‘The Third Eye of Indian Art’ by Harsha V Dehejia: How to critique Indian art

IN ‘The Third Eye of Indian Art: Aesthetics as Vedanta’, Harsha V Dehejia takes the reader through a journey of opening the trichakshu, or the third eye, to appreciate art. The book aims at understanding Indian art with an inward look that is based on spirituality, for Indian art is essentially an expression of veneration that is created by the traditional artist as a means of realising the Universal Being.

Art in India is not meant for the consumption of critics. Instead, unlike the western art theory, where art is perceived as an object and is open for a subjective critique, Indian art is to be understood in tandem with the philosophy of beauty in art as expounded in the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Vedantas, Chitrasutra, etc, and Dehejia explains his viewpoint quoting examples from these.

Art in India has been an essential aspect of everyday use. This has been incorporated in architecture, textiles, jewellery, objects of daily use and utilitarian spaces. Here, every decorative element has a significance and represents the glory of the Supreme Being and Nature, encompassing the three dimensions of the sutra of beauty — Satyam, Sundaram, Smaranam (pure, beautiful, remembrance) — that belong to Vedanta.

Indian art evolved through divergent religious philosophies such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, as well as various cultural influences, finally forming its own identity.

The need to look at Indian art from the perspective of Indianness has been felt for quite some time. However, to break away from the subjective western mould of art criticism has not only been difficult, but is now being emulated with increasing allegiance and ease.

Dehejia takes a critical view of the western-trained art historians, who he says took over the study of Indian art with a partial and objective understanding, which is biased against the craft that is ancient and is based primarily on the traditional creation of expression. He reiterates the perils of art becoming a commodity and being brought to the portal of auctions and criticism by western-trained art historians. He expresses the need to correct this deviation and the urgency to re-establish Indian art to the philosophy of Vedanta, which is the foundation of our tradition of wisdom and can only be achieved when viewed with the third eye.

For the author, the word art carries with it western baggage as he explains that kala, the Indian word for denoting art, actually means kruti, or the process of creation, and words to explain beauty are sunder, lavanya, mrudula, kamini, lalita... The Indian concern with beauty or saundarya is aesthetic and spiritual, not just material or psychologic, and needs to be appreciated accordingly.

Dehejia says the Indian traditional craftsman, who is creating art from his veneration, is intelligent, and not an intellectual who creates his art with spontaneity and intuitiveness. It is handed down from generation to generation, creating a new idiom that, again, is rooted in his state of spiritual consciousness, leaving no space for academic criticism.

Every creation is saundarya or beauty that has to be celebrated as a rasika or connoisseur who understands the rasa-bheda or distinction of beauty. He places the dance form, which was codified by Bharata in Natyashashtra, as one of the earliest artistic idioms in the classical traditions that provided an inspiration and models for sculptors.

The essence of understanding Indian art is well expressed by the author: “It is useless to search for a reason for beauty. For, art is completely integrated with life in India.”

He quotes Ananda Coomaraswamy and Rabindranath Tagore to explain their views on Indian art and aesthetics. He affirms that the invaders desecrated Indian mythic images, the colonisers maligned them, and modernity, with its penchant for reason, fails to comprehend it fully.

The author puts forth his viewpoints towards understanding Indian art, and opening a debate in various areas. The book is engaging for those who want to study ways to critique Indian traditional art.

— The writer is a Chandigarh-based art historian and curator