Benoy K Behl In about 850 CE, a Chola chieftain named Vijayalaya took control of Thanjavur and ushered in an era of unsurpassed prosperity and grandeur in Tamil Nadu. The most beautiful temples of South India were made under the rule of the Cholas. At Narthamalai, located on top of a hill, amidst the great […]Read More
Benoy K Behl According to ancient texts, the deity in the sanctum of the temple is depicted closest to its all-pervasive nature. It is a manifestation of the ultimate truth. There also developed a great tradition of Utsava murtis or ‘festival images’. The deity, in many manifestations of human form, comes out to the streets […]Read More
Benoy K Behl The Vijayanagara Empire emerged in the mid-14th century and soon encompassed most of South India, from coast to coast. By the mid-15th century, the kingdom stretched from North Karnataka to Kerala and from the Malabar Coast to Orissa. At Hampi, on the banks of the Tungabhadra river, was made the imperial capital […]Read More
Benoy K Behl King Vishnuvardhana defeated the imperial Cholas in 1116. This was a landmark in the establishment of his dynasty the Hoysalas. To commemorate his victory, he built the Temple of Keshava or Chennakeshava at Belur, in present-day Karnataka. He named it the Vijayanarayana or the Victorious Vishnu. The temple is a classic example […]Read More
Benoy K Behl At Khajuraho, between the 10th and 12th centuries, was created one of the most splendid temple cities in the history of the world. The temples of Khajuraho form a strikingly homogenous group and were all made within a relatively short period of time. The concerted effort of making so many grand temples […]Read More
Benoy K Behl At the ancient university of Nalanda, there was a spirit of vibrant intellectual thought, a climate of discussion and debate. The many ‘acharyas’, or learned professors, at Nalanda authored hundreds of works on philosophy, metaphysics, psychology, logic, medicine, astrology, arts, literature and other subjects. The study at Nalanda was of life itself and […]Read More
Benoy K Behl On the Roof of the World, Kashmiri artists created some of the most beautiful art of the world. The trans-Himalayan lands of Spiti, Kinnaur and Ladakh are a magical place. The tallest mountains of the world stand guard here. This high-altitude cold desert has a startling variety of landscapes which vary in height […]Read More
Benoy K Behl The thriving intellectual environment at Nalanda produced the most notable Buddhist thinkers. The 8th century saw the founding of the Pala Empire which ruled over most of Bengal and Bihar till the 12th century. Towards the end of the 8th century Dharmapala founded a great university in present day Bihar: The Vikramasila […]Read More
Benoy K Behl The ancient Indian treatise on painting, the Chitrasutra of the Vishnudharmottara Purana states that paintings which are made with an understanding of the harmony of life have a beneficial influence upon the onlooker. It is this deep understanding and vision of life which ancient Indian art shares with us. The paintings in […]Read More
Benoy K Behl In the high Himalayan mountains is the verdant valley of Kashmir. Amidst its great natural beauty, the thoughts of man have constantly turned to the wonder of creation. Since early times, Kashmir has been a renowned centre of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. It is here that the Indian philosophy of aesthetics was […]Read More
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