Art & Religion (Proceedings of the Seminar)

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Indian Art in all its forms-sculpture, painting. dance and music- had always been an aesthetic language to express the fundamentals of our culture which is an amalgamation of our religious, philosophic, cultural and aesthetic ideology which is best manifested in various art forms. Since the dawn of Indian history when the written texts had not come into existence, art has been the greatest and most powerful means to express the faith of the people, religious, philosophic and cultural-be it prehistoric paintings or stone sculptures, seals and scalings and terracotta figurines of Indus valley period or various styles and schools of art that developed later.

Whichever form of art the artists might have adopted it was bound by one unifying thread, the spiritual, cultural and philosophic aspects and also the procedure by which the symbols and spiritual states were delineated. The artists held the art as a form of worship and themselves as devotees of that sacred shrine. A seminar of this nature is of great urgency and relevance especially in an age of globalization when everything west is rated as best by the new generation. This is gradually de-Indianising our future generation. The effort of the seminar, organized by the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology of Vasanta College for Women, Krishnamurti Foundation, Rajghat, was to educate our youth and make them appreciate and feel proud of 'Wonder that was India' by getting themselves enlightened by the views of eminent scholars and art historians, before it is too late and the rich Indian heritage of art, philosophy, religion and culture is lost in sands of so called modernity. The Proceedings of this seminar would be of great academic interest to research in this field.

A recipient of many Honours and Awards for her contribution to Ancient Indian Theatre and life member of' Bhikshu Jagdish Kashyap Institute of Buddhist and Asian Studies and Indian Art History Congress', Dr. Iravati heads the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture & Archaeology, Vasanta College for Women, Krishnamurty Foundation, Rajghat, Varanasi. Apart from the present book'Art and Religion' edited by her she is the author of a much celebrated book Performing artistes in Ancient India and another Rajghat A Glade of Wisdom and Beauty'. She has contributed more than forty scholarly papers to reputed Journals. Her creative genius has found expression in translation ( Tennessee William's 'The Glass Menagerie'), transcreation of novels ( Yaqoob Yawar's ' Pralaya Sindhu 'and Bhagawaticharan Verma's' Chitralekha') and story (Phanishvarnath Renu's' Rasapriya' ) into dramatic form and creation in the form of plays ('Moko Kahan Dhunde Re Bande', 'Priyadarshi', Sheni Vijananda', 'Tamaso ma Jyotirgamay', 'Sada-ye-Haq', 'Gali Bolati Hai' and 'Amrapali') and novel (Prishapathaga). She has the singular distinction of having been blessed in field of acting, drama direction and choreography.

**Contents and Sample Pages**