Vishnudharmottara Purana (Art and Architecture)
by Bhagyashree Sarma | 2021 | 59,457 words
This page relates ‘7(c): Natural Objects and Phenomenon in Painting’ of the study on the elements of Art and Architecture according to the Vishnudharmottara Purana: an ancient text whose third book deals with various artisan themes such as Architecture, Painting, Dance, Grammar, etc. Many chapters are devoted to Hindu Temple architecture and the iconography of Deities and their installation rites and ceremonies.
7(c): Natural Objects and Phenomenon in Painting
[Full title: 3.7: Different Kinds of Portrait used in Painting (citra) (c): Reflection of the Portrait of Natural Objects and Phenomenon in Painting]
From the ancient period till today, many natural objects like trees, flowers, leaves, forests, mountains, sun, moon etc. and natural phenomenon like day and night, the seasons, rain etc. always seem to inspire the artist to make beautiful creations. Even the sages in the Vedic period used to see the surroundings and could visualise everything as portraits in the mind. That is why the sages are called the seers but not doer—ṛṣi darśanāt.[1] So, surroundings and the objects in the surroundings always play a strong role in the conceptualisation of an idea by a painter or an artist. The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa also bears an elaborate description on the process of making the picture of some natural objects and phenomenon. According to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, the picture of mountain should be adorned with plenty of rocks, peaks, metals, trees, streams and snakes.[2]
In the Kumārasambhava of Kālidāsa, the mountain Himālaya has been described as the storehouse of metals.[3] According to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, the picture of forest is filled with trees, birds and wild beast.[4] In Bāṇabhatta’s Kādambarī, beautiful picturisation of a forest called Vindhya, which is described as filled with plenty of trees, animals, birds etc.[5] Moreover, it is known from the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa that a picture having water or so to say showing water sources should be drawn with numerous fishes, tortoises and aquatic animals.[6] This purāṇa says that the sky should be drawn without any specific colour but it should be filled with various birds.[7]
The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa depicts that the picture of natural phenomenon like night should be drawn always with the moon, planets and stars. A beautiful picturisation of night with a sky full of stars and moon is found in the Kādamabarī.[8] Again the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa states that some concepts like the presence of thieves, sleeping person etc. are to be drawn in the picture of night.[9] The time of Uṣā i.e., dawn[10] when the sun is about to rise. It seems to be a beautiful source of Painting. In the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, the picture of this time is associated with the rising of the sun, dim lamps and cocks in crying mood.[11] In the Vedic period, some natural objects and phenomena were associated with the form of deities. The time of dawn is also portrayed as the Goddess Uṣā in the Ṛgveda and it is said that, in the beginning of the day, the mighty Sun sends goddess Uṣā and after that the Sun god enters into the earth and heaven.[12]
Moreover, in the Raghuvaṃśa, a description of final emancipation of the king Daśaratha is seen, where Daśaratha assumed like the flame of a lamp which was about to turn off in early morning.[13] The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa also states that sometimes the picture of a dawn is said to have the people who are eager to do their work and also have a monkey.[14] . Change of weather is the foremost reason of different seasons, in which the nature changes her forms in different ways. Every season has its own peculiarities and charms. The seasons always encourage the painters to grab different ideas from the nature. The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa also gives some instructions to make the picture of every season beautiful and natural. According to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, the picture of Vasanta i.e., the spring season[15] should contain the trees which bloom in this season particularly the cuckoo, honey bees and joyful men and women.[16] Thus the picture reciprocates the natural actions that generally happen in life. In the Sivapurāṇa, a beautiful picturisation of the Spring season is found where the spring season is described with abundance of flowers, blossoms, fragrant wind, cuckoo’s song, clean lakes, blooming lotuses etc.[17]
In the Ṛtusaṃhāra of Kālidāsa, the beautiful picturisation of the natural changes of all the six seasons are portrayed. In the context of the spring season in the Ṛtusaṃhāra, the reader can visualise a beautiful picture of nature with trees full of flowers, waters, lotuses, fragrant wind, pleasant evening and delightful days. Moreover, in this season, the ladies appear to be very passionate.[18] According to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, Grīṣma i.e., the summer season[19] should be exhibited with the picture having tired men, deer-wandering for shade, buffaloes-hiding themselves in mud to get rid of heat and dried water sources like pools, lakes etc. projecting the season of drought.[20] In the Ṛtusaṃhāra, giving the description of the summer season, Kālidāsa says that the summer season is the hot season when the sun becomes fierce and the moon becomes peaceful.[21] Due to the hot weather, the animal of the forest become exhausted and that is why even the peacocks do not kill the serpents. The wild pigs hide themselves in ponds wherein the mud dries up.[22]
As per the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, Varṣā i.e., the rainy season[23] which is also known as monsoon period should be portrayed with the picture of birds hiding in the trees to get rid of rain, lions and tigers taking shelter in their caves, clouds, rainbow and sparks of lighting in the sky.[24] In the season of Śarat i.e., autumn, the trees are filled with fruits and fields are filled with crops. Taking the fullness of nature as a theme, in the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, the portrait of the autumn season is prescribed to be depicted with the picture of the earth covered with the plants full of fruits and the fields filled with plenty of ripe grains. Moreover, the picture of the autumn season should include the water-ponds along with lots of swans and lotuses.[25] The picturisation of the autumn season as found in the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa seems to be quite similar with the description of autumn as found in the Ṛtusaṃhāra.[26] The picture of Hemanta i.e., the season comprising the month of Mārgaśīrṣa and Pauṣa[27] should contain the drops of dew. According to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, in this season, the earth is looped of her crops and the horizon is filled with fog.[28] Again Śiśira i.e., the winter season[29] according to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa should be depicted through the picture having pleased crows and elephants and a person shivering in cold. According to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa the picture should contain horizon filled with snow.[30]
In the Ṛtusaṃhāra, Kālidāsa says that in the cold season, the earth is filled with clusters of grown-up rice and sugar cane.[31] Thus Painting has much connection with time, mood and activity. The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa has well depicted this connection in addressing the portrays of various elements of nature. The close relationship between the mode and time is noticed in the Rāgamālā pictures also where seasons, natural activities, feelings, emotions, sentiments etc are fused as Painting. The Rāgamālā pictures depicts the time of day and night and sometimes the changing weather of different seasons which are noticed as appropriate to the respective mode. A.K Coomaraswamy, the author of Introduction to Indian Art also gives his view point in the same way in this context.[32]
Footnotes and references:
[2]:
parvataṃ tu śailājālaiḥ śikharairdhātubhirdrumaiḥ/ nirjharairbhujagaiścaiva darśayennṛpasattamaḥ// Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.42.59
[5]:
[6]:
toyam ca darśayedvidvānanantairmatsyakacchapaiḥ/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.42.60
[7]:
ākāśam daśayerdvidvānvivarṇam khagamākulam/ Ibid., 3.42.57
[8]:
candrābharaṇabhṛtastārakākapālaśakalālaṃkṛtādambaratalāttryambakottamāṅgādiva gaṅgā sāgarānāpūrayantī haṃsadhavalā dharaṇyāmapatajjyotsnā/ Kādambarī, 1.p.83
[9]:
sacandragrahanakṣatrām tathā darśitalaukikām/ āsannataskarāṃ rātriṃ darśayetsuptamānavām// Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.42.68
[11]:
sāruṇo mlānadīpaśca pratyūṣo rutakukkuṭaḥ/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.42.68
[12]:
[...] Ṛgveda, 3.61.7
[13]:
nirviṣṭaviṣayasnehaḥ sa daśāntamupeyivān/ āsīdāsannanirvāṇaḥ pradīpārcirivoṣasi// Raghuvaṃśam, 12.1
[14]:
karmavyagrajanaprāyaḥ kartavyo vānarastathā/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.42. 70
[15]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.497
[16]:
vṛkṣairvasantajaiḥ phullaiḥ kokilāmadhupotkaṭaiḥ/
prahṛṣṭanaranārīkaṃ vasantaṃ ca pradarśayet// Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.42.73-74
[17]:
[18]:
[19]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.196
[20]:
klāntaiḥ kāryaṃ narairgrīṣmam mṛgaiśchāyāgataistathā/
mahiṣaiḥ paṅkamalinaistathā śuṣkajalāśayam/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.42.74-75
[21]:
pracaṇḍasūryaḥ spṛhaṇīyacandramāḥ……/ ….. nidāghakālo’yamupāgataḥ priye// Ṛtusaṃhāra, 1.1
[22]:
[23]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.495
[24]:
vihaṅgairdrumasaṃlīnaiḥ siṃhavyāghrairguhāgataiḥ//
toyanamraghanairyuktaṃ sendracāpavibhūṣaṇaiḥ/
vidyudvidyotanairyuktāṃ prāvṛṣaṃ darśayettathā// Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.42.76
[25]:
saphaladrumasaṃyuktāṃ pakvasasyāṃ vasundharām/ sahaṃsapadmasalilāṃ śaradaṃ tu tathā likhet/ Ibid., 3.42.77
[26]:
kāśāṃśukā vikacapadmamanojñavakā sonmādahaṃsaravanūpuranādaramyā/ āpakkaśālirucirānatagātrayaṣṭiḥ prāptā śarannavadhūriva rūparamyā// kāśairmahī śiśīradīdhitinā rajanyo haṃsairjalāni saritāṃ kumudaiḥ sarāṃsi/ saptacchadaiḥ kusumabhāranatairvanāntāḥ śuklīkṛtānyupavanāni ca mālatībhiḥ// Ṛtusaṃhāra, 3.1-2
[27]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.643
[28]:
savāṣpasalilam sthānam tathā lūnavasundharam/
sanīhāradigantam ca hemantaṃ darśayedbudhaḥ// Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.42.78
[29]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.556
[30]:
hṛṣṭavāyasamātaṅgaṃ śītārtajanasaṅkulam/ śiśiraṃ tu likhedvidvānhimacchannadigantaram/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.42.79
[31]:
prarūḍhaśālīkṣucayāvṛtakṣirti…….śiśirāhvayaṃ śṛṇu// Ṛtusaṃhāra, 5.2