Nature, Tradition and Originality: A Collection of Essays

The present volume entitled ‘Nature, Tradition and Originality-A Collection of Essays’ is based on articles written by Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan over a period of four decades. They focus attention on some key concepts that permeate the discourse on artistic theories in the Indian tradition.

The article in the first section, Alternate Paradigms of Knowledge, deals with evolution of categories in the Indian context. The next article on Indriyas is concerned with the question of the sense perceptions in the Indian tradition.

In another major section, the focus is on Siva, Siva as represented in architecture and sculpture and Siva as was manifested in a major exhibition curated by Stella Kramrisch in Philadelphia. Siva is also the theme of an article which focusses attention on geometry of the image of Nataraja.

In another section the focus shifts from Siva to Krishna, and similarly traces the history of the representation of Krishna in the Indian arts through sculpture and paintings from sources ranging from the Bhagavatapurana to the multiple traditions of miniature paintings.