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Important exhibitions and the growing experience of travelers and researchers now indicate that the art of the pan-Himalayan region - from Bhutan in the east, through Sikkim, Nepal, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Ladakh, and even into the Karakoram range of Pakistan in the west--may now be considered as a whole, with a unity of stylistic preferences and artistic techniques, if not always of materials and styles. This identity is defined most obviously by geography, and also by religious rites, demography, and aesthetic preferences. Perhaps the main feature affecting artistic production is the syncretism of the different religions, for example, the harmonious co-existence of Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal. There are also the biographies of great leaders known in the oral and written traditions of all the hill regions, such as that of Padmasambhava, who spread Buddhist doctrine from Kashmir to Bhutan and beyond in the eighth century (Fig. 1). There is, in addition, a repeated emphasis on certain architectural forms such as the multi-stage roofs of temples or mosques, and the development of layered-wood construction and fine carving found almost everywhere in the region. Large-scale mural paintings and the finest workmanship in cast bronze are also common features of the area. Because of the remoteness of the region, the arts for the most part were untouched by the Islamic influence that transformed the plains to the south. That any shared elements survived is remarkable considering that travel, much less cultural exchange, would have been especially difficult, as the mountains are divided by a series of narrow gorges running from north to south. Western observers may approach the Himalayan sphere by first examining the are of Gandhara (in present-day Pakistan), which flourished during the first to seventh centuries. Buddha and bodhisattva figures made of schist or stucco from this area are well-known, as are the simple narratives of Shakyamuni Buddha's life that unfold in high relief carvings. Gandharan sculpture has elements that recall Roman statuary, especially the drapery of the costume and the style of carving, and exerted a certain amount of influence on early Buddhist art in China. The more abstract and geometric ideal of the Mathuran stle of sculpture developed during the Kushan dynasty (50-320) in India, but a Mathura-derived style survived in Nepal in enigmatic works such as a fifth century king now in the National Museum in Kathmandu. Comparison can also be made between the art of the Gupta (320-650) in India and elements such as wooden door frames in Himachal Pradesh, stone architecture in Kashmir, and a seventh century image of Vishnu Anantashayana surrounded by a pool of water and lying on the naga (serpent deity) Ananta, in Budha Nilkantha at the edge of the Kathmandu valley. That the mountain culture equalled the best of Gupta metalwork is illustrated by little-known bronzes in the Chamba area of Himachal Pradesh, where seventh century icons are still used for worship. During the mediaeval period, as Indian figures became elongated and were given graceful tribhanga ('thrice-bent') poses, the same features traveled to the mountains. In Nepal they appear on a seventh century stone carving of Maya Devi giving birth to the Buddha, now in the National Museum. With her legs crossed at the ankles as she reaches up to hold the branches of a tree above her head, the figure suggests the form of much later Nepali carvings in wood, such as tona (roof-supporting struts) dating from the twelfth century onwards at Itum Bahal in Kathmandu, Indreshvara Mahadeva temple in Panauti and Chandreshvari Mandir in Banepa (Fig. 2). In Asia's mountainous regions, sculptures are most commonly executed in wood, although such objects are rarely found in Western museums. The Denver collection includes a seventeenth century image of Dancing Krishna in polychromed wood (Fig. 3) and a fine image of Bhairava that will be discussed in context. Progressing into the remote valleys of the Chitral region in Pakistan and across the Indian border into Himachal Pradesh, one comes into contact with portable works in metal. Simplified brass devata masks and partial figures such as that in Figure 4 are kept in the temples of Himachal Pradesh. Periodically, they are carried along roads and through villages accompanied by festive music so that they may survey their land and their people. These folk art images, sometimes carried singly or in groups on palanquins, are honoured with offerings of flowers and money as 'living' occupants of the hill states. Their movement defines the invisible mandala of religious identity and belief, and they are at least as important as the more elaborate works of art inspired by the outside world. Other works of art are kept sheltered and secret. The remote and imposing temple complex of Bhima Kali in sarahan, situated at an elevation of seven thousand feet, possesses a major bronze image of Durga that is as refined and voluptuous as any Indian or Nepali sculpture. This late mediaeval figure may not be photographed, unlike the many devata metalworks that represent followers and kindred spirits of the great goddess. its fluid surface and one-third lifesize proportion is suggestive of the eighteenth century image of Tara in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, or the bodhisattva in the Netwark Museum in New Jersey, which dates from approximately the same time and reveals the highly developed bronze technique taken by the Newari artist Aniko to Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) China when he was made the director of Imperial Manufactures in the court of Kublai Khan (the Shizu emperor, r. 1260-94). From Himachal Pradesh in northwest India to the foothills of Assam, metal masks and small, simple figures share happy expressions and a forceful directness. The Denver example in Figure 4 is female, and perhaps related to the goddess Durga. She has a bejewelled crown, necklace and large earrings, and her forehead is marked by a large, diamond-shaped tika, a type of beauty mark. The mask's counterpart in the eastern foothills is a disc-like brass representation of a smiling Durga from Assam, complete with the symbolic horns of her slain enemy Mahisa, the embodiment of evil. In the Kulu valley, as elsewhere in Himachal Pradesh and throughout the Himalayas, there is a complete integration of architectural forms, painting and sculpture. Buildings such as the seventh century Lakshana Devi temple in Brahmor with its well-preserved woodwork, and the equally early Shakti Devi temple in Chatrarhi are comfortable 'homes' for great feminine ideals that could be called the mothers of the masks. These temples, like a related Hindu shrine in Hatkoti, shelter images of godesses that are as perfect as any in Asia, but which have not been adequately researched. The skilled craftsmen of both Nepal and Tibet produced bronze compositions of great complexity using the cire-perdue (lost wax) technique. Cast-bronze sculptures, such as a multiarmed Bishnu Vishvarupa ('Vishnu of All Forms') dated 1657, still appear in the streets of Kathmandu during the annual Indra Jatra celebrations in honour of the city's patron deity, Indra, and the divine virgin, Kumari. The Denver museum has an intricate Nepali bronze only 16.5 centimetres in height representing Chandamaharosana, a wrathful Tantric deity shown with his prajna (sonsort) and eight attendants (Fig. 5). As Nepali art built upon the elegance of the eastern Indian Pala-Sena tradition of the eighth to twelfth centuries, and the quality and sophistication of mediaeval Indian accomplishments spread throughout the Himalayan region, skills were evolved that matched the increasing complexity of Tantric iconography. Nepali artists, primarily the Newars of the Kathmandu valley, took lapidary work combined with repoussé designs on metal to perhaps a decorative extreme in pieces such as the nineteenth century metal relief with filigree and inset precious and semi-precious stones in the Denver collection (Fig. 6). Here, the sun god Surya in his chariot has a very human presence, much like the casual figures of Shiva and Parvati that look down from the temple named for them in Durbar square in Kathmandu. The gods are fed, dressed and bathed, like the sacred image of Shveta Matsyendranath, the 'white' form of the patron god of Nepal that is freshly painted and newly costumed once each year in Kathmandu. Some of the deities are fearsome, even repellent, but they are approached with loving respect. The inter-relationship between the worshipper and the worshipped is demonstrated each year on the night of the full moon during the Indra Jatra festival when the great mask of Bhairava, dated 1795, in the palace square in Kathmandu, issues sacred beer from its open mouth through a bamboo pipe to waiting devotees below. A polychromed carved wooden images of Bhairava in the Denver museum collection, attributed to the seventeenth century, must have been used in a similar way (Fig. 7). The art of Kashmir is represented in the Denver collection by an image of Vishnu Chaturmurti ("Four-faced Vishnu') (Fig. 8 and 8a). The animal fces on either side of the god are of Varaha, his incarnation as the boar that lifted the earth from primeval waters, and the lion face of Narasimha, who destroyed an evil king by being neither man nor animal. On the back of the head is the deity's aspect as the 'Destroyer of Evil' (Fig. 8a). The concept and style of this sculpture, like those of eleventh century mural paintings in Alchi and Ladakh, and a bronze Buddha in Ladakh's Phyang monastery, belong to an indigenous Himalayan tradition. The grey limestone sculpture in figure 9, which was made in the Kathmandu valley, depicts Uma-Maheshvara (Shiva and Parvati), prominent deities of the Hindu pantheon who are associated with destruction as an essential part of the endless cycle of time. In the context of Hindu-Buddhist society, they are also related to love and family pride. The stone tablet, which is deeply carved almost through to the plain back, was once set into the earth or pavement. It is one of a small group of ninth and tenth century sculptures that demonstrate the artistry and technological proficiency of Newari craftsmen. Related stone images remain in the streets and fields of the Kathmandu valley, often placed beside fountains that are themselves signs of benevolence. Uma-Maheshvara sit on a pillow over rocky crags that represent their home on Mount Kailasa at the centre of the universe. Accompanied by devotees and saints, they are enclosed in a canopy of rock. Their sons, Karttikeya (or Skanda), defender of the gods, and elephant-headed Ganesha, one who defeats all obstacles, rest below. This portrayal differs from Indian versions of the holy family in the languid form of Parvati as she leans against the strong body of her lover Shiva, the tranquility and compassion conveyed in her body and expression, the fine-boned physique of the couple and their slightly aquiline features; but perhaps it is a kind of innocence that most clearly sets these figures apart from those of Nepal's Asian neighbours.
(Orientations Feb 1993) |
