The Body Adorned: Dissolving Boundaries Between Sacred And Profane In India's Art
In pre-modern India, the human form reigned supreme across artistic expression. Draped in jewels, cosmetics, and finery, the body became a statement of completeness and spiritual protection. Alamkara, or ornamentation, wasn't mere decoration—it was essential, a guard against misfortune itself. This exploration weaves together texts rarely examined in concert: passionate devotional verses from saints and spiritual teachers, courtly poetry that celebrated desire, and inscriptions carved into stone. Through these varied sources, the author reconstructs how sculptors and painters merged the sensual with the divine, positioning both within the same sacred precincts without contradiction. Vidya Dehejia tackles a fascinating tension at the heart of Indian spirituality: how can gods embody earthly passion? How do erotic narratives coexist with worship? The book also traces how secular Rajput manuscripts casually integrated deities into everyday human scenes, blurring the imagined divide between heaven and earth. By combining visual artefacts with literary evidence, this study offers something rare: a rounded portrait of how pre-modern Indian culture actually understood the relationship between flesh and spirit. It's a conversation between image and word that transforms our grasp of India's artistic inheritance.
- Author: Vidya Dehejia
- Publisher: Mapin Publishing
- Genre: Photography
- ISBN: 978-8189995041
- Pages: 238 pages