Benoy K Behl The great Borobudur stupa of the 8th-9th century CE in Indonesia clearly illustrates the purpose of the stupa in Buddhist thought. The vast stupa has exquisite relief made around it, which one sees as one goes around the stupa. At the lowest level of circumambulation, we are presented the kamadhatu, the life of passions […]Read More
Benoy K Behl Stupas are amongst the earliest Indian monuments which survive both of the Buddhist and Jaina traditions. Recent excavations near Nalanda have also unearthed a large stupa made between the 8th and the 10th centuries BCE. In Indic thought, the final truth which is sought is formless, arupa or nirguna. The concept of the stupa (of Buddhist, […]Read More
Benoy K Behl It was the beginning of the First Millennium BCE. There were many principalities of the northern plains of India. Some of them were Gana-Sanghas, with an elected council that ruled. In others, the concept of hereditary leaders was evolving. It was a time when great philosophic concepts, which were to last forever, […]Read More
Benoy K Behl Perhaps the most favourite subject of the early Indian sculptor is Durga as Mahishasurmardini where she kills the demon of ignorance in the form of a mahisha or buffalo. The depiction of her in a 7th century cave at Mamallapuram is one of the finest jewels of Indian art. In Indic thought, the only evil is […]Read More
Benoy K Behl The word “Puja” has sometimes been misinterpreted, by European writers, as “prayer”. Others have understood it correctly to mean “adoration”. Indic deities are adored, with incense, water, milk, flowers and through music and dance. The purpose of the philosophic path is for us to be able to see the truth beyond. To […]Read More
Benoy K Behl One of the contributions of the Indian philosophic streams is that there are no barriers placed between the spiritual world and the world of the senses. The art of this tradition is a fulsome sharing of the life experience, in all its aspects. It sees our perceptions, from the sensory to the […]Read More
Benoy K Behl In ancient times, works of art were meant to convey the Truth as experienced by the artist. No thinker or artist claimed that it was solely he who had seen the Truth. In fact, great teachers of the ancient period in India, including Gautama Buddha and Mahavira, each state that he only […]Read More
Benoy K Behl For the sculptor in ancient India, the grace of divinity is everywhere. The stone before him contains the image of divinity and it is for him to but remove the outward aspects and to reveal that form. The process of making an image is not only a personal joy of discovery and […]Read More
Benoy K Behl In ancient Indian philosophy, the high purpose of life is to seek reintegration with the one. To perceive ourselves as part of the divinity of existence, thereby to lose the pain of a life caught in the web of endless desires. The aesthetic experience is considered to be of great value. Our […]Read More
Benoy K Behl It is in the Dungkar Caves of the 10th-11th century that you can find the oldest surviving Tibetan murals. These are at extremely high altitude in a very remote part of western Tibet, far beyond Mt Kailash. This graceful figure is very similar to those seen in the paintings of Nako, Alchi and […]Read More
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