The Murals of India - An Online Presentation by Benoy Behl

The Murals of India
Illustrated talk by Benoy K Behl 
Saturday, December 19, 2020
10:00am EST
8:30pm IST

India has one of the finest traditions of painting of the world, coming from ancient times. Ancient and exquisite Indian murals are the foundations of the tradition of later manuscript paintings and Indian miniatures. These ancient murals are largely Buddhist and the greatest surviving body of work is in the Ajanta caves in Maharashtra in Western India. 

This early tradition is not generally known, as many of these paintings are hidden in dark recesses in ancient temples and caves. These had not been clearly photographed or sufficiently represented to the world before.  It was generally believed that India did not have a continuous tradition of painting, which came from ancient times.  Even the Ajanta murals, which were known, were considered as a flash in the pan, as many were not aware of other paintings of the centuries after Ajanta.  The study and teaching of the styles of Indian paintings has been generally taken up from the medieval period onwards.
 
Behl’s photography of the early Indian murals has placed the Indian tradition of paintings in a new perspective. This illustrated lecture has been delivered at a host of prestigious universities and museums around the world and has clearly established the fact of the continuous tradition of painting, since ancient times, in India. The murals of India have also been established as one of the greatest and most sublime traditions of the art of the world.