abundant; similarly, eyes may be bow-shaped, of the hue of the blue lotus, fishlike, lotus-petal-like, or globular. Artistic stances are enumerated, and principles of foreshortening are explained. Paintings or sculptures were believed to take after their creators, even as a poem reflects the poet. Although South Asia has continually been subjected to strong outside influences, it has always incorporated them into native forms, resulting not in imitation but in a new synthesis. This may be seen even in the art of the Gandhara region of Pakistan, which in the 4th century BC was immersed in Greco-Roman tradition. In the sculpture of this period Indian themes and modes have softened the Western style. Foreign influence is evident after the invasion of the Kushans in the 1st century AD, but the native element predominated and overwhelmed the foreign influence. During the Mughal period, from the 16th century, when Muslims from Central Asia reigned in South Asia, the blend of Iranian and Indian elements produced a predominantly Indian school that spread throughout the region, making it a unified cultural area under imperial rule. The influence of Islamic art was enhanced by the second Mughal emperor, Humayun, who imported painters from the court of the Shah of Persia and began a tradition that blended Indian and Persian elements to produce an efflorescence of painting and architecture. Art in all these regions reflects a system of government, a set of moral and ethical attitudes, and social patterns. The desire of kings to serve the people and to take care of them almost as offspring is evident as early as the 3rd century BC. The ideal of the king as the unrivalled bowman, the unifier, the tall and stately noble spirit, the sacrificer for the welfare of the subjects, and the hero of his people (who conceive of him on a stately elephant) is comprehensively illustrated in a magnificent series of coins from the Gupta Empire of North India of the 4th6th centuries. The concepts of righteous conquest and righteous warfare are illustrated in sculpture. The long series of sculptures illustrating the history of the South Indian Pallava dynasty of the 4th9th centuries gives an excellent picture of the various activities of governmentsuch as war and conquests, symbolic horse sacrifices, the king's council, diplomatic receptions, peace negotiations, the building of temples, appreciation of the fine arts (including dance and music), and the coronation of kingsall clearly demonstrating what an orderly government meant to the people. Similarly, moral attitudes are illustrated in sculptures that lay stress on dharmacustoms or laws governing duty. The doctrine of ahimsa, or noninjury to others, is often conceived symbolically as a deer, and the ideal of a holy place is represented as a place where the deer roams freely. The joy in giving and renunciation is clearly indicated in art. Sculptures illustrate simple and effective stories, as from the Paca-tantra, one of the oldest books of fables in the world. The spirit of devotion, faith, and respect for moral standards that has throughout the centuries pervaded the subcontinent's social structure is continuously represented in South Asian painting and sculpture. Calambur Sivaramamurti Additional reading Literature (Sanskrit, Pali, and Prakrit) The old literature of Southeast Asia has been more extensively described than any of the modern literatures. Though antiquated, Moriz Winternitz, Geschichte der indischen litteratur, 3 vol. (190822; Eng. trans., A History of Indian Literature, 2nd ed. 195967), is still very useful. So is Arthur B. Keith, A History of Sanskrit Literature (1928, reprinted 1956), which, however, does not include the Sanskrit theatre. For the old literature of the Veda, Arthur A. MacDonnell, A History of Sanskrit Literature (1900), remains very helpful as a survey. A full inventory of the literature is given by S.N. Das Gupta and S.K. De, A History of Sanskrit Literature, Classical Period, 2nd ed. (1962). The epochal material is best treated by Edward W. Hopkins, The Great Epic of India (1901). On the Sanskrit play specifically, the study by the French scholar Sylvain Levi, Le Thtre indien (1890), remains an important contribution. The best introduction to the narrative literature is to be found in Charles H. Tawney (trans.), The Ocean of Story, ed. by Norman M. Penzer, 10 vol. (192328, reprinted 1968). George L. Hart, The Relation Between Tamil and Classical Sanskrit Literature (1976), is an argument that the two literatures stem from a common source. Modern Indian literatures The literatures in the modern Indian languages are bibliographically underrepresented in English. For some of them the best sources are to be found written in those languages themselves. The following bibliography must confine itself to works written in more accessible languages. (Hindi): A good though incomplete inventory of the older literature in Hindi and Hindustani is found in Joseph Garcin de Tassy, Histoire de la littrature hindouie et hindoustanie, 2nd ed., 3 vol. (187071, reprinted 1968). A useful guide up to its date is Edwin Greaves, A Sketch of Hindi Literature (1918). A survey of the more modern literature in Hindi is R.A. Dwiveldi, A Critical Survey of Hindi Literature (1966). (Assamese): Among the few works available is B.K. Barua, Assames Literature (1941) and A History of Assamese Literature (1965). (Bengali): The best extensive introduction to the literature in Bengali is that of Sukumar Sen, History of Bengali Literature (1960). Another useful source is J.C. Ghosh, Bengali Literature (1948). (Marathi): Many works on Marathi literature are written in Marathi itself. A good guide is G.C. Bhate, History of Modern Marathi Literature, 18001938 (1939). (Gujarati): Little is written in English on Gujarati literature. To be recommended is K.M. Munshi, Gujarat and Its Literature from Early Times to 1852, 3rd ed. (1967). A useful older study is K.M. Jhaveri, Milestones in Gujarati Literature (1914). (Punjabi): A good survey of Punjabi is given by Mohan Singh, An Introduction to Panjabi Literature (1951). For information about literature in the smaller Indo-Aryan languages, see the symposium of the All-India Writers' Conference, Writers in Free India (1950). (Muslim contributions): The best short introduction to the cultural and intellectual life of the Moslems of the subcontinent is Aziz Ahmad, An Intellectual History of Islam in India (1969). A comprehensive survey of the literature in Urdu produced in South India, especially in the medieval kingdoms of Bijapur and Golconda and in the later state Hyderabad is the Urdu work Dekan men Urdu by Nasirruddin Hashmi (1963). A study of the convention of classical Urdu poetry in the light of the writings of three Urdu poets of 18th-century Delhi is Ralph Russell and Khurshidul Islam, Three Mughal Poets: Mir, Sauda, Mir Hasan (1968). The latest and most comprehensive survey of literature produced in Persian in various countries, including India and Pakistan, is Jan Rypka, History of Iranian Literature (1968). A useful introduction is Muhammad Sadiq, A History of Urdu Literature (1964). (Tamil): Kamil V. Zvelebil, Tamil Literature (1974), is an introduction to and critical study of the literature. Much useful information is found in Xavier S. Thani Nayagam, A Reference Guide to Tamil Studies (1966). Fuller treatment is given in C. and H. Jesudasan, A History of Tamil Literature (1961). Especially recommended are also T.P. Meenakshisundaram, A History of Tamil Literature (1965); and J.M. Somasundaram Pillai, A History of Tamil Literature with Texts and Translations from the Earliest Times to 600 A.D. (1968). A good account of Telugu literature is P. Chenchayya and R.M. Bhujanga Rao Bhadur, A History of Telugu Literature (1928). More recent is P.T. Raju, Telugu Literature (1944); and Gidugu Venkaja Sitapati, History of Telugu Literature (1968). Very little has been written on Kannada literature. Mention can be made of the older Edward P. Rice, A History of Kanarese Literature, 2nd ed. rev. and enl. (1921); and of H. Thipperuda Swamy, The Virasaiva Saints (1968). The literature in Malayalam is sketched in K.M. George, A Survey of Malayalam Literature (1968). Further mention can be made of K.K. Nair, A History of Malayalam Literature (1971); and of P.K. Parameswaran Nair, History of Malayalam Literature (Eng. trans. 1967). Finally, among the very few books in English on the literature of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), prominent mention can be made of Charles Edmund Godakumbura, The Literature of Ceylon (1963). Music Arnold A. Bake, The Music of India, in The New Oxford History of Music, vol. 1 (1957), a general chapter on Indian music dealing with the philosophical background, Vedic chant, the ancient musical system, the modern classical system, and musical instruments; Elise B. Barnett, Special Bibliography: The Art Music of India, Ethnomusicology, 14:278312 (1970), a listing of books and articles on Indian music, published since 1959, which includes some publications on folk and religious music, dance, and drama; Sudhibhushan Bhattacharya, Ethnomusicology and India (1968), a synchronic approach attempting to relate folk, tribal, religious, and classical music in terms of the cultural backgroundincludes outline notations in Indian sargam; Alain Danielou, The Raga-s of Northern Indian Music (1968), an individualistic interpretation of modern North Indian ragas, based partly on ancient theory; B.C. Deva, Psychoacoustics of Music and Speech (1967), a collection of articles on various aspects of music and speech, with emphasis on acoustics and thescientific study of Indian music; Arthur H. Fox-Strangways, The Music of Hindostan (1914, reprinted 1965), a work of wide scope including discussion of Vedic chant, folk music, and modern Indian classical music (includes notations in Western staff and analogies with Western music); O.C. Gangoly, Ragas and Raginis, 2 vol. (193435, reprinted 1948), a historical study that traces the systems of classifying ragas in Indian musical treatises, including a discussion of the time-theory of ragas as well as their iconography; Nazir A. Jairazbhoy, The Ragas of North Indian Music (1971), a technical work dealing with the structure and evolution of North Indian ragas (includes a 45 r.p.m. record of raga demonstrations performed on the sitar by Vilayat Khan, and extensive notations in Western staff and Indian sargam); Baburao Joshi and A. Lobo, Introducing Indian Music (n.d.), a series of four long-playing records, including musical examples and commentary, illustrating the main features of North Indian classical music, with accompanying booklet; Walter Kaufmann, The Ragas of North India (1968), description and notations, in Western staff, of about 230 ragas of modern North Indian music; Allen Keese, The Sitar Book (1968), an elementary guide to the sitar, with some description of playing techniques, musical exercises, and gats in ten ragas; Herbert A. Popley, The Music of India, 3rd ed. (1970), a general work including discussion of historical background, scale, raga, tala, musical form, and instruments, with notations in Western staff and Indian sargam; Harold S. Powers, Indian Music and the English Language: A Review Essay, Ethnomusicology, 9:112 (1965), a survey of the most important literature on Indian music written in the English language; and An Historical and Comparative Approach to the Classification of Ragas (with an Appendix on Ancient Indian Tunings), in Selected Reports of the Instiute of Ethnomusicology, UCLA, 1:178 (1970), a scholarly monograph that attempts to show the relationship between North and South Indian ragas that bear the same name but now differ in scaleincludes material on ancient Indian music and gives many musical examples in Western staff; Swami Prajnananda, A History of Indian Music, vol. 1 (1963), a technical work dealing with the origins and the music of the ancient period; P. Sambamoorthy, South Indian Music, 5 vol. (195869), a comprehensive work covering many aspects of South Indian musical theory, both synchronically and diachronically; Ravi Shankar, My Music, My Life (1969), a general book combining autobiographical and biographical material with a discussion of Indian music history, theory, and instruments, including a manual for the sitar. Bonnie C. Wade, Music in India: The Classical Traditions (1979), a discussion of performance, theory, and basic instruments of both the North and South; M.R. Guatam, The Musical Heritage of India (1981), a history with emphasis on classical traditions of both the North and South; Wim van der Meer, Hindustani Music in the Twentieth Century (1980), an introduction with emphasis on vocal music; Daniel M. Neuman, The Life of Music in North India (1980), an analysis of the place in society of the musician. Dance and theatre The main source book of Indian classical dance and theatre is the Natya-sastra, ascribed to Bharata Muni, trans. by Manmohan Ghosh, 2 vol. (195061), which deals with ceremonies, gesture language, architecture, production styles, makeup, and costumes. A.K. Coomaraswamy, The Dance of Shiva, rev. ed. (1957), brings alive the philosophy and aesthetics of Hindu dance. For general understanding of classical dance forms and techniques, see Rina Singha and Reginald Massey, Indian Dances (1967), which includes semiclassical styles, modern ballet, and biographical notes on dancers and gurus. Faubion Bowers, The Dance in India (1953), is a fascinating description of the four major classical dances. K. Bharatha Iyer, Kathakali (1955), is perhaps the best work on this dance-drama, with detailed descriptions of characters, historical background, and interpretation of dramatic symbols, with photographs and line drawings. Kapila Vatsyayan, Classical Indian Dance in Literature and the Arts (1968), surveys dance as found in temple sculpture, the plastic arts, and literaturea scholarly work with photos. For tribal dances and ceremonies of Central India, see Verrier Elwin, The Muria and Their Ghotul (1947; abridged ed., The Kingdom of the Young, 1968). For dramatic forms, production techniques, and classical rules the best source book is also the Natya-sastra, ascribed to Bharata Muni, op. cit. Arthur B. Keith, Sanskrit Drama in Its Origin, Development, Theory and Practice (1924, reprinted 1959), remains a standard scholarly critical work for comparative analysis of Sanskrit plays. P. Lal, Great Sanskrit Plays (1964) are actable transcreations in crisp modern English. A delightfully-written survey is Faubion Bowers, Theatre in the East (1956), which puts Indian dance and theatre in the larger perspective of South Asia with vivid and perceptive descriptions. For a general survey of classical, folk, and modern drama with sidelights on opera and ballet, illustrated by photographs and sketches, see Balwant Gargi, Theatre in India (1962). Hemendra Nath Das Gupta, The Indian Stage, 4 vol. (193444), deals mainly with the growth of Bengali theatres, actors, and productions in exhaustive detail with reproductions of period notebooks and papers. Balwant Gargi, Folk Theatre in India (1966), is an eyewitness account of religious, secular, and masked dramas in villages, with over 100 photographs and line sketches. See also J.C. Mathur, Drama in Rural India (1964). Beryl De Zoete, Dance and Magic Drama in Ceylon (1957), is a vivid account of rituals and magical masked dances in a diary form of day-to-day performances. E.R. Sarachchandra, The Folk Drama of Ceylon, 2nd ed. (1966), is a scholarly work on the development and background of Sinhalese folk dramas and cults of exorcism. For puppets and masks, see two small pamphlets: J. Tilakasir, Puppetry in Ceylon and Siri Gunasinghe, Masks of Ceylon (both published by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Ceylon, 1962). For the history of Kolam and description of various characters see O. Pertold, The Ceremonial Dances of the Sinhalese, Archiv Orientln, vol. 2 (1930). For Devil Dances and their interpretation in the light of witchcraft rituals, see Dandris De Silva Gunaratna, Demonology and Witchcraft in Ceylon, J. Ceylon Brch. R. Asiat. Soc., vol. 4, no. 13 (1861); Paul Wirz, Exorzismus und Heilkunde auf Ceylon (1941); Rachel Van M. Baumer and James R. Brandon (eds.), Sanskrit Drama in Performance (1981), essays on Ancient Indian theatrical performance. Visual arts (General works) Vincent A. Smith, A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, 3rd ed. rev. and enl. (1962); A.K. Coomaraswamy, History of Indian and Indonesian Art (1927, reprinted 1965); and Benjamin Rowland, Art and Architecture of India, 3rd ed. rev. (1967), are general introductions with good bibliographies. A.K. Coomaraswamy, Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought (1946), and Tranformation of Nature in Art (1934, reprinted 1956), contain important essays which discuss Indian aesthetic theories from the traditional point of view. A clear classification of Hindu images with particular reference to south India has been made in T.A. Gopinatha Rao, Elements of Hindu Iconography, 2 vol. in 4 (191416, reprinted 1968); and J.N. Banerjea, The Development of Hindu Iconography, 2nd ed. rev. and enl. (1956), is an analytical introduction to the subject. N.K. Bhattasali, Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in the Dacca Museum (1929); Benoytosh Bhattacharyya, The Indian Buddhist Iconography, 2nd ed. (1958); and Alfred Foucher, tude sur l'iconographie bouddhique de l'Inde, 2 vol. (190005), are important studies of Buddhist iconography. A.K. Coomaraswamy, Yaksas, 2 vol. (192831), is a masterly study of early iconography. Heinrich Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization (1946, reprinted 1963), discusses some important symbols of Indian art. Good collections of photographs are in James Burgess, The Ancient Monuments, Temples and Sculptures of India, 2 vol. (18971911); A.K. Coomaraswamy, Visvakarma (1912); Stella Kramrisch, The Art of India (1954); and Heinrich Zimmer, The Art of Indian Asia, 2 vol. (1955). Architecture James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, rev. ed., 2 vol. (1910, reprinted 1967); Percy Brown, Indian Architecture, 2 vol., 5th ed. (1965); and S.K. Saraswati, Architecture, in R.C. Masumdar (ed.), History and Culture of the Indian People, vol. 3 and 5 (195457), are standard works that survey the entire history of Indian architecture. James Fergusson and James Burgess, The Cave Temples of India (1880, reprinted 1969), is a comprehensive account of rock-cut architecture. Stella Kramrisch, The Hindu Temple, 2 vol. (1946), is concerned with principles and symbolism, and Krishna Deva, Temples of North India (1969), presents a synoptic view of the various north Indian styles. G. Jouveau-Dubreuil, Archologie du sud de l'Inde, 2 vol. (1914), analyses the south Indian style. K.R. Srinvasan, Cave Temples of the Pallavas (1964); and Arthur H. Longhurst, Pallava Architecture, 3 vol. (192430), are important studies of early south Indian architecture. Sir John Marshall, The Monuments of Muslim India, in The Cambridge History of India, vol. 3, pp. 568640 (1928, reprinted 1965); and Percy Brown, Monuments of the Mughal Period, ibid., vol. 4, pp. 523576 (1937, reprinted 1963), are important essays on Islamic architecture in India. See also Elizabeth S. Merklinger, Indian Islamic Architecture: The Deccan 13471686 (1981). Sculpture S.K. Sarasvati, A Survey of Indian Sculpture (1957); and Stella Kramrisch, Indian Sculpture (1933), discuss the broad historical and stylistic trends. Ludwig Bachhofer, Early Indian Sculpture (1929), is a fine stylistic analysis of sculptures from the third century BC to the third century AD. The classic work on Gandhara art is Alfred Foucher, L'Art grco-bouddhique du Gandhra, 2 vol. (190541), though several of its conclusions are no longer tenable. Sir John Marshall, Taxila, 3 vol. (1951), discusses works recovered from that site; and Harold Ingholt, Gandharan Art in Pakistan (1957, reprinted 1971), provides excellent photographic documentation. R.D. Banerji, The Age of the Imperial Guptas (1933), has a general discussion of the Gupta style; D.R. Sahni, Catalogue of the Museum of Archaeology at Sarnath (1914), contains information of interest on the school of Sarnath. Eliky Zannas, Khajuraho (1960); K.C. Panigrahi, Archaeological Remains at Bhubaneswar (1961); and R.D. Banerji, Eastern Indian School of Medieval Sculpture (1933), are monographs on schools of north Indian medieval sculpture. A.H. Longhurst, op. cit.; and K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Colas, 2nd ed. rev. (1955), contain information on the south Indian medieval styles. C. Sivaramamurti, South Indian Bronzes (1963); P.R. Srinivasan, Bronzes of South India (1963); Douglas E. Barrett, Early Cola Bronzes (1965), are important studies of south Indian bronzes; Frederick M. Asher, The Art of Eastern India: 300800 (1980), a study of the pre-Pala period. Painting In considering the published literature it is important to remember that the study of Indian painting, confined to a limited number of scholars, is of comparatively recent growth, and is therefore full of controversies and uncertainties which keep shifting with the discovery of fresh materials. The standard work on Ajanta is Ghulam Yazdani, Ajanta, 4 vol. (193055); and on the western Indian style, Moti Chandra, Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India (1949). Much interesting information on the period of transition to the Rajasthani and Mughal styles has been brought together in Karl J. Khandalavala and Moti Chandra, New Documents of Indian Painting (1969). The Mughal school has been ably presented in Percy Brown, Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 (1924); and Stuart C. Welch, The Art of Mughal India (1964). Douglas E. Barrett, Painting of the Deccan, XVIXVII Century (1958), is a brief introduction to the subject. The main publication on the Company style is Mildred and William G. Archer, Indian Painting for the British, 17701880 (1955). The classic work on Pahari and Rajasthani painting is A.K. Coomaraswamy's pioneering Rajput Painting, 2 vol. (1916). Fresh discoveries which have considerably changed the understanding of its history are summarized in Karl Khandalavala, Moti Chandra, and Pramod Chandra, Miniature Painting: A Catalogue of the Exhibition of the Sri Motichand Khajanchi Collection (1960). Moti Chandra, Mewar Painting in the Seventeenth Century (1957); William G. Archer, Indian Painting in Bundi and Kotah (1959); Pramod Chandra, Bundi Painting (1959); Eric Dickinson and Karl Khandalavala, Kishangarh Painting (1959); William G. Archer, Central Indian Painting (1958); and Anand Krishna, Malwa Painting (1963), are informative summaries of the growing knowledge of the various schools of Rajasthan. The standard work, illustrated copiously, on the Pahari style is Karl Khandalavala, Pahari Miniature Painting (1958), and different in its account from William G. Archer, Indian Painting in the Punjab Hills (1952). Books which cover most of the schools and are profusely illustrated include N.C. Mehta, Studies in Indian Painting (1926); William G. Archer, Indian Miniatures (1960); Robert Skelton, Indian Miniatures from the XVth to the XIXth Centuries (1961); Douglas E. Barrett and Basil Gray, Painting of India (1963); and Stuart C. Welch and Milo C. Beach, Gods, Thrones and Peacocks: Northern Indian Painting from Two Traditions, Fifteenth to Nineteenth Centuries (1965). (Ceylon): Standard works on Sinhalese art are Senerat Paranavitana, The Stupa in Ceylon (1946), Art and Architecture of Ceylon: Polonnaruva Period (1954), and Ceylon: Paintings from Temple, Shrine and Rock (1957). Moti Chandra, Studies in Early Indian Painting (1975), covers the 5th through 16th centuries; Calambur Sivaramamurti, The Art of India (1977), covering all types of art with 1175 illustrations; Stuart C. Welch, Room for Wonder: Indian Painting During the British Period, 17601880 (1978), an exhibition catolog with detailed comments on 125 illustrations. Decorative arts Scholarly literature on the decorative arts in India is scanty and mainly in learned journals. The Journal of Indian Art and Industries (18861916) is the most important and contains numerous pioneering studies. Sir George Watt, Indian Art at Delhi (1903); and Sir George Birdwood, The Industrial Arts of India, 2 vol. (1880), are for the most part descriptive texts emphasizing the technical aspects of the decorative arts as they had survived up to the closing years of the 19th century. John Irwin, Textiles and the Minor Arts, in Leigh Ashton (ed.), The Art of India and Pakistan, pp. 201237 (1950), is a brief historical survey of the subject. Moti Chandra, Ancient Indian Ivories, Bulletin of the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, no. 6, pp. 463 (195759), is a monograph on the history of Indian ivory carving. Thomas H. Hendley, Asian Carpets (1905), treats Indian examples in the important collections of the Maharaja of Jaipur. George P. Baker, Calico Painting and Printing in the East Indies in the XVIIth and XVIIIth Centuries (1921), is the most important work on the subject; Wilbraham Egerton, An Illustrated Handbook of Indian Arms (1880), catalogs and describes the wide range and achievement of the armourer's craft. Calambur Sivaramamurti J.A.B. van Buitenen Edward C. Dimock, Jr. C.M. Naim A.K. Ramanujan Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy Balwant Gargi Pramod Chandra Dance and theatre Theatre and dance in South Asia stem principally from Indian tradition. The principles of aesthetics and gesture language in the Natya-sastra, a 2,000-year-old Sanskrit treatise on dramaturgy, have been the mainstay of all the traditional dancers and actors in India. Even folk performers follow some of its conventions; e.g., the Kandyan dancers of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), who preserve some of the whirls and spins described in this ancient Indian text. Despite the influence of the different religious waves that swept the subcontinent through the centuries, the forms of South Asian dance and theatre were always able to preserve their ancient core. Traditionally, dance and acting are inseparable. The classical South Asian dancer, equipped with a repertoire of gesture language, alternates between nrtta, pure dance; nrtya, interpretive dance; and natya, dance with a dramatic element. (The Sanskrit word nata means a dancer-actor.) Traditional theatre throughout both South and Southeast Asia is a combination of music, dance, mime, stylized speech, and spectacle. The classical and folk actor must be a dancer, a singer, and a mime in one. Between the 2nd century BC and the 8th century AD, South Indian kings sent overseas trade missions, priests, court dancers, and sometimes armies to Southeast Asia. During these years of cultural expansion, Indian dance forms, mythological lore, and the language of gesture flourished in Burma, Cambodia, Java, Sumatra, and Bali. Later, when India's economic and political power shrank, its cultural empire remained intact. Even when these Southeast Asian countries embraced Buddhism or Islam, they continued performing dance dramas with Hindu gods and goddesses, adding to these their own local myths, costumes, and masks. The two Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, storehouses of dramatic personae of traditional dramas, have been absorbed by these countries as part of their own cultural heritage. Some dance forms and gesture vocabulary that died out in their land of birth have been preserved in Bali. For a discussion of the dance and theatre of Southeast Asia see the article Southeast Asian arts: The performing arts. The performing arts in India The royal courts and temples of India traditionally have been the chief centres of the performing arts. In ancient times, Sanskrit dramas were staged at seasonal festivals or to celebrate special events. Some kings were themselves playwrights; the most notable of the playwright-kings was Sudraka, the supposed 4th-century author of Mrcchakatika (The Little Clay Cart). Other well-known royal dramatists include Harsa, who wrote Ratnavali in the 7th century; Mahendravikramavarman, author of the 7th-century play Bhagavad-Ajjukiya; and Visakhadatta, creator of the 9th-century drama Mudraraksasa. In the 4th century BC, Kautilya, the chief minister of Emperor Candragupta, referred in his book on the art of government, the Artha-sastra, to the low morals of players and advised the municipal authorities not to build houses in the midst of their villages for actors, acrobats, and mummers. But, in the glorious era of the Hindu kings during the first eight centuries after Christ, actors and dancers were given special places of distinction. This tradition continued in the princely courts of India even under British rule. Kathakali dance-drama, for instance, was created by the Raja of Kottarakkara, ruler of one of the states of South India in the 17th century. The powerful peshwas of the Maratha kingdom in the 18th century patronized the tamasha folk theatre. Nawab Wajid Ali Shah (flourished mid-19th-century) was an expert kathak dancer and producer of Krishnalore plays in which his palace maids danced as the gopis (milkmaids who were devotees of Krishna). Maharajas of Travancore and Mysore competed with each other for the excellence of their dance troupes. In the 20th century, the Maharaja of Banaras (Varanasi) carried on this tradition by being patron and producer of the spectacular ramlila, a 31-day cycle play on Rama's life that he witnessed every night while sitting on his royal elephant. On special nights the spectators numbered more than 30,000. Dance is a part of all Hindu rituals. Farmers dance for a plentiful harvest, hunters for a rich bag, fishermen for a good catch. Seasonal festivals, religious fairs, marriages, and births are celebrated by community dancing. A warrior dances before the image of his goddess and receives her blessings before he leaves for battle. A temple girl dances to please her god. The gods dance in joy, in anger, in triumph. The world itself was created by the Cosmic Dance of Lord Siva, who is called Nataraja, the king of dancers, and worshipped by actors and dancers as their patron. Religious festivals are still the most important occasions for dance and theatrical activity. The ramlila krsnalila and raslila in North India (Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab), the chhau masked dance-drama in Saraikela region in Bihar, and the bhagavatha mela in Melatur village in Tamil Nadu are performed annually to celebrate the glory of their particular deities. During the Dasahara festival every village in North India enacts for a fortnight the story of Rama's life, with songs, dances and pageants. The jatra in West Bengal is a year-round dramatic activity, but the number of troupes swells to many thousands in Calcutta during the Puja festival. The hill and tribal people dance all night to celebrate their community festivals and weddings rich in masks, pageants, and carnivals. In far-flung areas of South Asia, people may not have seen a drama, but there will be hardly a person who has not witnessed or taken part in a community dance. In folk theatre, traditional dance, classical music, and poetical symposia (especially the Urdu musha'irah), performances are held in the open air or in a well-lit canopied courtyard so that the players can see the spectators and be motivated by their reactions. For the usually all-night folk dramas, people come with their children, straw mats, and snacks, making themselves at home. At these performances there is a constant inflow and outflow of spectators. Some go to sleep, asking their neighbours to awaken them for favourite scenes. Stalls selling betel leaves, peanuts, and spicy fried things, adorned with flowers and incense and lighted by oil lamps, surround the open-air arena. The clown, an essential character in every folk play, comments on the audience and contemporary events. Zealous spectators offer donations and gifts in appreciation of their favourite actor or dancer, who receives them in the middle of the performance and thanks the donor by singing or dancing a particular piece of his choice. The audience thus constantly throws sparks to the performer, who throws them back. People laugh, weep, sigh, or suddenly fall silent during a moving scene. In both folk and classical forms of drama, the performer may lengthen or shorten his piece according to audience response. During a kathak dance, the drummer, in order to test the perfection of the dancer, disguises the main beat of his drum by slurs and offbeats, a secret he shares with the audience and announces by a loud thump that is synchronized with the dancer's stamping of the foot. At this point in the dance the spectators shout, swaying their heads in admiration. They show their approval and disapproval through delighted groans or sullen headshakes as the performance goes on. In the raslila, the audience joins in singing the refrain and marks the beat by hand clapping. At a climactic point the people rock and sway, rhythmically clapping and singing. These practices bind the performers, chanters, and spectators together in a sense of aesthetic pleasure. Instrumental music and singing are integral parts of Indian dance and theatre. Musicians, chanters, and drummers sit on the stage in view, a tradition observed throughout almost all of Asia. They watch the dancer and play on their instruments following his movements, whereas in the West the movements of a ballerina are timed and controlled by the already-written music. An Indian dancer is constantly reacting to the accompanying musician, and vice versa. He may signal the chanters and drummers and even instruct them during the performance without spoiling its aesthetic effect. In some classical dance forms, such as kuchipudi, the dancer sings in voiceless whispers as she dances. In bharata-natyam the dance movements are like sculpted music in space, and the accompanying musician is invariably a dance guru (teacher). In kathak the rhythmic syllables beaten out by the dancer with her feet are vocalized by the singer and then chirped out by the drummer. No folk dancing is comp