A Princess

A Princess

Ajanta Caves, 3rd century AD

Indian painting reached its zenith in Ajanta Caves. These paintings portrayed the essence of Indian aesthetics: art work should be subdued and subtle; it should be calm, quiet and reflective; it should capture the mood or essence of emotions called the "rasa".

Here we see a princess lost in her own thoughts. With her eyes lowered, she is in a pensive mood. She is the ideal of a female beauty--voluptuous, heavily jewelled, yet she is not hankering for materialism. Instead, she is lost in her inner world of calm and tranquillity.

The Gupta art is the foundation of Asian tradition of sacred paintings. This art form travelled to Tibet, China, Korea and Japan. It also travelled to Sri Lanka, Saumatra, and into Indo-China. India has contributed as much to Eastern art, as Greece has contributed to Western art.