About the Book Of all the mythic characters in the Hindu pantheon none is more enigmatic and evocative than Radha. Appearing for the first time in Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda, where she is the ultimate beloved, she traverses political dynasties, royal ateliers and social barriers to emerge as a consort of Krishna. Brought alive by poets, developing a colourful presence in the hands of painters, dancing through prosceniums and acquiring a lyrical life through songs, both classical and popular, Radha is present in homes and havelis, celebrated by the the samajika and the rasika, has a presence in temples and roadside shrines as a symbol of pure and eternal love. And yet there are so many questions about her life; poets differ in their portrayals of her, historians argue, dancers claim her through their interpretations and for the common person she is now a shringara rasa nayika and now a goddess. But Radha stands steadfastly alone refusing to be bound down by poets or potters, dancers or singers. Harsha V. Dehejia weaves an enchanting story of Radha with a multicoloured thread, where myth blends into history and fiction challenges reality and Radha emerges in all her poetic glory in this spellbinding story. Vijay Sharma and his team of artists bring Radha colourfully alive with miniature paintings, for it is there rather than sculpture that Radha resides. She is essentially kavyamaya, her origins are in the minds of poets, it is there that she grows, dallies and evolves. And while her voice is heard in songs and her footsteps resonate with dancers, it is in miniature paintings, through line and colour, that Radha comes alive as a multidimensional, many-nuanced paragon of love. This is Radhayan. About the Author Harsha V. Dehejia has a double doctorate, one in medicine and other in ancient Indian culture, both from Mumbai University. He is also a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Glasgow and Canada all by examination. He is a practising Physician and Professor of Indian Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. His main interest is in Indian aesthetics.
Dehejia has tried to create a place within the main frame of culture and philosophy of Indian art for a legitimate analytic theory called despair. Dehejia's effort creates a space for the modern within Indian classicism by negotiating the philosophy of despair in classical terms. As a result the basic schism that has grown in recent years between the philosophy and history of modern art on the one hand and the philosophy and history of traditional arts is today cloder to being breached.
About the Book The romantic Krishna finds a textual presence for the first time in the Bhagavata Purana and then for a thousand years we celebrate that Krishna through heart-throbbing poetry. Krishna is indeed both the kavi and the kavya, rasa and rasika, the shabda and the artha, He is Purusha and Prakriti. Krishna dances and frolics, speaks and sings, and shringara in its many colours comes alive for us through kavya. We are the gopis of Vrindavana, the nayikas of Ritikavya as Krishna comes alive not through religious rites and rituals but through the joy of poetry and painting and we acclaim krishna svayam kavyam. After we have experienced the aesthetic pleasure of the love of Krishna we realize that all love in this world is that of Krishna, the hushed words of romance between a man and a woman are those of Krishna and Radha, all poetry that celebrates romantic love is that of Krishna, so that we can turn the sentence around and say kavyam svayam krishna. We invite you to immerse yourself in the beautiful poetry of Krishna, through the melody and lyrics let His madhurya wash over you like the waves of the Yamuna and his many-splendoured persona make your mind dance like the birds and blossoms of Vrindavana. Harsha V. Dehejia beautifully weaves a tapestry of Krishna Shringara Kavya enriched by the colours and textures of paintings by the noted artist Vijay Sharma. The book assures the reader both the joy of poetry and the visual delight of painting. About the Author Harsha V. Dehejia has a double doctorate, one in medicine and other in ancient Indian culture, both from Mumbai University. He is also a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Glasgow and Canada all by examination. He is a practising Physician and Professor of Indian Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. His main interest is in Indian aesthetics.
About the Book This volume, a visual journey, through its meticulous deliberations on the wall paintings and miniature paintings of Bundelkhand makes us reminisce the footfalls of valiant Bundella kings, ankle bells of elegant court-dancers, evocative poetry of mahakavi Kesvadas and the brilliant artistic skills of mural painters and many other historical events. These find their excellent expressions beyond the palaces of Orchha and Datia, and in many jagirs and thikanas such as Rehali, Madanpur, Chhatarpur, Narsinghgarh, Ajayagarh, Todi Fatehpur, Samthar, Jhansi and Rannod as well. A glimpse of Malwa painting is a value-add. The murals, a living art, more democratic and decidedly popular, were the artistic idiom of Bundelkhand. It was art for the raja and the praja, depicting not only Puranic stories, but also the regal affairs and the day-to-day life of ordinary people. Despite the fact that time, the vicissitudes of weather and vandalism have taken their toll on the murals, a cultivated aesthete can restore life in them. The book candidly reminds us a truth: The paintings of Bundelkhand are half remembered, half forgotten and many yet to be discovered. Thus, this book should inspire art connoisseurs, art historians, art students, and laymen alike, paving the way for further researches and studies on the forgotten legacies of Bundelkhand. About the Author Born in Harda on the banks of the holy river Narmada and presently based at Indore, Narmada Prasad Upadhyaya is a noted scholar of Hindi literature and Indian painting. He writes with grace and eloquence and his books, 25 in number, are an important part of the bibliography of Hindi literature, Indian art and aesthetics. Among his books are Bhartiya Chitrankan Prampara, Paar Roop Ke, Jain Chitrankan Parampara, Kanheri Gita Govinda, The Concept of Portrait and The Colours Fragrance. He has extensively worked on Raghogargh and Jhalawad painting traditions. His special interest is in the paintings of central India including Malwa, Bundelkhand, Baghelkhand, Vidarbha and Khandesh. He has worked with the noted scholar Dr Vidhya Niwas Mishra on the projects of Ramayana and Gita Govinda. He has lectured in England, Australia and Switzerland, and has won several awards including the prestigious Kala Bhushan in 2003. In 2002 he was given the British Council fellowship and in 2008 a German fellowship for his projects on the painting traditions of central India. At present he is working on the interdisciplinary relationship between multiple dimensions of Indian paintings and the different disciplines of Indian literature. The visual heritage of the tradition is a subject of great interest to him. His current project is on the paintings of Bhaktamar, a Jaina composition. He is also working on a project of Gayer Anderson collection of Indian paintings preserved in Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, and other museums of the world. Harsha V. Dehejia has a double doctorate, one in medicine and other in ancient Indian culture, both from Mumbai University. He is also a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Glasgow and Canada all by examination. He is a practising Physician and Professor of Indian Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. His main interest is in Indian aesthetics.
About the Book The Balagopalastuti occupies an important place both in the annals of Krishna art as well as Krishna bhakti. This book brings to light both the poetry and paintings and touches both the Krishna rasika and bhakta. About the Author Harsha V. Dehejia has a double doctorate, one in medicine and other in ancient Indian culture, both from Mumbai University. He is also a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Glasgow and Canada all by examination. He is a practising Physician and Professor of Indian Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. His main interest is in Indian aesthetics.
Praful is a Professor, a dyed-in-the-wool academic who is shaped by the life-denying philosophy of Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta. Parul, on the other hand, is a sensual, earthy woman who believes in the veracity of love and the reality of the many beautiful things that life offers. A chance meeting between the two leads not only to a romantic relationship spread over eleven purnimas, but becomes a dialogue between two philosophical systems, the Advaita of Shankara and the Madhurya of the Bhagvata Purana. As romantic moments between the two unfold, intellectuality interacts with sensuality, questioning the validity of each, and as Chaitra moves to Magh, a transformation takes place. As Harsha Dehejia weaves this romantic story, where meetings by the Parijataka and conversations underneath the Champa, are not only moments of shringara but introspections on the meaning of life, we hear and feel the sensuality of love as it merges seamlessly with the intellectuality of a philosophic discourse. In this heart-throbbing romantic relationship, there is the spiritual quest of ultimate reality along with the pleasures of the sound of the wind and the song of a bird. Metaphysical thoughts and tender feelings, evocative colours and resonant sounds, intoxicating aromas and patterned textures, myths and metaphors, intermingle in the hushed conversations of two people in love.
About the Book Of all the mythic characters in the Hindu pantheon none is more enigmatic and evocative than Radha. Appearing for the first time in Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda, where she is the ultimate beloved, she traverses political dynasties, royal ateliers and social barriers to emerge as a consort of Krishna. Brought alive by poets, developing a colourful presence in the hands of painters, dancing through prosceniums and acquiring a lyrical life through songs, both classical and popular, Radha is present in homes and havelis, celebrated by the the samajika and the rasika, has a presence in temples and roadside shrines as a symbol of pure and eternal love. And yet there are so many questions about her life; poets differ in their portrayals of her, historians argue, dancers claim her through their interpretations and for the common person she is now a shringara rasa nayika and now a goddess. But Radha stands steadfastly alone refusing to be bound down by poets or potters, dancers or singers. Harsha V. Dehejia weaves an enchanting story of Radha with a multicoloured thread, where myth blends into history and fiction challenges reality and Radha emerges in all her poetic glory in this spellbinding story. Vijay Sharma and his team of artists bring Radha colourfully alive with miniature paintings, for it is there rather than sculpture that Radha resides. She is essentially kavyamaya, her origins are in the minds of poets, it is there that she grows, dallies and evolves. And while her voice is heard in songs and her footsteps resonate with dancers, it is in miniature paintings, through line and colour, that Radha comes alive as a multidimensional, many-nuanced paragon of love. This is Radhayan. About the Author Harsha V. Dehejia has a double doctorate, one in medicine and other in ancient Indian culture, both from Mumbai University. He is also a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Glasgow and Canada all by examination. He is a practising Physician and Professor of Indian Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. His main interest is in Indian aesthetics.
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