Triveni Journal

1927 | 11,233,916 words

Triveni is a journal dedicated to ancient Indian culture, history, philosophy, art, spirituality, music and all sorts of literature. Triveni was founded at Madras in 1927 and since that time various authors have donated their creativity in the form of articles, covering many aspects of public life....

Kashmir and the Fine Arts

Dr. P. Srinivasachar

What is the contribution of Kashmir to the cultural heritage of India? What is the special achievement of Kashmiri genius which ensures for it a place of honour in the Temple of Learning, or the abode of the Muses? These are the questions that one might well ask in these days of ‘practical’ ideas and provincial feelings. Many of us in Dakshinapatha know of Kashmir only as an ancient seat of Sanskrit learning. A few of us might have actually toured in Kashmir and admired the beauties of Nature. But few of us realize that the charm of Kashmir is due as much to the peculiar genius of its people as to the nature of this country. It seems to be in the nature of things that the inhabitants of this beautiful land should be such remarkable people–remarkable alike for their personal beauty as for their accomplishments. Kashmir beauties are proverbial down the ages, and the greatest Moghul Emperors have bowed down and surrendered their hearts to the surpassing beauties of this enchanting country. But even that stands no comparison with the fame that Kashmir has won for herself through the marvelous achievements of her people in the field of the Fine Arts. No other country in the world could have produced a Poet like Bilhana, a rasika like King Harsha, a lover of music and dance like Jayapida, and a band of literary critics like the Kashmiri Alamkarikas. Even Kalidasa, according to several scholars, is a Kashmiri, and several important considerations lend great weight to this opinion. As for the architectural and the sculptural remains, today, even in their hopelessly ruined state, the monuments of Kashmir afford a worthy testimony to the achievements of the Kashmiris even in these special regions of Fine Art. It is impossible to convey any adequate idea of the excellence of the Kashmiri achievement in these spheres, and the utmost one can do is to present the very essential features of this achievement and quote the opinions of those who have devoted their whole lives to a proper understanding of these subjects.

Architecture is defined as the Science of Building. But its scientific basis is no greater and no more dominant than that of Poetry or Music or any other of the Fine Arts. "Even poetry is neither pure emotion and thought nor mere manner." "A beautiful idea must appropriately incarnate itself in a beautiful expression," whether it is in the sphere of Architecture, or Painting or Poetry, or even Music. The scientific basis encroaches on the purely artistic form, only in so far as it is essential to clothe it in a particular form. The scientific aspect of the Architecture and Sculpture of Kashmir may indeed reveal an elementary stage of development. The Kashmiri architect and sculptor might even have borrowed to some extent the scientific basis of his work from Gandhara or Greece. But no one can seriously question the essentially indigenous nature or the surpassing excellence of his artistic impulse and expression. He is endowed with that rare gift of seeing things as a whole, and with that instinctive sense of the inter-relation of Architecture and Sculpture so essential in order to achieve a complete harmony between the two. Many a great Indian temple displays an utter disregard of this canon and consequently presents a jumbled appearance. There is no fixed relation between the various parts of such a temple and successive generations keep on adding to it till ultimately it looks more like a loose congregation of different structures than a single compact monument. Many of the most famous South Indian temples belong to this category. The Chalukya and the Hoysala temples do not suffer from this particular defect; but they suffer, indeed, from an excess of sculptural ornamentation. A Hoysala temple is a veritable museum of Sculpture, and much of the architectural beauty of the temple is lost in the maze of sculptures that abound in it. It is precisely in these two respects that the Kashmiri temples score over ours, although intrinsically, Kashmiri achievement in neither Architecture nor Sculpture is really of such a very high standard. The temple, in Kashmir, was conceived as a single whole and after its construction afforded little or no scope for subsequent additions. Its plan and disposition were apparent at a single glance, and it is essentially on this remarkable simplicity and unity of its design that the Medieval Architecture of Kashmir depended for its effect.

There is nothing particularly unique, or for that matter original in Kashmiri Architecture or Sculpture, The Kashmiri builder did not invent many new forms of design and decoration. "He simply rearranged the motifs he had already at hand into a new artistic combination," which is very beautiful and dignified and is far superior in beauty to the basic form from which it originated.

Another noteworthy feature of the Kashmiri temple is the massiveness of the blocks of limestone and granite that were used, and the finish of their dressing. A single block approximately 14 x 12 x 6 feet serves for the entire flooring of the Chaitya at Parihasapura. A reservoir cut out of a single block of stone is embedded in the courtyard at the same place. Naturally the architectural decoration and sculptural reliefs were only roughly chiselled before the blocks were placed in position and the final dressing was only done in situ.

The main feature of the Kashmiri style is a happy combination of the column and arch. The trefoil arch is a common feature of the Kashmiri buildings and it is seen even in the Mussulman monuments of the later period of Kashmir. The origin and significance of this particular feature is not known. Fergusson conjectures that "the outline of this trefoil arch of Kashmir was suggested by a section of the ancient cave temples, such as the Chaitya halls at Ajanta." Havell on the other hand attributes it to ancient Indian symbolism, and believes that it was "a compound aureole or nimbus made up of a combination of the lotus and the pipal or the banyan leaf." He even goes to the length of arguing that "the trefoil arch of the Greco- Roman artists of Gandhara is only a late imitation of the earlier Indian proto-type,"–an argument which has not yet been controverted with any seriousness. Leaving aside these purely academic problems, there is no denying the fact that from the purely artistic point of view the trefoil arch is one of the most beautiful features of these Kashmiri temples.

The most striking feature of the Kashmiri temple, however, is the majestic colonnade which surrounds it on all sides. But the column and the pediment are the two chief architectural forms which are attributed to a clear borrowing from Greece. Fergusson opines that "Greek influence must have been introduced through the country of Gandhara," to which source are also traced a large number of detail ornaments, such as the chequer pattern of the kind used in spandrels of arches on the walls of the gateway of the Avantisvara temple, the string courses of lions and atlantes found in the Martanda temple and the zigzag patterns on the pilasters of the porches of the Sankara-Gaurisvara temple at Patan. But for the fluted columns, however, not one of the various details cited above can prove conclusively any actual borrowing from Greece. The pediment, for example, is far too highly pitched to be classified as a mere imitation of the Greek model and might have been a logical development of indigenous wooden forms, which are much more likely to evolve into this particular form. The general form of the Kashmiri temple shows a dominance of steep, sloping lines, and according to Dr. Gravely, "the same steep, sloping lines are used also to cover doorways and porches, these being virtually a section of the main roof itself, and evidently a copy of the same wooden construction."

If indeed the Kashmiri builders borrowed from Greece it is surprising that there is such a conspicuous absence of Greek forms in ornamentation and detail. Borrowing in ornamentation and in matters of detail is subject to much less restraint, and is more frequent than borrowing in principal forms. At Amaravati, for example, though the principal forms are incontrovertibly Indian, Greek forms are occasionally seen in ornamentation and other matters of detail. Hence it is particularly noteworthy "that none of the most typically Greek ornaments such as honey-suckle, acanthus, bead and reel, leaf and dart etc., which are so common in Gandhara, have yet been traced anywhere in Kashmir."

On the contrary, ornamental motifs of a purely Indian origin, such as the water-pot with many modifications, the lotus flower, the lotus petals, geese with foliated tails, parrots and other animals, supporting figures of the class of Yakshas on capitals, figures of Garuda on imposts of pilasters, leographs with human riders, amorous human couples, gandharvas in spandrels of arches, and various others are quite numerous. More than all, according to Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni and several other scholars, the inner arrangement of Kashmir monuments, both Hindu and Buddhist, is essentially Indian. Judging from all these, it is evident that the Kashmir monuments are essentially Indian in style, and although occasionally the Kashmiri builder borrowed a form or two from outside, this does not seriously detract from the excellence of his capacity.

It has already been stated that the particular form of Architecture which developed in Kashmir put a definite restraint on the work of the sculptor. This does not mean that ornamentation in Kashmir monuments does not show sculptured figures or even panels of sculpture. Figures of gods and goddesses are most commonly found in the pedimented niches of these monuments; and groups of figures of both sexes, engaged in drinking, making love, or other occupations are found at Avantipur and various other places. But sculpture as such has quite an insignificant role in these monuments as compared with the monuments belonging to the Hoysala and other styles.

Two factors, however, tend to modify this statement to a certain extent, namely, the possibility of general destruction of images and other beautiful sculptures having taken place, and the partiality of the Kashmiri for metal images most of which were probably melted down in later times for their metal. The Kashmiri has always been particularly skilful in silver work, copper work, and so on, and even today "the blacksmiths are possessed of extraordinary skill and they seem able to execute any order–from a delicate hospital instrument to a gun or a rifle." We know from Kalhana that images in silver and other metals were constantly set up in temples, and but for the iconoclastic zeal of Harsha and the later unorthodox rulers, Kashmir might have competed even with South India in the number and excellence of metallic images.

The few sculptures that are still surviving show unmistakable traces of Gandhara, Gupta, and other influences. But in spite of these outside influences, the genius of the local artist is evident both in the idea and the form which he adopted. For example, the terra cotta head of a Brahmin ascetic found in Ushkar with the shaggy beard, close pressed lips, knitted eyebrows, and furrowed forehead is so remarkably realistic that it would be difficult to imagine that the artist was not drawing a portrait from life. Again, the intensity of feeling and the delicacy of form noticeable in the beautiful terra cotta head of the upasika found in the same place is another proof of the essentially indigenous skill of the Kashmiri sculptor. In dealing with a Buddhist subject, the sculptor naturally betrayed a greater influence of the foreign schools. But the archaic basis and the local evolution of the indigenous forms is clearly manifest in the Siva-linga at Baramula. This large human-faced Siva-linga instinctively reminds us of the similar linga at Gudimallam and affords another striking illustration of the fundamental homogeneity of Indian sculpture. The sculptural objects found in the excavations at Harwan bring out these features even more clearly, especially in the treatment of animals. The two fighting cocks, the cows and the calves, the rows of galloping stags, and even horses are drawn in such a spirited way that they remind us more of the art of Mohenjo-Daro and similar archaic art than the art of Gandhara.

In short, whether it is in the field of Sculpture or Architecture, Kashmir has contributed its due quota to the rich cultural heritage of India. But its contribution lay not so much in the invention of new forms or the discovery of new lines of development for the old motifs and forms, but in the re-orientation of the existing forms and the characteristic interpretation of the existing ideas and forms with reference to their ground. The instinctive artistic leanings of the Kashmiri deterred him from attaching too much of importance to any particular form or any special feature of beauty in art. Exaggeration was as far from him as a slavish imitation of Nature. He strove for harmony between the various aspects of his creation and between his achievement and Nature all around. The natural beauty of the site chosen for the erection of a temple was therefore of a special significance to the Kashmiri builder. The work of art had to blend in harmony with the beautiful ground in which it was placed; and even the most beautiful monument had its definite role in the general scheme of things in the universe, and was not an object complete and perfect by itself. This was not a mere objective principle of artistic creation with the Kashmiri artist, but an inborn and instinctive attitude towards Life and the Universe–a part of his inmost religious instincts. It was for this reason that he invariably chose the most naturally beautiful spots for the sanctuaries, and not only utilised art advantageously, "but also emphasised the natural characteristics of the situation."

In a subsequent article, I shall deal with the contribution of Kashmir to Indian Painting, Poetry and Music.

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