Glimpses of Art

My explorations in ethnic and tribal art of various forms are posted here.  You could either scroll down and read all the articles or click on the articles that interest you.

Mural Textiles of Rajasthan

Palm leaf art of Orissa

Yao Paintings

New acquisitions of Antique Textile ARt from Kutch in the Wovensouls Collection

Textile Art of South East Asia at the Asian Civilsations Museum

Tribal Textile Art of Kutch – the Bhuj Folk Art Museum

The Lunglei Museum, Mizoram

A drive through Old Kuching

Curious Dayak Tribal Objects

Winning my first award in photography

Latest additions to the antique gallery June 2012

Folk Dances of Rajasthan

An Indian discovers India

Ancient Murals of Alchi Monastery – an art collector’s delight

Antique Jain Paintings on textile

Antique Sculptures of Buddha

Christian Paintings from the Past

Church of Saint Francis Xavier of Assissi, Goa

Shadow Puppets of Indonesia, Malaysia and South India

Terracotta Warriors Xi’an, a photo gallery

Antique Java Topeng Masks and Wayang Topeng

Intricate Nyonya Glass Beadwork – antique pieces from the Peranakan Museum

Exquisite Vintage Kebayas – costume of the Peranakan Culture

Conserving antique textiles

Goan Portugese Houses – Art in Architecture

Breathtaking Mural Paintings of Sikkim Monasteries

Art in Buddhist Ritual Objects

Art in Sikkimese Monastery Architecture

Wood Art in Sikkimese Monasteries – Windows, Doors & Pillars

Butter Art of Sikkimese Lamas

Pattachitra Art of Assam

Rural Art & crafts of Assam

Textile Art of the Ahom Kingdom

Cultural Photography – Nikonista.org

Tribal Textile and Bead art of Nagaland

Goan Folk Art – Tulsi Pots

Pottery Art of Africa

Ajrakh Block Print Art

The Vishalla Collection – Utensil art

Hmong Batik Art

Tribal Fashion 1 :Art for the head and face

Tribal Fashion 2 : Art for the Head & Face (continued)

Tribal Fashion 3 : Art in Costumes

Tribal Fashion 4 : Tattoo Body Art

Tribal Fashion 5: Loin Cloth Art

Newari Wood Art

The Buraq in Art

New posts are added regularly.

jm

Anachronism : Mumbai & Elephanta

Among the largest mega-cities in the world, Mumbai also has an anachronistic satellite island about an hour away from its shores. An island that is only a few kilometers away in space but hundred of years away in time. The Elphanta island.

Home to caves sculpted out of rock and decorated with figures and architectural artefacts, this world heritage site was created in the 6th -7th century.

The contrast between the hustle & bustle of Mumbai and the serenity of the caves cannot be explained – it has to be experienced.

Even the poorly taken photos on my phone-camera allow a glimpse of the beauty hidden away on the island.

jm

April 2013

 

Glimpses of Culture

A kaleidoscope of glimpses into various cultures within Asia. Each tribe, each ethnicity expresses its identity in various ways – music, dance, textiles, costumes, food, language, life format etc.

It is impossible for an individual to capture the complete essence of any tribe – either one’s own or another’s – but it is possible to experience the diversity and be nothing less than awestruck by the beauty of human society.

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Sometimes the customs and traditions are so different from the ones I have been exposed to until now, that it is hard not to be alarmed and to remain unjudgemental. But the only way to view any custom is to see it as a part of the complete picture, within the paradigm that has given birth to the custom. It is only then that the view is fair.

Every society has its reasons for doing what they do. The set of rules that have evolved have withstood the test of inter-generational transmission. Therefore they are always internally consistent within the system and provide answers to all of the issues faced by that particular society. When viewed from outside, a traveller usually only gets a limited view and she sees a single custom / tradition without seeing all the evolutionary factors and the paradigm within which this is perfectly valid.  Given that this  is merely a slice of the whole life model, which is  quite likely to be different from her own, this view is likely to cause the viewer some dissonance and sometimes result in an imbalanced judgement.

Of course it is not only the limitedness of the view that causes this bias. Sometimes the close-mindedness of the viewer also contributes to this.

It has taken me many journeys into the lives and minds of others to realise that unless the context is known and empathised with, the judgement is unfair and therefore invalid.

I try to make a deliberate effort to ‘understand’ and ‘empathise’ instead of judging.

It is in that spirit that I have written my articles. My respect for their lives is total (and unconditional) even though my information about their paradigm is not.

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The posts have been listed below in order of posting.  You could either choose to scroll down all the way and read all  or click on the titles that interest you.

Return to Ladakh

Anachronism – Mumbai the Mega city & Elephanta the ancient caves

The Ladies Compartment in Mumbai Local trains

Kalinga Diaries

The stylish priests of Jagannath Puri

Journey to the Past – the Science of Epigraphy

In the Presence of the Past

The Magnificent Stone artefacts of Odisha

Camels go on a Pilgrimage

A Rabari Gypsy Tribal Wedding Ritual

A walk through a Rabari Tribal Village

The Stunning tribes of Sarawak, Borneo

A Cultural Stay at Kuching

Bidayuh Tribal Longhouse in Borneo

Puppets & Puppeteers of Rajasthan

The Batak Calendar  of Sumatra, Indonesia

A Python for Dinner

A Dog’s Sixth Sense

Loss of Cultural Diversity

Colors of Mewar,  Rajasthan

Turban Art – The Crowning Glory of Indian Men

The Gangaur Festival – praying for Marital Bliss

The Classic Indian Village fair – Gogunda Mela

Alternate Sexuality Traditions 4 – The Garasia Tribe

The Blacksmith Gadalia Community of Rajasthan

Music of the Manganiyar Tribe

Folk Dances of Rajasthan

Women of India – the Weaker sex

The Holi Bonfire – Past & Present

Mizo Mosaic

The Chapchar Kut Harvest Festival of Mizoram

Alternate Sexuality Traditions 3 – The Lushai Custom

Bnei Menashe – The Lost Tribe of Israel in Mizoram

The Siddi Tribe of Gujarat India of African origin

The Komusa Wandering Monks & their Shakuhachi flute

My talk at Asian Civilisations Museum

Intense Spirituality – Body piercing at the Thaipusam festival

Back to the Future – Tribal Life in Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Hilltribe Lifestyle 1: Glimpses of a contented People

Arunachal Hilltribe Lifestyle 2 : Hunter-Gatherer-Weavers

Arunachal Hilltribe Lifestyle 3 : Innovative housing

Arunachal Hilltribe Lifestyle 4 : A chance encounter with a Shaman Priest during a sacrifice ritual

Arunachal Hilltribe Lifestyle 5: The Gaanv Boodhas or Village Headmen of Arunachal Pradesh

Tribal signatures – Face Tattoos of the Apatanis

Fierce Nocte Headhunters

Head Hunting Trophies

Arunachal Pradesh Lifestyle – Innovative Housing

Traditional Sports – Kabutar Baazi or Pigeon Gaming

Ram Leela at Dassera in Mumbai

Traditional Sports of Ladakh – Archery

Traditional Sports of Ladakh – Polo

Mountain Adventures 18000ft above sea level – a landslide at the Khardungla Pass!

Bactrian Camels of the Central Asian Silk Route – Ladakh

A night-out with the Nomads of Changthang

Mastering the Mind & Body – the Monk Warriors of Shaolin

The Ambubasi Tantric Festival

Church of Saint Francis Xavier of Assisi, Old Goa

Terracotta Warriors, Xi’an – a photo gallery of exhibits at Asian Civilisations Museum

Viva San Jao 2011

Invitation to a Lambani Gypsy Tribal Wedding

Exquisite Vintage Kebayas – costumes of the Pernakan Culture

Sikkim Diaries

Chanting Ceremony at Lingdum Monastery, Sikkim

Losar Celebrations – Bonfire at Kagyud Monastery, Sikkim

Procession at the Enchey Monastery, Sikkim

Little Lamas, Sikkim

Lama Dances at Thongsa Monastery, Kalimpong

Dancing with the Nuns at Phendzong Nunnery

Cross border handshake at Nathu-la Pass on the Silk Route

Yak Horn textile adornments, Sikkim

Street Shrines of India

The Hornbill Festival, Nagaland

Naga Lifestyle

Tribal Dances of Nagaland

Traditional Naga Bamboo Climbing & Fire Making

Tribal Textile and Bead Art of Nagaland

Sacrificial Lamb at Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati

Train Ride across rural Assam – Guwahati to Dimapur

Sumazau Dance of Sabah, Borneo

Journey of a Lifetime – Tibet

The Narakasur Festival

Lifestyle of the Qashqai Tribe, South West Persia

Nomads of Mongolia

Driving to Sindhudurg Sea Fort and back

The Eunuch Community of Bombay

The Dhunuchi Dance at Durga Puja

Thumbuakar Tribals of Borneo

Lucknow – Capital of Awadh & city of Nawabs

The Dragon Dance

The Magnificent Lion Dance

Janamashtami Festival

A cup of tea with nomads and gypsies of the Kutch

Alternate Sexuality Traditions 2 – The Tibetans

Textile Symbolism 1 : Hilltribes of Northern Thailand

Alternate Sexuality Traditions 1 – The Khmers

The children of Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Time Travel Tour Operators

Kissing a Bengal Tiger

Common Memes between Tribes

Into the Arabian Sea at Mumbai

Through Rural Gujarat

Life in an Ashram

Goan Village House

Monsoon at Miramar, Goa

Dances from another place

The Fishing Nets of Cochin

The Lambani Gypsy Tribe

Lifestyle of the Hilltribes of Northern Thailand

Travelling Godmen

Colors of San Jao festival, Goa

Rajasthan Folk Art

Mountain flight to Mount Everest

Pashupatinath – celebration and sorrow

New posts are constantly being added to this list and will appear at the top.

jm

Journey to the Past : The science of Epigraphy

Imagine walking through a maze with instructions written in a language we do not understand.

In reconstructing the history of a civilisation, we work with very few clues – artefacts, buildings & archaeological findings. And if we are lucky we find some inscriptions. Unfortunately there is never a dictionary or scriptionary that would tell us what it is the meaning of the inscription.

And so, in order to undertsand the contents we first need to reconstruct the script and then make sense of the contents. Egypt is the most famous example of script mysteries. And here is another.

It is easy to be in awe of the minds of the scholars that finally figured out the codes and have given us not only translations but also evolution of the scripts across the ages.

To see how difficult it must be, all we need to do is to stare at any one of the stone inscriptions below and without any other tools, attempt to figure out the contents! Quite an impossible task!  One might suggest that a single rock inscription is not enough – in that case let us take the whole set shown here. Then, would the conclusions be any easier to draw?

Yest here we are today with a complete coding!

Kudos to those who have accomplished this!

The clues to understanding the civilisations of the past – in this case in the region of Kalinga, have been laid out before us as the first exhibit in the Epigraphy Hall in the State Museum of Orissa. Codes to deciphering bygone eras!

And most of us pass these codes within a fraction of a second without a second glance…..

 

What a treasurehouse of knowledge on this  single board!

jm

April 2013

 

In the Presence of the Past – Ancient Caves of Odisha

Just outside Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, India monks carved out a cave complex from the stone mountain and made it their home.

Today, I am here, in the same point in space but separated from the monks on the 4th dimension ‘time’ by a few hundred years.

As I enter the cave, I first take time to experience the cave with my senses – my eyes take in the carvings, my ears take in the echoing silence and my skin can feel the drop in temperature. And after my senses have had their fill, I shut them down, close my eyes, tune out  the sounds of the few tourists around, and allow my mind to take me on a journey across time. My imagination skills are strained to create visuals of what might have been. But as I keep my eyes closed and breathe very softly to cut out the sounds of my own breath, I begin to ‘sense’ the life that might have been. The hum of chanting, the naked frugality of their chosen monkhood and their passionate belief in their ideology all come to me as inexpressible feelings. It feels like I am surrounded by them – all them going about their business ignoring me. I wonder whether, in our attempt to glorify them we have completely forgotten the challenges of their lives. I wonder if they were faced with doubt, and squabbles of the unique form of their community living. I wonder what was done to calm their individual desires and their conflicts.

The spaces they have left behind deliver evidence of their lifestyle to us. But they reveal nothing of their souls. I wish more than ever that these walls could speak.

A view of the caves that left me so dreamy….

The back of the cave is raised in a slope to act as a pillow

Channels for water drainage

I left the 2nd century Udaygiri and Khandagiri caves feeling wistful … and couldn’t shake off that experience of being immersed in an era, a lifestyle that I was so far away from.

jm

Jan 2013

 

The Magnificent Stone Artefacts of the Odisha State Museum

Orissa has been the seat of rich ancient civilizations and some of the archaeological finds have been displayed at the State Museum, Bhubaneshwar.

Museums in the cities of India are unsung and uncelebrated – but host an amazing range of artefacts. This museum delighted me not only with collection but also with the way in which the art has been presented.

Following are a few photos of the museum display.

 

 

 

 

Odisha is among the poorest states in India – going by financial measures. Yet by other measures such as history, culture and warmth of its people, it is nowhere at the bottom of the ladder. An unsung cultural great state!

jm

March 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kalinga Diaries

Kalinga. Now called Odisha (Orissa).

The poorest state in India financially. Yet, among the richest states culturally.

Every Indian has heard of Orissa through its arts – either the dance, the woven saris, the metalwork, the tribal wall paintings, the pipli patchwork, the pattachitra or the palm leaf paintings – each an art form that is ancient, developed and gorgeous (except the pipli patchwork that does not appeal to me).

Have dreamt of coming to Orissa for many years. And am here finally – beckoned to the place by a tribal festival.

Some irresponsible photographers with no moral conscience portrayed the women here in a bad light and so photography is disallowed. The strictness with which this is enforced even in the festival is very heartening but it is also a major disappointment.

But there are unexpected surprises – like ancient temples in the midst of the city, ancient palm leaf manuscripts dug out from the trunks of an old shop, a little-known museum that has a fantastic collection of ancient stone artefacts and more.

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Above all – the most striking view is that of the common people. Families whose members are  well integrated across generations and completely involved in each other’s lives are a delight to watch. Old wrinkled bent grandmas join the family outing supported by their sons and grandsons.  The outing is a special occasion and even in the lower middle class income segment, the women and children have dressed up well with full ‘shringar’ to join the crowds at the Mela on Sunday evening. Young people are all seen with their families, talking, laughing and completely engaged in each other without any   ‘I don’t belong here’ misfit sentiment  or the haughty  ‘I’d rather be somewhere else’ attitude. Everyone is homogenously one with each other. Everyone is exactly where they want to be – enjoying the Sunday evening with people they are settled with. The pace is slow and relaxed as people soak in the sights and examine all the objects available for sale. Even with noisy children creating a ruckus as their fathers try to rein them in, and mothers look on gently, there is a sense of peace. No one – neither the urban folk who have come to visit nor the tribal folk who live hard lives – seems unhappy or disturbed or engrossed in unsolvable problems.

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Urban folk seem to have a sense of innate respect for the tribal folk. The urbanites ask questions about the roots and herbs in a tone of reverence that one might use with a wise man. They walk about the  staged tribal village homes and study every aspect with  interest.  This respect and reverence surprises me. For, in my urban world, or in other states that I have visited, most people only see the financial & developmental status of the tribals and judge them to be ‘lesser’ mortals. In that world, tribals are seen as a group that ‘needs help / development / financial aid / support / education’.  Whereas here, in Bhubaneswar, tribals are being seen as exactly the opposite : a source of learning, a source of wisdom and a group to be respected. Very refreshing!

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Dinner is an absolute delight with vegetables tasting like they used to when I was a child. Having grown up vegetarian I have had enough of veggies and am no fan of this food group. And so, when I found myself enjoying the great flavours of cauliflower and lady fingers and brinjals I surprised myself! After two days of relishing simple meals I began to look forward to dinner and too often I caught myself thinking about what I would eat at meal time! Craving for vegetables???!!   Here in Mumbai I am back to eating the fantastic tasty dinners that my dear maid cooks for me, and though she is a fantastic cook, the raw vegetables themselves lack flavor. Maybe the locals in Orissa farm differently. Maybe their land is different.  As I have my morning cup of tea, I am wondering when I will get my next dose of  flavorful Odisha vegetables!!

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More about my travels in Orissa to follow in the articles to be published in Feb:

Irresponsible Photography

Tribal People of Orissa

All-consuming Tribal Dances

Fashionable Pandaas (pundits / temple priests)

Ancient Palm leaf manuscripts

The Magnificent artefacts of the State Museum of Orissa

In the presence of the Past – Ancient Caves

A journey to the Past : The Science of Epigraphy

Wall Art & Shrine Art of Orissa

Puri Pattas  of Orissa

Woven Art of Orissa

Temple Erotica

A drive through Cuttack

jm

jan 2013

 

18th / 19th Century Yao Painted scrolls, North Vietnam

When I look at modern art priced in millions it always makes me wonder about human sanity and question how much of that value can be attributed to art and how much to marketing effort.

But old cultural art is a totally different thing.

Stunning colors, stunning drawing. And the most appealing factor : age. Age seems to do wonderful things to paint!

Following are 3 Yao painted scrolls, painted by hilltribes. EVen today these people groups live simple rustic  lives close to nature. So it is hard to imagine their life 200 years ago.

Here are their painted scrolls recently acquired and exhibited in the Wovensouls gallery

From the Yao Munic or Kin Mun group of Northern Vietnam

From the Yao Mien group of Vietnam

The age mentioned is an estimate – these could easily be older.

There is so much delight and pleasure in beholding these works!

I wonder if the people who painted them had any idea that their art would travel  so far across history and geography and give joy to strangers?

More photos on http://wovensouls.com

jm

Jan 2013

Ancient Mongolian Buddhist Script for Musical Sutras

We have all heard of Do Re Mi as the format for musical notation. It is a language in which we express music.

Another such language is Sa Re Ga Ma  used in Hindustani Classical music.

And here is one more ancient notation :

Mongolian Sutra notation :

Click to enlarge

From these antique leaves it appears that the highs and lows might be easily interpreted visually, as also the longer bars and shorter bars. Maybe if these antique sheets could be ‘heard’ as well we might be able to draw some conclusions about the script.

A reference chart that shows the evolution of the script after the Mongols adopted the Uighur script around the 12th century. The red text on these manuscript leaves use some of these characters.

jm

Dec 2012

The Batak Calendar from Sumatra, Indonesia

Everyone reading this would know that it is the year 2012. And everyone would also know that the world did not begin 2012 years ago – so what does this mean?

If you belong to a community that is non-christian you would probably know that this is not the only dating system that is prevalent today.

I knew about the Hindu calendar and the Islamic calendar.

And now as I travel I have found the Batak tribal calendar.

The script is unique and writing skills were restricted to priests

A language that is almost extinct – with few living people practicing or transmitting the knwoledge of this script, it is mostly found in scriptures stored away in museums.

On my recent travels I found a fascinating antique calendar inscribed on bone :

The concept that different groups of people have intelligently found alternate methods – all of which predict the same future through different means has captured my imagination.

Calendars came into being primarily to predict seasons for agricultural purposes based on astronomical data. Some used lunar cycles while others used solar cycles.

The language of science converged in Europe and this lead to thinkers building on each other’s work instead reinventing the wheel in their own isolated language cells oblivious of the development of others. And it is to this commonality of language that we owe the great advances in the predictive powers that science possesses today.

As Isaac Newton said “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants”

It would be erroneous to attribute this success to the professors of the Gregorian calendar – rather it is the success of the team work of thinkers who used the Gregorian calendar as a base for their calculations.

Had the thinkers of the Renaissance period used any other calendar as a base for their calculations chances are that they still would have been able to predict the Transit of Venus or eclipses and leap years with equal accuracy.

Because while the notation and the Zero starting point differ – the logic having been derived from astronomical observations would have been the same. And given sufficient time for sufficient observations, the errors arising out of non-inclusion of factors or wrongful assumptions would have ironed out resulting in the same logical models.

A glance at Wikipedia showed me 2012 in other calendars :

Armenian calendar 1461
Assyrian calendar 6762
Buddhist calendar 2556
Burmese calendar 1374
Byzantine calendar 7520–7521
Chinese calendar 4648/4708-12-8 — to —4649/4709-11-19
Coptic calendar 1728–1729
Hebrew calendar 5772–5773
Hindu Vikram Samvat 2068–2069
Iranian calendar 1390–1391
Islamic calendar 1433–1434
Korean calendar 4345

It would be a fun exercise to work out the paths that each group took to arrive at each of these different systems, and the logic and assumptions on which they based it!

The antique Batak Calendar is a part of the WovenSouls Collection linked here

jm

June 2012