INDIAN ART

INTRODUCTION
Study of history of art has developed in association with archaeological studies;
however, it is now recognized as a specialized discipline. In the West, mainly in
Europe, historical art as a discipline has grown considerably with numerous
methodological inputs, whereas in India it is still in the process of development in its
investigating mechanisms. As the study of art history has grown out of extensive
documentations and excavations, one finds description of art objects as the
prominent method of study. There are a few significant studies in the early twentieth
century, where the concerns are addressed beyond mere description. Subsequently
several generations of outstanding western and Indian scholars of Indian art history
have studied the subject in great depth and the findings are a revelation of how
glorious has been the Indian civilizational achievement through its art creations in
the medium of architectural monuments, sculptures and paintings. We can claim a
distinct Indian approach to the art of building edifices, sculpture making and the
language of painting when compared with European art or the Far Eastern art.
Therefore, Indian historical art studies have emerged as a prestigious academic
discipline in the university level education.

ART - ANCIENT &MEDIEVALTIMES

Arts of the Indus Valley
The arts of the Indus Valley Civilization emerged during the
second half of the third millennium BCE in the Indian sub continent. The forms of art found from various sites of the
civilisation include sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewellery,
terracotta figures, etc. The artists of that time surely had fine
artistic sensibilities and a vivid imagination. Their delineation
of human and animal figures was highly realistic in nature.
The two major sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation,
along the Indus River ---the cities of Harappa in the north
Bust of a bearded priest
and Mohenjo-Daro in the south --- showcase one of the
earliest examples of civic planning with houses, markets, storage facilities, offices,
public baths, etc., arranged in a grid-like pattern. There was also a highly developed
drainage system. While Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are situated today in Pakistan,
the important sites excavated in India are Lothal and Dholavira in Gujarat,
Rakhigarhi in Haryana, Ropar in the Punjab, Kalibangan and Balathal in Rajasthan,
etc.
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The Indus Valley people made

terracotta images also but compared to the
stone and bronze statues, the terracotta
representation of human form are crude in
Harappa and Mahenjo-Daro. They are
more realistic in Dholavira and Kalibangan.
The most important among the Indus
figures are those representing the mother
goddess.
Arts of the Mauryan Period
Sixth century BCE marks the beginning of new religious and social movements in the
Gangetic valley of northern India in the form of Buddhism and Jainism. Magadha
emerged as a powerful kingdom and consolidated its control over the other regions.
By the fourth century BCE the Mauryas established their power and by the third
century BCE, a large part of India was under Mauryan control. Ashoka emerged as
the most powerful king of the Mauryan dynasty who patronised the shraman
tradition in the third century BCE.
Construction of stupas and viharas as part of the monastic establishment
became part of the Buddhist tradition. In this period, apart from stupas and viharas,
stone pillars, rock-cut caves and monumental figure sculptures were carved at
several places. The Mauryan stone pillars were erected all over the Empire with
inscriptions engraved on them. The top portion of the pillar was carved with capital
figures like bull, lion, elephant, etc. The Mauryan pillar capital found at Sarnath,
popularly known as the Lion Capital, is the finest example of Mauryan sculptural
tradition.
The Lion Capital of Sarnath
The Lion Capital at Sarnath, near Varanasi, is generally referred
to as Sarnath Lion Capital, built in commemoration of the first
sermon or the Dhammachakrapravartana by the Buddha at
Sarnath. The capital originally consisted of five parts. The shaft
(which is broken in many parts now), a lotus bell base, a drum on
the bell base with four animal proceeding clockwise, the figures
of four majestic adorned lions, and the crowning element the
Dharamchakra, a large wheel mounted on the heads of the lions.
The capital without the crowning wheel and the lotus base has
been adopted as the National Emblem of India.
The dharmachakra represented with 24 spokes is depicted in Indias
National Flag as Ashoka Chakra. The wheel which now lies broken
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is displayed in the archaeological museum at Sarnath and so is the Capital with four
lions firmly seated back to back on a circular abacus.
Mathura, Sarnath and Gandhara art
The first century CE onwards, Gandhara (now in
Pakistan), Mathura in northern India and Vengi in
Andhra Pradesh emerged as important centres of art
production. Buddha was depicted in human form in
Mathura and Gandhara. The sculptural tradition in
Gandhara had the confluence of Bactria, Parthia and
the local Gandhara tradition. The local sculptural
tradition at Mathura became so strong that it spread to
other parts of northern India. The best example in this
regard is the stupa sculptures found at Sanghol in
Punjab. The Buddha image in Mathura are modelled
on the lines of earlier Yaksha images whereas in
Gandhara it has Hellenistic features. Images of
Vaishnava (mainly Vishnu and his various forms) and
Shiva (mainly the lingas and mukhalingas) are also found in Mathura but Buddhist
images are found in larger numbers.
Early Temples
Temples were often decorated with the images of Gods. Myths mentioned in the
Puranas became part of the narrative representation of the Brahmanical religion.
Each temple had a principal image of a God. The shrines of the temples were of three
kinds- (i) Sandhara type (without pradikshinapatha) (ii) Nirandhara type (with
pradikshinapath), and (iii) Sarvatobhadra (which can be accessed from all sides).
Some of the important temple sites of this period are Deogarh in Uttar Pradesh and
Eran, Nachna-Kuthara and Udaygiri near Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh. These
temples are simple structures consisting of a veranda, a hall and a shrine at the rear.
Among the important sites outside the Gangetic Valley is Devnimori in Gujarat.

Cave Tradition in Western India

Ajanta Caves of Aurangabad, Maharashtra.

In western India, many Buddhist caves dating back to the second century BCE
onwards have been excavated. Mainly three architectural types were executed (i)
apsidal vault- roof chaitya halls (found at Ajanta, Pitalkhora, Bhaja); (ii) apsidal vaultroof pillarless hall (found at Thana- Nadsur); and (iii) flat-roofed quadrangular hall
with a circular chamber at the back (found at Kondivite). The front of the chaitya hall
is dominated by the motif of a semi-circular chaitya arch with an open front which
has a wooden facade and, in some cases, there is no dominating chaitya arch window
such as found at Kondivite. In all the chaitya caves a stupa at the back is common.
The most famous Buddhist cave site is Ajanta, located in Aurangabad district
of Maharashtra. Ajanta has twenty-nine caves. It has four Chaitya caves dated to the
earlier phase, i.e., the second and the first century BCE (Cave Nos. 10 and 9) and the
later phase, i.e., the fifth century CE (Cave Nos. 19 and 26). It has large Chaityaviharasand is decorated with sculptures and paintings. Many paintings have
survived in Cave Nos. 1,2,16 and 17. The paintings have lots of typological
variations. Outward projections are used in the Ajanta paintings of the fifth century
CE. Lines are clearly defined and the rhythmic body colour gets merged with the
outer line creating the effect of volume. The figures are heavy like the sculptures of
western India.
The caves of the early phase also have paintings especially in Cave Nos. 9 and
10. Paintings in cave No.10 are an afterthought as is evident from the plastering over
the early inscriptions inside the cave. On the other hand, the paintings in Cave No. 9
were preplanned and belong to the first century BCE. The figures are broad with
heavy proportion and arranged in the picture space in a linear way. Lines are sharp,
colours are limited. Figures of these caves are painted with considerable naturalism
and there is no over stylization. Events are grouped together according to
geographical location. Tiered, horizontally-arranged figures appear as a convenient
choice of the artisans. The themes of the paintings are the vents from the life of the
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Buddha, the Jatakas and the Avadanas. Some paintings such

as
SimhalaAvadana,
MahajanakaJataka,
and
VidhurpunditaJataka cover the entire wall of the cave.
Shrine images at Ajanta are grand in size. Some of the
Vihara caves are unfinished such as Cave Nos. 5, 14, 23, 24,
28, 29.
Another important cave site located in Aurangabad
District is Ellora. It is located a hundred kilometres from
Ajanta and has thirty-two Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jain
caves. By the late seventh or the early eighth century, the
ambitious projects at Ellora became even grander.
Painting of Vajrapani from
By about 750 CE, the early western Chalukya
Ajanta Cave No. 1
control of the Deccan was taken by the Rashtrakutas.
Their greatest achievement in architecture is the Kailashnath temple at Ellora,a
culmination of at least a millennium long tradition in rock cutarchitcture in India. It
is a complete Dravidastyle building with a Nandi shrine -- since the temple is
dedicated to Shiva. Agopuram like gateway, surrounding cloisters, subsidiary
shrines, staircases and an imposing tower or vimana rising to thiry meters. One
portion of the monolithic hill was carved entirely to build the Kailashnath temple.
The sculpture of the Rashtrakuta phase at Ellora is dynamic, the figures often larger
than life, infused with unparalleled grandeur and the most overwhelming energy.
The Elephanta Caves located near Mumbai, were originally a Buddhist site
which was later dominated by the Shaivite faith. It is contemporary and its
sculptures show slenderness in the body, with stark light and dark effects. The other
noteworthy cave site is Bagh located near Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
Later Mural Traditions
After Ajanta, very few sites with paintings have survived but they provide valuable
evidences to reconstruct the tradition of paintings. It may also be noted that the
sculptures were plastered and painted. The tradition of cave excavations continued
further at many places where sculpting and painting were done simultaneously.
One such site is Badami in Karnataka. Badami was the capital of the western
Chalukyan dynasty which ruled the region from 543 to 598 CE. The Chalukya king,
Mangalesha patronised the excavation of the Badami caves. The inscription in Cave
No.4 mentioned the date 578-579 CE describes the beauty of the cave and includes
the dedication of the image of Vishnu. Therefore, the cave is popularly known as the
Vishnu Cave.

Badami cave temple of Karnataka

The tradition of the painting extended further down south in Tamil Nadu in
the preceding century with regional variations during the regimes of Pallava,
Pandya and Chola dynasties. The Pallava kings who succeeded the Chalukya Kings
in parts of South India, were also patrons of arts. Mahendravarma I who ruled in the
seventh century was responsible for building temple at Panamalai, Mandagapattu
and Kanchipuram. Paintings in the Kanchipuram temple were patronised by the
Pallava King, Rajsimha.
When the Pandyas rose to power, they too patronised art. The
Tirumalaipuram caves and Jaina caves at Sittanvasal are some of the surviving
examples. A few fragmented layers of paintings can be seen in Tirumalaipuram. In
Sittanavasal, the paintings are visible on the ceilings of shrines, in verandas and on
the brackets.
Temple Architecture and Sculpture
The basic form of the Hindu temple comprises the following: (i) a cave-like sanctum
(garbhagriha
literally
womb-house),
which,
in
the
early
tem
ples, was a small cubicle with a single entrance and grew into a larger chamber in
time. The garbhagriha is made to house the main
icon which is itself the focus of many rituals; (ii)
the entrance to the temple which may be a
portico or colonnaded hall that incorporates
space for a large number of worshippers and is
known as a mandapa; (iii) from the fifth century
CE onwards, freestanding temples tend to have
a mountain-like spire, which can take the shape
of a curving shikhar in North India and a
pyramidal tower, called a vimana in South India;
(iv) the vahan, i.e., the mount or vehicle of the
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temples main deity along with a standard pillar of dhvaj is placed axially before the
sanctum. Two broad orders of temples in the country are known- Nagara in the north
and Dravida in the south.
The style of temple architecture that became popular in northern India is
known as Nagara. In North India it is common for an entire temple to be built on a
stone with steps leading up to it. While the earliest temples had just one tower,
Shikhara, later temples had several.
Numerous temples of smaller dimensions have been constructed over aperiod
of time. In contrast, the temples of Khajuraho made in the tenth century,i.e.,about
four hundred years after the temple at Deogarh, shows how dramatically the shape,
style and size of the nagaratemple architecture had developed. The Lakshmana
temple dedicated to Vishnu is the grandest temple of Khajuraho, built in 954.
Khajurahos temples are known for their extensive erotic sculptures; the erotic
expression is given equal in human experience as spiritual persuit, and it is seen as a
part of larger cosmic whole. The epitome of temple architecture in North India is the
Kandariya Mahadeo temple at Khajuraho.
The temples in north western parts of India including Gujarat and Rajasthan,
are stylistically extendable. The most exuberant and famed is the menipulatable soft
white marble which is also seen in some of the tenth to twelfth century Jain temples
at Ranakpur. The Sun temple at Modhera dates back to early eleventh century and
was built by Raja Bhimdev I of the Solanki Dynasty in 1026. There is a massive
rectangular stepped tank called the Surya kund in front it. The influence of wood
carving tradition of Gujarat is evident in the lavish carving and sculpture work.
Eastern India temples include those found in the North East, Bengal and
Odisha. Each iof these three areas produced distinct types of temples. Kamakhya
temple situated in Guwahati, Assam, a Shakti peeth, is dedicated to Goddess
Kamakhya and was built in the seventeenth century. In Bengal the ninth century
SiddeshvaraMahadeva temple in Barakar in Burdwandistrict, shows a tall curving
Sikhara crowned by a large amalaka and is an example of the early Pala style. It is
similar to the temples of Odisha. Many of the temples from ninth to the twelfth
century were located at Telkupi in Purulia district.
The main architectural features of the Odisha temples are classified in three
orders, i.e., rekhapida, pidhadeul and khakra. Most of the main temple sites are located
in ancient Kalinga -- modern Puri, Bhubaneswar and Konark. In Konark , the Sun
temple is set on a high base, its walls covered in extensive, detailed ornamental
carving. These include twelve pairs of enormous wheels sculpted with spokes and
hubs, representing the chariot wheels of the Sun god.
A unique form of architecture developed in the hills of Kumaon, Garhwal,
Himachal and Kashmir. The sculptures at Chambain Himachal also show an
amalgamation of local tradition with a post-Gupta style. The images of
Mahishasuramardini and Narasimhaat the Laksana-Devi Mandir are evidence of the
same. Both the images shows the metal sculpture traditions of Kashmir.
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In south India, Kanchpuram,Thanjavur or Thanjore, Madurai and

Kumbakonam are the famous temple towns of Tamil Nadu. The shore temple at
Mahabalipuram was built during the reign of Narasimhavarman II. The magnificent
Shiva temple of Thanjavur, called the Rajarajeswara or Brihadiswara temple, was
completed around 1009.
Indo- Islamic Architecture
In the seventh and eighth centuries CE, Islam spread towards Spain and India. Islam
came to India, particularly, with Muslim merchants, traders, holy men and
conquerors over a passage of six hundred years.
Although by the eighth century CE, Muslims had
begun to construct in Sind, Gujarat, etc.
Keeping in mind religious and secular
necessities, architecture in form of mosques, tombs,
dargahs, minars, hammanms, formally laid out gardens,
madrasas, sarais or caravansarais, Kos minars came up
over a period of time.
Two most striking minars of medieval times are
the QutubMinar in Delhi and the Chand Minar at
Daulatabad Fort. The QutubMinar also came to be
associated with the revered saint of Delhi,
KhwajaQutubuddinBakhtiyar Kaki. The QutubMinar,
built in the thirteenth century, is a 234-feet-high
QutubMinar, Delhi
tapering tower divided into five storeys. Chand
Minar, built in the fifteenth century is a 210-feet-high tapering tower divided into
four storeys.
Monumental structures over graves of rulers and royalty was a popular
feature of medieval India. Some well known examples of such tombs are those of
GhyasuddinTughlaq, Humayun, Abdur Rahim Khan-i-khanan, Akbar and
Itmaduddaula.
Taj Mahal was built in Agra by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his deceased
wife Mumtaz Mahal. Taj Mahal was the apogee of the evolutionary architectural
process in medieval India. From 1632 onwards it took nearly twenty years and 20000
specialised workers to complete this monument.

The Rajasthani and Pahari Schools of Painting

A folio from the DholaMaru love-legend of Rajasthan, Mewar, dated 1592 A.D., National
Museum, New Delhi
The term Rajput was coined by the early twentieth
century
art-historian
and
scholar
Anand
Coomaraswamy, when not many miniature
paintings were discovered. It was generally meant
to designate that section of non-Mughal painting
which originated and prevailed in the courts of
Rajput rulers in the plains of Rajasthan and the
wide area lying between the Punjab plains and the
western Himalayas. These are now refered to as the
Rajasthani and Pahari Schools respectively.
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Pahari miniature painting, distinct in spirit and idiom, flourished in the

foothills of the western Himalaya from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.
The Pahari style was prevalent in numerous places such as Basohli, Kulu, Chamba,
Mankot, Nurpur, Guler, Kangra etc.
The term Rajasthani is applied to schools of paintings which flourished
between the sixteenth and the early nineteenth centuries in the various states of
Rajasthan. Mewar, Malwa, Bundi, Kotah, Bikaner, Kishangarh and Jaipur were
flourishing centres of art and craft. The Rajasthani paintings reflect a lot of interest in
diversity. Although some of the states were separated by small distances, the theme
and technique of the paintings varied considerably. Some schools put an accent on
fine execution, others on strong and brilliant colours and some like Kishangarh on
extreme mannerism.
Gujarati and Malwa Paintings
Art in Gujarat is famous for its variety. From ancient
forms of art, traditional fabric based paintings, and
decorative folk art, to modern art forms such as
photography, Gujarats art has a lot to offer to
connoisseurs as well as ordinary art lovers. The Kalamkari
art found in Gujarat has religious underpinnings, and is
called Matani Pachedi. The paintings are created on a
cream colored fabric base. The subjects of these paintings
are usually religious, pertaining to gods and goddesses.
The paintings form the backdrop of Goddess Durga
statues in many temples. They are brought in by devotees
Radha and Krishna
as an offering to the Goddess if their wish is granted.
Illustration from 'Rasikapriya'
During religious festivals, these paintings are much sought after Malwa,
in thec. rural
1634 and
many urban areas of the state. Keeping pace with the changing times, the handpainted textiles have given way to partially block-printed fabric, where the borders
are created with printing blocks and the rest of the painting is made by hand.
Pithora is among the most well known of Gujarat's folk art forms. Created by
communities such as the Rathwas, these paintings usually serve two purposes:
celebration of good times, and a call to the local deity Pithora Baba to rescue the
people from drought or disease. The paintings are created as part of a ritual, with a
Lakahara group creating the painting and the Badva performing rituals alongside as
the head priest. Today, the elegant motifs and frescoes of Pethora style of art can also
be found on terracotta pots and decorative items.
Mlwa painting: The 17th century school of Rjasthan miniature painting was centred
largely in Mlwa and Bundelkhand (in modern Madhya Pradesh state). The style is
sometimes referred to as Central Indian painting on the basis of its geographical
distribution. The school was conservative and little development is seen from the
earliest examples, such as the Rasikapriy (a poem analyzing the love sentiment)
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series dated 1636 and the Amaruatakam (a Sanskrit poem of the late 17th century),
now in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya of Mumbai. Little is
known of the nature of the school in the 18th century. Mlwa paintings show a
fondness for rigorously flat compositions, black and chocolate-brown backgrounds,
figures shown against a solid colour patch, and architecture painted in lively colour.
The schools most appealing features are a primitive charm and a simple childlike
vision.
The Mughal School of Miniature Painting
Miniature painting had exposure to the
conventional Persian school of painting,
which to a great extent remained their
innate artistic idiom.
With the growing European contact
with Mughal courts, Mughal artists were
exposed to the idiom which was a visual
representation of the art developed under
the Greek and Romans and which was
revived during the thirteenth to early
sixteenth century in Europe. This was a
rebirth or renaissance, of the classical
elements of art, generally referred as European Renaissance art. Devices such as
artificial perspective, modelling, and sfumato (the technique of applying colours in
grades creating an almost imperceptible tonal shift from light to dark) were adapted
in the Mughal studio.
Shah Jahan has been shown visiting the shrine of Khwaja Muinuddin Chisti at
Ajmer (1656), in a painting attributed to a Kashmiri Painter, which is a fine example
of eclectic artistic assimilation by the Mughals. A painting which depicts Emperor
Akbar sitting with an easy air about him, attended by two of his grandsons -- one of
them Prince Khurram was a favorite of Akbar. The Jahangiri period of Mughal
miniatures mirrors this love for nature and hunting and marked the pinnacle of
miniature paintings, after which there was a
steady fall in painting tradition.

The Deccani School of Painting

The history of Deccani painting can largely be
constructed from the late sixteenth century until
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Woman and Attendants with a Bird

Golconda, Deccan School, late 18th c.

the 1680s - the time when Mughals conquered Deccan. The Deccan can be seen in the
art of the nineteenth century under the Asafiya dynasty.
The Deccani style of painting was for long placed under the banner of IndoPersian art. In the plateau region of southern India, beyond the Vindhya range of
mountains, during the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries under various sultans
of Deccan, a school of painting which was immediately distinct and strong was
nurtured and expanded. The kingdoms of Bijapur, Golconda and Ahmednagar
developed highly sophisticated and distinct school of court painting. Its unique
sensuality and intense colours have strong affinity to regional aesthetics. The school
preferred dense composition and an aura of romance which expressed itself in an
eloquently natural visual idiom.
The Bengal School
The growing influence of the Bengal School of Art, its growing affinity with the
nationalists and the rise of the swadeshi ideology created
a strong visual movement which propagated a
philosophy that also looked for the authentic. The year
1896 was crucial in the Indian history of visual
representation. E. B. Havell (1861-1934), a British
educationalist and Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951)
saw great need to Indianise education of art in the
country. Thus they began in the Government Art
School, Calcutta (now Kolkata). A new objective
curriculum was formulated to include and encourage
the techniques and themes in Indian art traditions. Here,
the art students incorporated and closely studied the
great Indian artists and their works. As the art historian
Partha Mitter writes, The first generation of the students of
Abanindranath engaged in recovering in the lost language of
"Ganesh-janani" by
Abanindranath Tagore.
Indian art. A distinct visual style was formulated which
was addressed as Oriental art, and one of its
ideological position was the intellectual celebration of Pan-Asian ideals.
Nandlal Bose, student of Abanindranath Tagore, joined Shantiniketan the
university founded by poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. Here, Nandlal
found intellectual and artistic milieu in which he disseminated the philosophy of
Abanindranath.
Two artists of this time who were important to an art that was to become
more modernist and avant-garde in post-independent India were Gaganendranath
Tagore and Rabindranath Tagore who kept themselves outside the Bengal
movement but practiced an art that was informed by the modernist movement in
Europe and receptive of its avant-garde manifesto.
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Raja Ravi Varma

One of the significant names in Indian art history, belonging to the 18th century is
Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906). Raja Ravi Varma adopted academic realism but
painted themes from ancient Hindu mythologies
and Indian aristocracy and historical narratives. He
had duly studied the Ramayana, Mahabharata and
other anthologies. It would strike him time and
again that the paintings would be unbound subject
for books. Why not make use of European drawing
styles for these subjects! And he began using
Indian themes for his paintings. He chose the
theme of Kalidasa's 'AbhigyanShakuntalam' to
depict Shakuntala writing a love letter to
Dushyant, lost in herself. This was his first painting
sent for a competition and was awarded a gold
medal by the Governor General Sir Moniyar
Williams who adapted 'Shakuntalam' in English.
Jatayu struck down by Ravana
from Ramayana by Ravi Varma
He liked this painting so much that he got the
picture printed in his book, which achieved
international acclaim.
Amrita Sher-gil
Amrita Sher-gil is another artist who could influence the Indian
intelligentsia in the 1930s. She had studied art in France and
was influenced by the French post-impressionist artist
Gauguin. After deciding to make India her base she worked to
develop an art that had Indian themes and images. Amrita
Sher-gil assimilated miniature and mural traditions of Indian
art and also Indian colour preferences. She died young, leaving
behind a remarkable body of work, which is important for its
art historical consciousness and sensitivity to the changes
taking place and the new need of modern themes in Indian contemporary art.

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