Art and Geography: Patterns in the Himalaya

Author(s): Pradyumna P. Karan and Cotton Mather

Source: Annals of the Association of American Geographers , Dec., 1976, Vol. 66, No. 4
(Dec., 1976), pp. 487-515
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Association of American
Geographers

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 * ANNALS of the
Association of American Geographers
Volume 66 December, 1976 Number 4

ART AND GEOGRAPHY: PATTERNS IN THE HIMALAYA*

PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER

ABSTRACT. The Himalaya embrace some ancient cultures which have remained
geographically and culturally distinct. These cultures are expressed in their vernacu-
lar art which, in- contrast to international art, represents both place and culture in
the anthropological sense. Vernacular art mirrors historical and geographical forces
and it provides insight into social aspirations, and thereby is important in under-
standing social behavior. Most aspects of the art forms of painting, dance, music,
embroidery, architecture, and sculpture are regionally distinct.

THE Himalayan realm is one of the world's
richest areas in vernacular art. Distinct
cultural groups settled long ago in the moun-
tains where access to the outside world has not
been easy. Although the cultures within the
Himalaya have ancient roots and have existed
for ages in juxtaposition, they remain distinct
from each other even today. This realm ranks as
one of the prime places to observe the bearing
of cultural groupings and environmental condi-
tions upon vernacular art.
Dr. Karan is Professor of Geography at the Univer-
sity of Kentucky in Lexington, KY 40506. Dr. Mather
is Professor of Geography at the University of Minne-
sota in Minneapolis, MN 55455, and Adjunct Profes-
sor at the University of Kentucky.
*We wish to thank local officials and artists in
vari-
ous regions of the Himalaya from Kashrnir to Assam
for their help and assistance. In particular we ac-
knowledge the help and advice of the late King
Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev of Nepal, King
Jigme Dorji Wangchuk of Bhutan, and Sir Tashi
Namgyal and Palden Thondup Namgyal, former rul-
ers of Sikkim. Sir Tashi, himself a renowned Hima-
layan artist, was of considerable assistance in explain-
ing and in interpreting the painting, sculpture, music,
dance, architecture, and handicrafts of the Himalayan
realm. Thanks are due to lamas of Buddhist mon-
asteries, village priests in Hindu and tribal areas of the
Himalaya, Islamic artisans in Kashmir, peasants,
nomads, merchants, artists, musicians, dancers, and
Art is an esthetic expression of human ex-
perience. It represents a distillation of both ex-
periential and aspirational aspects of man-
kind and a fusion of the environmental and
metaphysical realms. Placed in the time-space
frame, art may be viewed as either international
or vernacular.
International or cosmopolitan modern art is
the possession of the global elite. Its style, tran-
scending regional and national bounds, is di-
vorced from the territorial milieu in which the
artists live and work. Within a few years an
artistic innovation may sweep to the far reaches
of the world. The innovation may represent the
discovery of new materials for artistic expres-
sion or it may involve old materials whose use
for esthetic expression has been made feasible
by technological change. This may vary from
acrylic paints to laminated woods or specialty
craftsmen whom the authors had the privilege of know-
ing in their homeland, and who in the course of their
talks and interviews have contributed to the develop-
ment of ideas set forth in this paper. All the accom-
panying photographs were made by the authors during
their travels in the Himalaya; we are indebted to Gun-
vant Rai, B. K. Narain, V. P. Misra, and S. Lal for
permission to photograph art objects for reproduction.
Our thanks are due to Sir D. P. Varma, a scholar of
Himalayan art and literature, for reviewing this man-
uscript and offering suggestions for improvement.

ANNALS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS Vol. 66, No. 4, December 1976
) 1976 by the Association of American Geographers. Printed in U.S.A.

487

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488 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December
steels. Incorporated with the physical contribu-
tion of technological advance is the highly intel-
lectualized imagery that is used to portray
ontological perception of experiences and as-
pirations.
The geographical unmindfulness of interna-
tional art is one of its most striking features.
The influence of a Henry Moore, for example,
can sweep across continents, and influence
artistic styles in Scandinavia, Japan, or the
United States. Cezanne and Gaugin, for in-
stance, sent waves of reaction throughout the
international art world, and the art mode of
Cubism brought forth a veritable artistic revo-
lution that found expression in painting, sculp-
ture, architecture, and the industrial arts. In a
very real sense international art is an abstrac-
tion. It does not spring directly from regional
tradition and setting, it is not an expression of
culture in the anthropological sense, and it
transcends geographical bonds with abandon.
This is not to deny that international art may
express itself in functional ways, that it may,
for example, get inspiration from primitive
African art. It may have geographical and
sociological linkages which help to explain its
areal dispersion from point of origin, but es-
sentially it is neither culturally confined nor
geographically limited. It springs from an in-
dividual genius' intellectualized sense of esthet-
ics rather than from an inherited cultural tra-
dition.'
Vernacular or folk art focuses not upon the
individual's expression, but upon a group de-
velopment. It is the product of culture in the
anthropological sense and derives inspiration
from indigenous tradition and setting. It evolves
slowly and it has a geographical base.2 It mir-
1 For a discussion of the dichotomy between the
contemporary modern or international art and vernac-
ular folk art from the perspective of the Indian artists,
see A. K. Dutta, "Contemporary Indian Art: Search
for a New Identity?" Indian and Foreign Review, Vol.
II (December 1, 1973), pp. 18-19. During a visit to
India in 1973 Andre Malraux, the famous French
humanist, disappointed with the sweep of abstract in-
ternational art in India advised young artists to go
back to the vernacular or folk art which derived inspi-
ration from the rich indigenous thought, culture, sym-
bols and signs of India. See A. S. Raman, "Contem-
porary Indian Artists," Indian and Foreign Review,
Vol. II (August 1, 1974), pp. 13-17.
2 Landscape painting also has a geographical base.
See Ronald Rees, "Geography and Landscape Paint-
ing: An Introduction to a Neglected Field," Scottish
Geographical Magazine, Vol. 89 (1973), pp. 147-57;
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rors strong cultural historical forces and geo-
graphical settings. With the sudden and world-
wide onslaught of modern technology, there
were some indications that vernacular art
(which was often and sometimes carelessly re-
ferred to as primitive art) might be effaced.
Now it appears that numerous modern societies
are yearning for more linkages with their con-
temporary environment and also their past,
and are studiously attempting to preserve and
indeed to revive nearly lost ties. This is evident
in academic curricula, in the establishment of
folk-art museums, in governmental programs
to foster vernacular art, and in the commercial
interest broadly manifested in the vernacular
art of both this continent and abroad. Interior
designers feature, for example, Indian art, Es-
kimo prints, Andean weavings, African wood
carvings, Eskimo soapstone sculpture, and Ori-
ental jade figurines.
Vernacular art bears directly upon geography
since it represents both culture and place. It is
of particular significance to students of histori-
cal and contemporary cultural geography be-
cause it reveals physical and nonphysical en-
vironmental factors which have melded through
time in the crucible of human experience. More-
over, it provides insight into a society's aspira-
tions and thereby helps to explain social be-
havior. The Himalayan realm is one of the few
places on earth with mainstreams of culture that
have been next to each other over vast stretches
of time and where the forces of fusion have
failed to obliterate the individual culture.
THE HIMALAYAN SETTING AND
MAJOR CULTURAL GROUPS
The Himalaya mountains extend along the
northern fringes of the Indian subcontinent in
a series of towering ranges between the great
bend of the Indus River near Gilgit in Kashmir
and the sharp turn of the Brahmaputra River
in Arunachal Pradesh of eastern India (Fig. 1).
Originating in the vicinity of Mount Kailas and
the sacred Lake Manasarowar, the great Indus
and Brahmaputra Rivers hold the entire Hi-
malayan region in their arms.3 The Himalaya
"John Constable and the Art of Geography," Geo-
graphical Review, Vol. 66 (1976), pp. 59-72.
3 For a discussion of the physical geology and phys-
iography of the Himalaya, see D. N. Wadia, "The
Himalaya Mountains: Their Age, Origin and Sub-
crustal Relations," Himalayan Journal, Vol. 26
(1965), pp. 20-37; A. Gansser, Geology of the Hima-
 1976 HIMALAYAN ART 489

Gilgit

LADAKH HIMALAYA
Q KASHMIR LOCATION MAP

.) \ Srinagar

0
6' >Chamba a, ( ?0 100 200 300 400 Mies

PAKISTAN >PUNJAB HIMALAYA

ge Noof t-he I KUMAOUN B~ohW p R.

ntonsHIMALAYA

'~~~~i 'I ~~~~~SIKKIM

DeIhi 7 BHUTAN edge'f th

Al Kathmandu7 D G d '' -
FIG. 1. Himalaya.LoH mation Mpi
INDIA
I N D~~~
I A~~S
~7~M DE*
YA H IM~
DUAR ~
Ss'~

BANGLADESH

FIG. 1. Himalaya. Location Map.

consists mainly of: 1) the Great Himalaya, a
single range with at least fifty peaks over 23,000
feet (7,000 meters), including Mount Everest
at 29,002 feet (8,848 meters), Kanchenjunga
at 28,146 feet (8,578 meters), Nanga Parbat
at 26,620 feet (8,126 meters), and Dhaulagiri
at 26,795 feet (8,172 meters); 2) the subordi-
nate ranges on the Tibetan side, including the
important Zanskar, Ladakh and Kailas Ranges,
with elevations up to that of Mt. Kamet at
25,447 feet (7,756 meters) and Mt. Kailas at
22,028 feet (6,714 meters)-where both the
Indus and Brahmaputra rise; 3) the Karakoram
chain at the western end of the Himalaya with
its lofty peak known as K2 or Mount Godwin
Austin at 28,287 feet (8,611 meters); 4) the
Middle Himalaya, which borders the Great
Himalaya on the south with a remarkable uni-
formity of heights between 6,000 (1,829 me-
ters) and 10,000 feet (3,048 meters); and 5)
the Outer Himalaya, with an average elevation
of 5,000 feet (1,024 meters), which is the low-
est zone and is contiguous to the plains of
India.4 Southward is the piedmont plain, an
layas (New York: Interscience Publishers, 1964), pp.
235-6 1.
4 P. P. Karan, "Geographic Regions of the Hima-
laya," Bulletin of Tibetology, Vol. 3 (July 1966), pp.
5-25. For geography of the Himalayan realm, see S. C.
Bose, Geography of the Himalaya (New Delhi: Na-
tional Book Trust, 1972); P. P. Karan and W. M.
Jenkins, The Himalayan Kingdoms: Bhutan, Sikkim
extension of the plains of northern India, lo-
cally known as the Terai in the west and Duars
in the eastern Himalaya.5
Four distinct cultural groups penetrated the
relatively isolated geographic environment of
the Himalaya.6 People of the Hindu (Indian),
Lamaist Buddhism (Tibetan), Islamic (Af-
ghan-Iranian), and animistic (Burman or
Southeast Asian) cultures arrived in waves from
the south, north, west, and east, making the
Himalaya their home and imprinting their arts
and cultures on the Himalayan environment
(Fig. 2).7 The cultures were preserved and
and Nepal (Princeton, N.J.: D. Van Nostrand Co.,
1963); P. P. Karan, Nepal: A Cultural and Physical
Geography (Lexington, Ky.: University of Kentucky
Press, 1960); idem, Bhutan: A Physical and Cultural
Geography (Lexington, Ky.: University of Kentucky
Press, 1967); Jacques Dupius, L'Himalaya (Paris:
Presses Universitaires de France, 1972).
5 For the human occupance of the Terai, see L. R.
Singh, The Terai Region of U. P.: A Study in Human
Geography (Allahabad: Ram Narain Lal Beni Prasad,
1965).
6 Gerald D. Berreman, "Peoples and Cultures of the
Himalayas," Asian Survey, Vol. 3 (1963), pp. 289-
304.
7 Marie-Therese de Mallmann, "Arts du Tibet et
des regions Himalayennes," Arts Asiatiques, Vol. 21
(1970) pp. 71-89; Madanjeet Singh, "Mystique of
Himalayan Art," Indian and Foreign Review, Vol. 12
(1975), pp. 13-17; idem, "Unknown Treasures of
Himalayan Art," Unesco Courier, Vol. 22 (February,
1969), pp. 14-25; idem, Himalayan Art (Greenwich,
Conn.: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1968).

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490 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December

HIMALAYA
\ TIBETAN CULTUE_

(t ISLAMIC\ (Lamaist) ,_J CULTURAL REGIONS

X zfo \0 100 200 300 400 Miles

/SSouthern \t ex g en_ N
of mountain culu e \ t S \

i~~u) 'O~ (Lomoisi C UL TURE

IC ~~~~IodC Co/lures (LomaiSl

M=dified after Berrern

~~~~~~~~IE I

REGIONAL PATTERNS OF PAINTING

AN A

Mod

J TIBETAN DANCE ,

\COURT\
DANCE

REGIONAL PATTERNS OF DANCE

\ ATHAK ,

FIG. 2. Himala
terns of dance.

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 1976 HIMALAYAN
nurtured in these Himalayan valleys while they
were being modified markedly by outside in-
fluences at their places of origin in the Indian,
Afghan-Iranian, and Southeast Asian areas and
were being effaced in Tibet by the obtrusion of
a new ideology.8
The principal features of the Hindu culture
such as the Indo-Aryan languages, art forms,
and settled agriculture, entered the Himalaya
from the Indian plains to the southY9 Distinc-
tive features of the Lamaist culture such as the
Tibetan language, art, sculpture, and a com-
bination of pastoralism and settled agriculture
encroached upon the Himalaya from the Ti-
betan plateau to the north.'0 Buddhist monas-
teries, located in secluded places but within
easy reach of the main trans-Himalayan trade
routes, developed as centers of religious life
where artistic and intellectual expression and
culture flourished. Major Buddhist monasteries
with great works of art are located in the high
valleys of such rivers as the Sutlej, Ganges,
Jamuna, Kali, Bagmati, Kosi, Manas, Raidak,
and Brahmaputra, which flow through the
mountains from north to south in gorges often
9,000 to 15,000 feet (2,743 to 4,572 meters)
deep. Pilgrims and traders still wend their way
along the steep valley trails to reach monaster-
ies such as the Thyangboche in the inner re-
cesses of the mountains (Fig. 3). The monas-
teries emerged as institutional nodes with works
of art based on native culture.
From Iran and Afghanistan came major fea-
tures of Islamic culture, including the non-Indic
Aryan languages, art forms associated with the
Moslems, and irrigated, settled agricultural
forms and pastoralism." -The animist cultural
features associated with the Burman or South-
east Asian area such as the Tibeto-Burman
languages, art forms associated with the indig-
enous religious systems (distinct from the great
religions of Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism),
8 For details, see S. C. Bose, Land and People of
the Himalayas (Calcutta: Indian Publications, 1968).
For the relationship between ideology and landscape
in Tibet, see P. P. Karan, The Changing Face of Tibet:
The Impact of Chinese Communist Ideology on the
Landscape (Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Ken-
tucky, 1976).
9 H. Bhattacharya, Cultural Heritage of India
(Hollywood, California: Vedanta Press, 1961).
10 P. Carrasco, Land and Polity in Tibet (Seattle:
University of Washington, 1959), pp. 4-5.
11 W. C. Smith, Modern Islam in India: A Social
Analysis (New York: Russell and Russell, 1972).
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ART 491
and shifting agriculture entered the Himalaya
from the east.'2
The Himalaya thus presents a complex cul-
tural pattern with four major cultures encroach-
ing upon the area-from different directions. In
general, people of the Hindu culture are domi-
nant in the sub-Himalaya and the middle Hima-
layan valleys from Jammu to Nepal. To the
north, people of Lamaist Buddhist culture in-
habit the High Himalaya from Ladakh to north-
eastern India. In central Nepal, in an area from
6,000 to 8,000 feet (1,829 to 2,439 meters)
and occasionally up to 10,000 feet (3,048 me-
ters), the Indian and Tibetan cultures have in-
termingled, producing a combination of Hindu
and Tibetan traits. This intermediate zone be-
tween the Hindu and Tibetan cultures in Nepal
forms a distinct cultural region.'3 Elsewhere in
the Himalaya the Hindu and Lamaist Bud-
dhist cultures meet each other directly without
any transitional zone. Eastern Bhutan and As-
sam Himalaya are inhabited by people whose
culture is similar to those living in northern
Burma and Yunan. People of western Kashmir
have a culture similar to the inhabitants of Iran
and Afghanistan.
The art forms, infused during periods of polit-
ical expansion or cultural and religious inter-
change, have become permanently established
as regional groups. Each regional group origi-
nated from stylistic models deeply rooted in the
religious canons of Islam, Hinduism, and Bud-
dhism. Inspiration for patterns and designs
came also from natural elements such as the
ripples on the surface of a mountain stream,
clouds, rainstorms, wings of the butterflies, the
markings on a snake, the interlacing of leaves
and branches against the sky, and the colors of
the rainbow. These styles have been reproduced
by generations of Himalayan artists. Various
elements which infiltrated regional art in the
Himalaya rarely produced a combination of
forms. Rather, each style flourished and a re-
gionalism of art has been maintained. The dis-
tinctive regional patterns of Himalayan art were
12 C. Von Furer-Haimendorf, Himalayan Barbary
(New York: Abelard-Schuman, 1956).
13 The ethnography of the Magar people of this re-
gion is described in John T. Hitchcock, The Magars of
Banyan Hill (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
1966). The distinctive folk art of the Newar inhabit-
ants of this area is described by Susan Peterson, "Folk
Art of Nepal," Craft Horizons, Vol. 27 (March-
April, 1967), pp. 36-39.
492 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December

_I

60-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-

, ;I. '- ?' K ; .fi v lv E;A

FIG. 3. Monasteries such as this one at Thyangboche, located at 12,715 feet (3,873 meters)
near Khumjung in Nepal, are the focal points of art and cultural life in Buddhist Himalaya. The
walls and ceilings are decorated with religious paintings. People who must make great efforts to
extract a living from an inhospitable environment often spend much time and money on artistic
representation. Many of the frescoes at Thyangboche are of considerable esthetic merit.

recognized as early as the seventeenth century
by Taranatha, a Tibetan historian, who identi-
fied four artistic schools in the Himalaya-the
Eastern School (in Eastern Himalaya), the
Madhyadesh School (in Central Himalaya), the
Western School (in Kumaon and Punjab Hi-
malaya), and the Kashmir.14
REGIONAL PATTERNS OF PAINTING
IN THE HIMALAYA
Regional artistic characteristics of painting
have been influenced by the Buddhist and Hindu
pantheon of deities, the Islamic traditions of
Iran, and the awesome physical setting of the
remote valleys and high peaks. In the relative
14 Taranatha, Taranatha's Geschichte des Bud-
dhismus in Indien. Aus dem tibetischen uebersetzit von
Anton Schiefner (St. Petersburg, Russia: Eggers,
1869). The original Tibetan manuscript was held at
St. Petersburg; a facsimile copy of the Tibetan text in
the library of the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology was
consulted in this research.
isolation of cloistered valleys, the distinctive
regional styles of painting have been preserved,
each style characterized by a magnificence and
beauty of its own. The paintings objectify the
artistic cognition of a people of their physical
environment and their cultural values.
Islamic Painting of Western Kashmir
Islam, which forbids representation of ani-
mate nature in art, has generally condemned
image painting as sacrilege. The orthodox Mos-
lem in the Himalaya usually displayed artistic
consciousness in calligraphy by transcribing
the texts of the Holy Book. Calligraphy became
a religious duty and assumed a higher place
than image painting. This theological prohibi-
tion was obeyed by the orthodox Sunni Moslems
of the Arab nations, but it was generally ignored
by the Sia Moslems of Persia (Iran).
The Persian artistic tradition was introduced
into the western Himalaya by the Mogul rulers
of India. Gifted with keen artistic tempera-

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 1976 HIMALAYAN ART 493

-~~ ~ of-~
Be

. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~4

.
.1~~~~~ tl_ -
FIG. 4. A representative example of Mogul paint-
ing, a royal portrait. The calligraphy on the margins
represents the materialization of the Holy text of FIG. 5. A royal hunt. The Mogul artists depicted
Islam. adventures of the nobles and other aristocrats.

ment, the new rulers defied the religious ban. The impact of Moguls on the art of Kash-
Rising above the restriction, they gave protec- mir is not confined just to the illustration of
tion to the art of painting as a court accomplish-
manuscripts of Persian classics, chronicles, and
ment. The sympathetic attitude of the Mogul tales. Portraiture, scenes of hunting, animals,
emperors such as Akbar encouraged local artists and birds were favorite subjects (Figs. 4 and
to do image painting under the Persian masters 5). Artists in the Mogul court had no associa-
in the Vale of Kashmir with enlightened patron- tion with the common man so they seldom rep-
age.15 Some of the local Hindu artists who ac- resented any facet of ordinary life (Fig. 6).
quired characteristics of the Persian school Mogul painting of Kashmir is very aristocratic
carried them into stylistic features of the Hindu in outlook and it is entirely disdainful of demo-
art. The Persian concept is apparent every- cratic folk appeal. The Moguls loved blossoms
where in Kashmir although some Hindu fea- and plants in bloom, and artists have contin-
tures mingle with the Persian style. The indige- ued to portray beautiful and novel things in the
nous Hindu tradition asserts itself in a new regional tradition of the Vale of Kashmir (Fig.
realism, in greater vigor, in a more natural rep- 7).
resentation of distance and atmosphere, and in
the increasing employment of Hindu characters, Lamaist Painting
costume, architecture, and foliage. The unique imagery of Lamaist Buddhism
characterizes painting in the Tibetan culture
15 The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and area of the Himalaya.h Two types of Lamaist
A lice Heeramaneck Collection (published by October
House Inc. for Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass., 16 Blanche Christine Olschak in collaboration with
1966), pp. 100-03. Geshe Thupten Wangyal, Mystic Arts of Ancient Tibet

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494 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December

t + +@tofal+ nA-+ ;s?* * B 0 9 -;-- *

FIG. 6. A Mogul court scene. Ruler, smoking wa-
ter pipe, attended by a prince and a nobleman. Court
scenes such as these are prominent in Mogul art.

imagery which express Tibetan culture are the

imagery of apotheosized lamas and saints, and FIG. 7. Flowers were popular subjects in Mogul
the imagery of terrifying deities.17 art.

Each Himalayan Buddhist monastery has its

pantheon of lamas; some lamas are deified and
others are glorified simply as saints. Most of
them are idealized as divine figures rather than
reasonable likenesses of the persons portrayed
(Fig. 8). Buddhism, with its emphasis on the
illusory nature of the phenomenal world, dis-
courages portrayal of the physical likeness of a
person."'
A peculiar feature of Lamaist art is the gro-
tesque and bizarre forms of terrifying deities
painted by the artists on the Thangka, or scroll
paintings, on cotton cloth (Fig. 9). These im-
(New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1973).
For an example of secular Tibetan art, in contrast to
the religious style, with its strict iconographical norms,
see B. C. Olschak, "The Art of Healing in Ancient
Tibet," Ciba Symposium, Vol. 12 (1964), pp. 129-34.
17 F. Sierksma, Tibet's Terrifying Deities: Sex and
Aggression in Religious Acculturation (The Hague:
Mouton, 1966).
18D. Barrett, "The Buddhist Art of Tibet and
Nepal," Oriental Art, Vol. 3 (1957), pp. 90-95; S.
Kramrisch, "Art of Nepal and Tibet," Philadelphia
Museum of Art Bulletin (Spring, 1960), pp. 23-38.
ages, which have been interpreted as a release
from psychic and cultural tensions, illustrate
the fears of people who reside in an inhospitable
physical environment.1
The consistent order and harmony in the
design of mandala structure is the most com-
plex and complete expression of the Tibetan's
perception of cosmic reality.20 The mandala's
design is geometrically precise, and its colors
19 R. Bartholomew, "Tibetan Thangkas," The Times
of India Annual (1967), p. 30; Valrae Reynolds,
"Thangka Art," Art News, Vol. 73 (March 1974),
pp. 109-11. For psychological interpretations of artis-
tic productions, see A. Bader, "Psychotics and Their
Paintings: The Human Soul Laid Bare," Ciba Sym-
posium, Vol. 6 (1958), pp. 152-55; and G. Clauser,
"Painting as a Remedial Factor in Psychotherapy,"
Ciba Symposium, Vol. 8 (1960), pp. 13-22.
20 The symbolism of the mandala is discussed in G.
Tucci, The Theory and Practice of the Mandala, with
Special Reference to the Modern Psychology of the
Subconscious (London: Rider, 1961); D. Snellgrove,
Buddhist Himalaya (Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1957),
p. 154.

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 1976 HIMALAYAN ART 495

FIG. 8. The wall paintings in monasteries such as

this one in Thimphu, Bhutan, depict legends of Bud-
dha's life as well as other deities. The main large fig-
FIG. 9. A thangka, an example of scroll painting
ure is always the focal point toward which the smaller
on cotton cloth. The lion-headed goddess Simhavak-
divinities flock. The central figure is painted in a static
tra, on the lotus throne, is surrounded by four of her
ritual pose. As the scenes spread out on the wall there
retinue arranged in the form of mandala.
is more and more movement felt to compensate for
the rigidity of the principal divinity. The paintings and
the murals echo both the faith and a fanciful percep-
tualization of their environment.
God and individual soul, in union and separa-
ar.Tepotaa
tion (Fig. odesired
1 1). The Hindu artist also oein
the religious truths to appeal to society and he
are always strong and luminous. To the Tibetan drew his imagery from everyday life, thus cover-
Buddhist the phenomenal world is one of chaos ing a larger field than the Buddhist and with a
and tension and the mandala is an attempt to different approach than the Moguls. Hindu
project order and harmony into that world artists brought Krishna and Radha down to the
(Fig. 10). It is an effective and graphic visual- level of ordinary persons by humanizing them
ization of a world that exists in the mind of the in paintings. Thus, the Hindu Himalayan paint-
Tibetan. ing is really a visualization of the life of the
Hindu Paintings of the Southern Himalaya common people, their work and play, their joys
and sorrows, their beliefs and customs, and
Designs derived from the Hindu religion
their home and field life, in the background of
dominate the paintings of southern Himachal
their religious faith; it is an "immediate expres-
Pradesh, Garhwal, and Nepal Himalaya. The
sion of the Hindu view of life . ..the product
worship and adoration of a personal deity, com-
of a whole civilization. "22
mon among Hindus, form the inspiration for
Paintings of the Himalayan hill states such
paintings which symbolize the mutual longing
as Kulu, Guler, Chamba, Mandi, Bilaspur, and
of God and the human soul.2' One principal
Kangra (now in the Indian state of Himachal
theme of the Hindu artists has been the love
Pradesh) are given the generic name, 'Pahari'
story of Krishna and Radha, as representing .23T

21 R. K. Kaushal, Himachal Pradesh: A Survey of

the History of the Land and its People (Bombay: 22 A. Coomaraswamy, Raiput Painting (New York:
Minerva Book Shop, 1965), pp. 77-80; M. S. Rand- Oxford University Press, 1916), p. 14.
hawa, "Vaishnavism Inspiration of Rajput Painting," 23 C. M. N. Sahay, "Indian Miniature Painting,"
Marg, Vol. 17 (June, 1964), pp. 4-7. Arts of Asia, Vol. 4 (1974), pp. 25-41. The word

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496 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December

PA_

7 . ,. _4 _ a

HAS~~A
FIG. 10. Beautiful frescoes of cosmic mandalas (spheres) adorn the walls in the dzongs
(monastery-castles) of Thimphu and Paro. They depict the origin and development of the uni-
verse according to the Buddhist texts. Mandalas are painted on the outer walls of temple gates
such as this one at Thimphu to make the devotees entering the temple aware of the nature of the
phenomenal world. This is the message of these psychograms, once considered mythological
fantasy but now regarded by philosophers as essential in understanding the way in which
Tibetan culture anticipated reality and relativity in its own unique way. Harmony, a well-
ordered symmetry in space, is ascribed to the network of energies called the cosmic "wind."

is sublimated, and passion is enobled and sug-
gested with great tenderness. Sex is not allowed
to lose the quality of subtlety and refinement.24
The recurring subject matter is woman restless
with longing for her lover. Incidental objects
(clouds, rain, lightning, storm, trees, flowers,
pictures, birds, and animals) are used to suggest
a crisis (Fig. 12). A girl standing against a
'miniature' in this context refers to size which may
range up to a full page folio.
24 W. G. Archer, Indian Painting in the Punjab
Hills, Victoria and Albert Museum Monograph, No. 3
(London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1952);
idem, "Pahari Miniatures: A Concise History," Marg,
Vol. 28 (March, 1975), pp. 3-44.
background of an impending storm represents
the passionate mood of woman pining for her
lover.25
Other themes in Hindu Himalayan painting
also come from the vast range of Hindu reli-
gious thought and mythology. Among the artists
of Garhwal Himalaya (Uttar Pradesh) and
Nepal Himalaya, the Ramayana of Tulsidas, the
Bhagvata Purana, dealing with the life of
Krishna, and Gita Govinda, the symbolical love
25 V. S. Agrawala, "The Romance of Himachal
Painting," Roop Lekha, Vol. 20 (1948-49), pp. 89-90.
M. S. Randhawa, Kangra Valley Painting (New Delhi:
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1954), p. 4.

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 1976 HIMALAYAN ART 497

-q

VI A

FIG. 12. A portrayal of love in Pahari painting. A

FIG. 11. The love story of Krishna and Radha is
lady with four attendants on the terrace waiting for
one of the main themes of painting in the Punjab
her lover. The gathering storm reflects the lady's un-
Hills. In this scene Radha is reluctant to surrender to
ease as along the banks of the river each bird has
Krishna. Beyond the garden railing is a flowering
found a mate.
cypress tree and birds in flight silhouetted against the
night sky.

song for Krishna, are popular themes for paint-

ings.
In Mithila, the ancient cultural region lo-
cated in the Terai of eastern Nepal and cen-
tered upon Janakpur, there is a distinct artistic
tradition represented by paintings done on mud
walls by the village women. Favorite subjects
are gods and decorative floral and ornamental
patterns on the walls of a corridor or of the
Gosain-Ghar (room) where the family deity
is worshipped (Fig. 13). Hindu festivals such
as the Chhath (worship of Sun God), the
Chauth Chand (the fourth day of the Hindu
month of Bhadra about August-September),
Dassehra (worship of goddess Durga in late
September), and Diwali (worship of goddess
Lakshmi in October) provide the main occa- FIG. 13. Paintings on mud-walls of "Gosain-Ghar"
or God's room in a home in the Mithila cultural re-
sions for the painting. None of these surpass
gion of southern Nepal. Home-made colors from veg-
the intricacy and exuberance of the designs etable matter are mixed with oil and water and ap-
done inside a kowar-the bridal chamber at plied with a brush made of grass.

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498 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December

FIG. 15. Dragon painted on wood, an example of

Monpa art of eastern Himalaya.
FIG. 14. Decorative paintings inside a Kowar of
the newlyweds.
lamic, Hindu, and Tibetan areas the painting of
the tribal region of the eastern Himalaya dis-
the bride's home where the newly married
plays less sophisticated esthetic sense and a
couple reside for at least a few days after the
less complex medium of expression. The most
wedding (Fig. 14). Some of the designs inter-
common form of art in Arunachal Pradesh is
pret physiological facts with considerable can-
the drawing on wood (Fig. 15). At the house
dor.26
entrance are some crude and simple drawings
In Mithila, the birthplace of Sita-the epit-
on a wooden frame, with some dots and length-
ome of Hindu womanhood as portrayed in
wise lines displayed in an unsystematic way.
Ramayana-local women artists have devel-
Figures and lines are drawn usually with the
oped a distinct regional style of painting known
liquid of lingchong (pine-resin), the essence of
as Madhubani art.27 The hallmark of the style
which gives black dye.
is the distinctive portrayal of the human face
These drawings are associated with socio-
as being roughly oval, with a sharply pointed
religious rites. They serve in a way to declare in
nose tilted upward, smooth rounded jaw line,
explicit but symbolic form the desire of the in-
and full, wide eyes. The paintings, depicting
dividual who performs the ceremony to attain
scenes from the lives of Ram and Sita, have
certain heights. Among the Akas, for example,
free-hand line drawings without the restrictions
when a man aspires for some material goals in
of geometry and proportions. Each painting is
life, he performs a religious rite to appease the
embellished with stylized local flowers and
deity who can bless him with the desired end.
bird motifs which form an intricate border. To-
On the last day of the ceremony, the person
day Madhubani art represents a cultural tradi-
performing it, or someone on his behalf, who
tion of painting just as ancient as the land called
may have acquired some special skill in the
Mithila.
work, draws symbolic designs at the entrance

Painting in the Southeast Asian Culture Area
Much of the beauty of tribal art and culture
still survives in the mountainous country of the
eastern Himalaya.28 As compared to the Is-
of the house. The performer of the ritual ex-
presses his yearnings through these figures and
prays to the presiding deity for success or for-
tune in the desired sphere.
REGIONAL PATTERNS OF DANCE

26 Interview with Sri Sitaram Misra, B. L. Yadav,

and Ram Lochan Misra at Janakpur, Nepal.
27 C. Y. Gopinath, "Madhubani Paintings-An An-
cient Art Form," Indian and Foreign Review, Vol. 12
(June 1, 1975) pp. 13-16.
28 Verrier Elwin, The Art of the Northeast Frontier
of India (Shillong: North-east Frontier Agency Ad-
ministration, 1959).
In most of the Himalaya the dance has come
to be generally regarded as an art form meant
to enkindle emotions expressive of religious
sentiments. Religion, however, does not always
provide the inspiration for dances. In the Hi-
malaya, the Buddhists, the Hindus, and the ani-

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 1976 HIMALAYAN
mists have used dancing in the propitiation of
the spirits of Nature. For example, a number
of epidemic diseases have their own presiding
deities. Whenever there is impending danger
of an area being affected, people gather to
offer prayers and perform ritual dances to
please the gods. The rain dances emphasize the
ritualistic character of dancing; other dances
depict the harvesting of crops, symbolizing life
in its struggle for existence.
Dance in the Indic Culture Area
The dances of the Indic culture area of the
Himalaya represent the major moments in the
life of the cultural group and in the existence of
the individual.29 This may range from the col-
lective exuberance associated with the hunt and
harvest festivals to the poignant personal feel-
ings at moments of birth, marriage, or death of
a loved one.
The earliest known codified work on the
dance is the Natya Shastra, by Bharata Muni,
which was written somewhere between the sec-
ond and fourth centuries A. D. Bharata Muni
refers to four regional variations of the art of
dancing in India: Avanti, Dakshinatya, Pan-
chali, and Odha-Magadhi. In the Himalaya re-
gionalism in dance is expressed in the distinctive
Kathak dance of Himachal Pradesh and Garh-
wal Himalaya, the cosmic-dance of Siva in
Nepal Himalaya, and folk dancing throughout
the Hindu Himalaya.30
The Kathak (meaning a narrator of Kathas
or epic Hindu stories) dance represents a rich
and varied record of traditions and ideas. A
community of musicians and dancers, known as
Kathakas, from whom this style of dancing gets
its name, danced on festivals and participated
in daily temple rituals. As unsophisticated ver-
nacular art it has religious and spiritual roots.
Moslem invasions brought in new influences on
the Kathak dance of the southern Himalaya.
The Moslem royalty and nobility extended
patronage to Kathak dancing as a form of so-
cial entertainment. As the dance shifted from
29 Ragini Devi, Dance Dialects of India (Delhi:
Vikas Publications, 1972); R. S. Gupta, "Language of
Dance in India," Indian and Foreign Review, Vol. 9
(January 1, 1972), pp. 18-20.
30 For a brief discussion of regionalism in Indian
dance, see Kapila Vatsyayan, "Indian Dance," A rts
of Asia, Vol. 4 (1974), pp. 48-55.
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ART 499
the temples of gods to the courts of Moslem
rulers it swung toward sensualism.
The cosmic-dance of Siva, which visualizes
the unity of Being, radiates all movement within
the cosmos, and lifts humanity from temporal
to eternal realities. The dance of Krishna and
Radha, the Eternal Lovers, symbolizes com-
plete oneness of soul and body, expressing the
embodiment of spiritual love leading the soul,
in the process of dancing, on the path of libera-
tion. The dance in the Indic culture of the Hi-
malaya is the vehicle for communicating the
dominant Hindu concepts of man's faith.
Folk dancing in the Terai originated in the
hunt and harvest festivals of the ancient Aryan
ancestors of the local population. Demons,
spirits, and gods were invoked or appeased
through dances. Present-day folk dancers of the
Terai exhibit much of this ancient heritage;
they dance for sheer fun, for the fertility of
crops, for luck, for protection, and for sum-
moning and dispelling the forces of nature. The
dances are characterized by joys and sorrows
of life, a sense of lightheartedness, and under-
currents of gratitude or fear for supernatural
powers.
Various Hindu castes such as the Ahirs,
Kahars, Chamars, and the Dhobis have their
own repertoire of dances to celebrate a wedding
or the birth of a child. These are purely folk
dances, characterized by elemental directness,
spontaneity, and sincerity.
Dance in the Southeast Asian Culture Area
Tribes of the eastern Himalaya region, such
as the Monpa, Dafla, Apa Tani, Akas, and
Mishmis, are so imbued with the concept of the
unity of life and the unfettered nature around
them that they regard nature as the mantle of
divinity itself.3' Their dances, therefore, are
dedicated to nature worship. Festivals related
to seasonal variations provide occasions for
dancing. The dances are of simple gestural
form; the footwork, though swift and rhythmic,
is characterized by abrupt leaps and bounds.
The body itself glides with remarkable ease in
circles, and the arms move sideways to weave
delightful patterns of the gentle breeze playing
with the soft ripples of the quietly flowing
mountain streams.
31 S. G. Burman, "NEFA (North East Frontier
Agency)-The Land and Its Peoples," India Quar-
terly, Vol. 19 (1963), pp. 344-69.
500 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December
> ~~~~~~~~~, _2
_.~
F
th
and marks the dancer's steps.
These aboriginal people believe in the sacred
and fertilizing power of human blood. Head-
hunting practices have ceased to exist but the
ritual of sacrifice still survives with an animal
proffered in place of human beings. Sacrifice is
the occasion for a great deal of dancing among
the tribal inhabitants. War dances, a survival of
the martial past, symbolize events which the
aboriginal tribes desire to be successfully ac-
complished. The tribes have a rich variety of
dances which are mostly warlike in character
and present abstract conceptions of the hunt.
A fantastic and extravagant imagination comes
into full play in the dramatization of the thrills
and surprises of the duel in the dance form.
Dance in the Tibetan Culture Area
The mask dances of the Tibetan cultural
group in the high Himalaya from Ladakh to
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.4 ,i_
Bhutan present motifs with unsophisticated
forms of folk expression. These dances have
cultural and artistic significance as well as
social and recreational values. A variety of
dancing masks represents divine and super-
natural beings such as demons and evil spirits,
animals, and men.82 Some of the dancing masks
are made up of paper pulp and others of wood.
The beat of the drum starts slowly, and as the
dance proceeds, the tempo rises and the rhythm
becomes more frenzied. The entire performance
is a deliberate symbolic representation of the
struggle against the hazards of life (Fig. 16).
32 G. Tucci, Tibet: Land of Snows (New York:
Stein and Day, 1967), pp. 133-34; Siegbert Hummel,
"Boy Dances at the New Year's Festival in the Region
of Dri-cu-ron, North Nepal," East and West, Vol. 24.
New Series Nos. 3-4 (1974), pp. 363-64.
 1976 HIMALAYAN
Tibetans in the Darjeeling area have a form
of duet dance in which two persons form one
character in order to portray the character of
the Himalayan yak. The dancer in front holds
the mask while his partner moving in unison
immediately behind manages to wag the tail.
Dance in the Islamic Cultural Area
In the Kashmir Himalaya dancing in the
palaces of feudal chiefs became a form of sala-
cious entertainment marked by the visual physi-
cal charms of the dancer as she lustily whirled
to sensuous music. During the period of Moslem
rule the emphasis in dancing shifted from the
spiritual to the physical and courtesans took
to dancing as an easy means to gain favor of
the Mogul lords. In the Moslem Vale of Kash-
mir dancing became a tabooed art for respect-
able persons; it maintained classical purity only
in those parts of the western Himalaya which
enjoyed greater protection from Moslem inva-
sions because of geographical seclusion and in
some valleys due to sustained patronage from
the successive generations of the Hindu ruling
families.
Rural peasants perform traditional folk
dances such as the ihoomar and khattak; the
movements reflect traits considered "good" in
the regional culture.33 In contrast to the West
where upright body posture denotes honesty
and dances such as Spanish flamenco and classi-
cal ballet emphasize a sense of verticality, lift-
ing upwards, and a desire to overcome the pull
of gravity, the folk dancing of Kashmir empha-
sizes a down body posture. The movements re-
flect modesty, which is a most desirable social
trait in this culture. In the folk dancing of Kash-
mir "lifted" posture often depicts overweening
pride or comic pomposity. An upward look
among the dancers in serious contexts may indi-
cate looking to heaven.
REGIONAL PATTERNS OF MUSIC
The Hindu Cultural Area
In the Hindu Himalaya every song or piece
of music is set in some raga.34 Literally, raga
33 For examples of folk dances from the Islamic
area, see Reginald Massey, "Dancers from Pakistan,"
Dancing Times, Vol. 65 (1975), p. 535.
34 Emmie Te Nijenhuis, Indian Music: History and
Structure (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1974); Walter Kauf-
man, The Ragas of North India (Bloomington: Indi-
ana University Press, 1968).
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ART 501
is something which colors the mind with a cer-
tain definite feeling-a wave of passion or emo-
tion. In a special sense, raga is a tonal composi-
tion of musical notes with a form of peculiar
significance. The peculiar conception of raga,
one of the basic principles of the system, has
no exact parallel with other systems of music
in the world. Hindu music expresses a certain
feeling or mood and reflects the inspiration of
the southern Himalayan people.
Specific seasons and hours of the day and
night are fixed for the performance of different
festivals, religious rites and ceremonies. Ini-
tially there were six ragas and they were associ-
ated with the six seasons of the year. They were
Bhairava (summer), Megha (rainy), Pan-
chama (autumn), Nat-Narain (early winter),
Shri (winter), and Vasanta (spring) ragas
which were meant to be sung in their respective
seasons. Raga Bhairava, associated with the
festival for the worship of Siva, became the
melody of summer time (April and May) re-
minding men of the anger of Siva, the God of
Destruction. Megha, meaning cloud, is the mel-
ody of the rainy season representing the exuber-
ance of joy among the agricultural people with
the coming of the rains. Shri, which is a name of
Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, is sung in the
winter season soon after the harvest. Vasanta
raga, arousing emotions of joy and hilarity with
the appearance of blossoms, is the song of the
spring or vasanta season. Similarly, raga Pan-
chama is allocated to the autumn months and
raga Nat-Narain to the early winter season.
Apart from the traditional association of
ragas with seasons, additional ragas are derived
from geographical place names and regions,
from the names of specific groups of people,
from cult and cult worship, and from names
of gods and goddesses which have been added
to provide a rich and colorful musical form in
the Hindu Himalaya. The ragas emerge as the
suggestive sound pictures of the various envi-
ronments; each raga reflects the mental percep-
tion and awareness of the physical and cultural
milieu.
All forms of Hindu music such as the Dhru-
pad, Thumri, and Dadra-each characterized
by a set of distinctive ragas-are prevalent in
the Himalaya (Fig. 17). Each form has its
own region of popularity depending upon the
historical and social traditions.
502 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December

HIMALAYA
\ TIBETAN MUSIC
H KHEYAL \ F REGIONAL PATTERNS OF MUSIC
AND \X

0 100 200 300 400 Miles

I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

( AMD\
\GABHA \

1PASHMINA A A

REGIONAL PATTERNS OF EMBROIDERY

\ TIBETAN LAMAIST

/ \ ~~(CHORTEN)

I SLAMIC
REGIONAL PATTERNS OF ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE

FIG. 17. Himalaya. Map of regional patterns of music, regional patterns of embroidery,
regional patterns of architecture and sculpture. (Based on field reconnaissance and literature
review.)

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 1976 HIMALAYAN ART 503

The literary content of Dhrupad, the most

favored melody in the Hindu courts of the
former Punjab Hill states, is based on the tra-
ditions, symbols, and imagery of Hindu myth-
ology. It is characterized by a spirit of regal
majesty and grandeur which reflected the mood
of the princely courts. Dhrupad was originally
a melody into which were woven the prevalent
folk musical patterns. Most hill states songs
generally recount "tales of romantic love or of
heroism."35
Thumri is characterized by erotic subject
matter, and soft notes and is associated with
southern parts of the Himalaya adjacent to the
Ganges valley.36 Thumri moved into the Hi-
malaya after it was developed in the area near
Lucknow and Banaras and was influenced
strongly by local folk music such as the Kajari
and Chaita which catch the seasonal moods of
summer and the rains, respectively. The domi- I' U~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'

nant theme of the songs in Thumri is love in all

its aspects.
Bhajan and Kirtans, a kind of dramatic so-
nata based on the various episodes from the
life of Ram, Sita, Krishna, and Radha are the
two most popular forms of religious music in
FIG. 18. Todi Ragini represents a transposition of
the Nepal foothills.37 In Himachal Pradesh the
one of the modes or raga of Indian music into paint-
raga system of the Indian music has inspired a ings. This one illustrates the sophisticated style.
special style of paintings called Ragamala (or
modes in music) painting.38 These paintings are
illustrations of poems which describe or evoke scape, entrances the deer in the neighboring
the mood of the raga. Thus, the three arts- pastures by the music. The imagery derived
music, poetry, and painting-are involved in
from folk stories is expressive of a woman
the production of Ragamala paintings. These whose youth has inspired love among the young
paintings are extremely complex to interpret
lovers who cluster around her. Both of these
due to a lack of unanimity among musicologists, Ragamala paintings are characterized by a sen-
poets, and painters about the exact melody or sitive appreciation of the regional landscape,
musical structure, precise verbal imagery, and
flowers and trees, the lyrical grace of animals,
and the portrayal of abandon in women.
artistic iconography represented. The two paint-
ings of Todi Ragini, one in sophisticated style
Music in the Islamic Culture Area
and the other in folk tradition, are attempts to
portray the spirit and character of the melody Kheyal, a modified Indic musical form dom-
or raga (Figs. 18 and 19). Todi Ragini, repre- inant in the Kashmir valley, is less rigorous, less
sented by a charming woman in an open land- bound by rules and enjoys greater flexibility in
its exposition than the Hindu Dhrupad. It con-
35 Gerald D. Berremen, Hindus of the Himalaya:
veys the idea of imagination.39 With greater
Ethnography and Change (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1972), p. 262. freedom in the matter of improvisation and
36Prem Lata Sharma, "The Origin of Thumri," in tonal structure, Kheyal easily developed and
Aspects of Indian Music, 2nd rev. ed. (New Delhi: prospered in the romantic and sensuous atmo-
1970), pp. 73-85.
sphere of Mogul courts and became a popular
37 A. A. Blake, "Kirtan in Bengal," Indian Art and
Letters, New Series, Vol. 21 (1947), pp. 34-40.
38 Pratapaditya Pal, Ragamala Paintings in the 3'" Jaideva Singh, "The Evolution of Khayal," in
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston: Museum of Aspects of Indian Music, 2nd rev. ed. (New Delhi:
Fine Arts, 1967). 1970), pp. 86-96.

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504 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December
~~f /
FIG. 19. Folk style painting reflecting the pastoral
environment of the Himalayan valleys.
new style in music in the Vale of Kashmir.
Ghazal9 originating in the Lucknow area, rep-
resents Moslem influence. The intense emo-
tional appeal of the Ghazal depends on its suc-
cessful rendering with correct accent and a good popular form of music. Boys and girls play
voice.
Kawwali and Mercia are the counterparts of
Kirtan and Bhajan for the Moslems. Mercia is
the song describing the battle in which the
grandsons of the Prophet were killed. It is
chanted in a recitative manner in the mornings
during the Moharram festival. Kawwali is dis-
tinguished by its quick and lengthy passages up
and down the scale and well-punctuated cho-
ruses emphasizing the main theme of the song.
Music in the Southeast Asian Culture Area
The folk songs and music of the eastern
Himalaya lack the restraint of established clas-
sical varieties of Hindu musical forms. The
words of the songs are simple and precise,
adorned with homely similes and metaphors.
Among the Akas, a tribal group in Kameng
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FIG. 20. In the Uchi, the religious center of the
Tashi Cho dzong in Thimphu Valley of Bhutan, a
monk beats a drum held in his left hand. The drum is
adorned with religious symbols.
district, a most popular song is brjhva. It is
sung on festive occasions and on journeys from
one village to another. During marriage cere-
monies songs and music are played by the
people of the bride's village to express their
humility and respect for the wedding guests.
Among the tribal youths love-lyrics are a most
music and sing love-lyrics expressing their emo-
tions individually and secretly behind the bushes
in the solitary corners of the neighboring woods.
Music in the Tibetan Cultural Area
The popular songs and music of the Tibetan
cultural area blend the concepts of Lamaism
and the legends of the Buddhist epic.4" For ex-
ample, they treat the three levels of the world,
each inhabited by its own deities, the different
realms of nature each with its representative
animal (such as the white lion of the glaciers),
the four lokpalas (guardian gods of four direc-
tions), and the four legendary kings ruling over
40 Giuseppe Tucci, Tibetan Folk Songs from
Gyantse and Western Tibet, 2nd rev. ed. (Ascona,
Switzerland: Artibus Asiae Publishers, 1966).
 1976 HIMALAYAN ART 505

FIG. 21. A horn, made of a human thigh bone,

used in Buddhist monasteries.

the four points of the compass. The songs are

supposed to protect the area through their re-
ligious powers. They express the wisdom of
the elders and lend sanction to the social and
world order, the structure of the environment
and that of the groups inhabiting it. To the
accompaniment of whistles and shouts the
full-throated carefree songs of the Tibetan
herders are similar to those of the Spanish
shepherds.
In the monasteries the monks blow horns,
conch shells, and beat drums and cymbals dur-
ing the chanting of sacred prayers (Fig. 20).
The horn is generally blown on one note only
and is easy to play. The majority of the monks
run their fingers along the script while they
chant and play music. A small horn, carved
from a human femur, hollowed out and shaped
to a mouthpiece at one end, is common topmost FIG. 22. An embroidery motif from Kashmir.
Flowers and tendrils of the cypress tree have been
monasteries in the Tibetan cultural area (Fig.
used to produce the pattern.
21). From each of the whole range of instru-
ments the monks usually play only one fre-
quently repeated and toneless note. touch with the physical, cultural, and experi-
ential environment.
REGIONAL PATTERNS OF The principal designs or decorative motifs on
EMBROIDERY HANDICRAFTS Himalayan handicrafts have been derived from
three sources: the Islamic ornaments or designs
Handicrafts are a major element in the cul-
in which all natural forms are reduced to con-
tural heritage of the Himalayan people. Like
ventional arabesques or ingenious geometric
other manifestations of Himalayan art, handi-
patterns; the more exuberant and imaginative
crafts are products of the material and spiritual Hindu form, which uses animals and human
environment. In their varied forms the handi- figures with greater freedom; and the Lamaist
crafts reflect a religious-philosophical idealism, Buddhist traditions filled with rituals and sym-
and an imagination that draws upon the physi- bolisms of Tibetan Buddhism. These traditions
cal and cultural milieu of the mountains. Crafts- can be seen in textile embroidery designs, metal
men, while striving for beauty, do not lose work, jewelry, pottery, wood, horn, ivory, and

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506 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December

* s-, _^ o . s v~~. .- _ *' - !^'?S;, ' ,t i 4X~#,#, -,

Z X~~~~~~~~~~~~~,~

. . . t. ...t........... ....... .............,ssv,- t-, ~l{

:4* S ;- f i-* ++0*B@* *^

Zv WON L

~~~~~ -4
FIG. 23. The craftsmen in Kathmandu, Nepal
have excelled in fine metal work. Fine specimens rep-
resenting various deities in the Hindu and Buddhist B^|l lL W
2 > 09 v # { 648e ->* 6 * #ff . t * s '. * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , W ,'?
pantheon are made for decoration of the altars. The
faces are always moulded in perfect proportion and
display a beautifully serene expression. The iconogra-
ww~~~~~~~~~~~~. A_ A."ww .0 r . . r
phy of these art forms reflects many aspects of the
Hindu and Buddhist symbolism.

other crafts (Figs. 22-24).41 The hereditary

Hindu craftsman, protected by caste traditions,
and Moslem craftsmen accustomed to occupa-
tional traditions, continue to transmit the tradi-
deodar in Kashmir. =
tional arts and crafts in original form from
father to son.
Embroidered textiles and carpets are the
most common handicraft and they illustrate re-
gionalism derived from the physical and cul-
tural characteristics of the area. The distinct
forms of art-fabrics have been preserved as a
result of several factors. Prescriptions of rigid
social codes, particularly among the Hindus of and life. Red is the color of joy and happiness,
the Himalaya, have ordained styles of decora- or passion, virility, and strength. Yellow sym-
tion, color, and designs for various occasions bolizes cheerfulness, intellectualism, and the life-
and different communities. Marriages, festive giving rays of the sun. Blue symbolizes peace,
seasons, and sacred ceremonies require the use the atmosphere, the sky, as well as heaven.
of particular clothes in various colors by vari- Purple stands for wealth and material posses-
ous religious and caste groups. Color has great sions. The designs range from the geometric ar-
symbolic value such as among the Hindus of the rangements of dots, squares, zigzags or circles
Himalaya, for whom colors symbolize concrete to floral animaln, and religious motifs.42
and abstract eldments. Green stands for youth
Islamic Embroidery Handicrafts

41 Pratapaditya Pal, "Bronzes of Nepal," Arts of
Asia, Vol. 4 (1974), pp. 31-37; Pushpa Sundar,
"Wood Carving," Indian Horizon, Vol. 23 (1974),
pp. 33-39. For a discussion of regional varieties in
toys, a highly developed folk art, which reflect geo-
graphical and cultural influences, see Anne Winter,
"India's Toys: In Variety and Style, They Reflect
Every Facet of This Complex Culture," Craft Hori-
zons, Vol. 16 (December, 1956), pp. 32-36.
The shawl embroidery of Kashmir vividly il-
lustrates the impact of nature (Fig. 25). Floral
42 John Erwin and Margaret Hall, Indian Embroi-
deries (Ahmedabad: Calico Museum of Textiles,
1975); Mulk Raj Anand, "Embroidery," Marg, Vol.
28 (December, 1974), pp. 30-33; Kamala Dongerkery,
"Place of Embroidery in Indian Crafts," Marg, Vol.

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 1976 HIMALAYAN ART 507

aidx'

- Al~-

4~~~~~~~~~~

~~~' ~ 4

FIG. 25. Floral pattern on the embroidered Kash-

mqir shawl.

motifs, majestic mountains, shimmering lakes,

FIG. 26. Islamic prayer rug with floral design
birds, and luscious fruits, all find a place in (Courtesy H. Khan, Srinagar).

Kashmir embroidery.43 Local and Persian in-

fluences have blended in the distinctive leaf and
kinds of carpets. The prayer rug is always direc-
flower patterns on the Kashmir carpets. Car-
tional in pattern and symmetrical along a sin-
pets intended for use by the Moslems as prayer
gle longitudinal axis. Its embroidered design
mats are of the Mihrab (arch) type (Fig. 26).4
echoes the architecture of the mosque in linear
The "Tree of Life" is covered with flowers; the
terms.
earth is represented by the triangular mound of
builders, beneath which a straight line is some-
Embroidery Handicrafts in the Hindu
times drawn to depict a river.
Culture Area
Islamic prayer is directional, and orientation
in the direction of Mecca or the qibla is essen- Embroidery in Himachal Pradesh and
tial. The liturgical focus of the mosque is a Kumaoun Himalaya is usually called Chamba
prayer-niche (Mihrab) in the wall facing style and it has been influenced by Pahari paint-
Mecca. The portrayal of this niche in embroi- ing. The characteristics are easily distinguished
dery design distinguishes prayer-rugs from other
by the pictorial and geometrical designs which
depict themes borrowed from Pahari paintings.
17 (March, 1964), pp. 69-70; Kamaladevi Chattopad-
Scenes of Krishna's life, dances, and ancient
hyaya, "Origin and Development of Embroidery in
Our Land," Marg, Vol. 17 (March, 1964), pp. 5-10. legends are reproduced in warm, vivid colors
43 Nelly H. Sethna, Shal: Weaves and Embroideries in the tradition of Kangra paintings. Embroi-
of Kashmir (New Delhi: Wiley Eastern Private Lim-
dery is used to adorn various articles such as
ited, 1973).
44 James Dickie, "The Iconography of the Prayer scarves, caps, fans, linen, and blouses (Fig.
Rug," Oriental Art, Vol. 18 (1972), pp. 41-49. 27). The patterns are simple and go with the

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508 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December

FIG. 27. Krishna, shown in the center of this Chamba Rumal, is a popular figure on the
embroidery of the Hindu culture area. Four scalloped arches, each with a woman, are separated
by cedar trees. Bold leaves and flowers decorate the border.

prevalent folk style of painting in which flowers
and trees are drawn without sophistication.45
Phulkari, which means "flowering work," is
a spectacular style of embroidery associated
with the Outer Himalaya in Punjab and Ku-
maoun. The motifs are largely floral and geo-
metrical (Fig. 28). Phulkari has a large num-
ber of patterns and each pattern has a special
name based on the motif. This form of Punjab
45"Chamba Rumal," Marg, Vol. 17 (March, 1964),
pp. 19-21.
and Kumaoun Himalaya embroidery is often
mentioned in the literature and folk songs of
the area.46
Religious motifs such as the sankha (conch
shell), surja (sun), chandrama (moon), and
46 "Bagh and Phulkari: Punjab," Marg, Vol. 17
(March, 1964), p. 19. For a discussion of the role of
symbolical, psychological, and physical factors which
influence the use of colors in textile handicrafts in var-
ious parts of India and Himalaya, see Nancy Kenealy,
"India's Crafts Today: Color," Craft Horizons, Vol.
19 (July-August, 1959), pp. 29-30.

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 1976 HIMALAYAN
FIG. 28. A floral embroidery design used on scarfs
in the Punjab Himalaya.
trishul (trident), enter the embroidery of the
Terai and Middle Himalaya in Nepal. This
area remained isolated from the courtly pomp
and show of Mogul rulers and it retained a
traditional folk style using available materials.
Kashida embroidery of the Nepal Terai has a
large variety of designs universally used for
personal garments. Sujani style of Terai is used
in quilts and covers and illustrates natural sur-
roundings through free-flowing representations
of trees, flowers, and animals. Kantha, an em-
broidery in the Duar (piedmont) of eastern
Himalaya, has designs of human and animal
figures, flowers, and foliage.
Southeast Asian Hill Culture Embroidery
The embroidery of eastern Himalaya reflects
the dual influences of Indian and Burman cul-
tures, as well as the tribal traditions of the
aboriginal population. The embroidery is ex-
tremely delicate and it is commonly prepared
on the phaneyk, a type of sarong worn by
women. The pattern commonly used is the cir-
cular design, one circle joining the other. It is
a design inspired by circular swirls of the water
and natural objects such as the flower buds.
Another striking example of embroidery is
the black chaddar (bed spread) with embroi-
dered animal motif in thick cotton thread which
is popularly called the Naga chaddar. This
motif was derived from hunting exploits and
was originally worn by the Angami Nagas.
47 B. K. Barua, "Weaving in Assam," The Assam
Quarterly, Vol. 2 (April, 1962), pp. 45-49.
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ART 509
.~~~~~~~~1
ar4
FIG. 29. On festive occasions the women in Sik-
kim wear a long-sleeved silk jacket, hat, and richly-
striped apron. Note the matching floral design on the
umbrella handle.
Embroidery in the Tibetan Culture Area
Buddhist Himalaya people weave as their
ancestors did in Tibet. In Ladakh, northern
Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan weaving is a house-
hold art. On such occasions as the New Year
celebration or the anniversary of the founding
of a monastery, when the entire population of
a valley is dressed in new clothes and has come
to participate in the event, the local weaving
art may be noticed in the festival costumes (Fig.
29). Each high Himalayan valley has its own
distinct weaving patterns. For example, in
Bumthang in central Bhutan, unscoured sheep's
wool is used in different colors to weave the
famous "Bumthang blankets" with yellow
stripes and floral pattern. Black Bumthang
blankets of wool with yellow, red, and white
floral crosses, which afford protection against
the extreme winter cold, are widely used as a
garment or skirt in central and eastern Bhutan.
The pattern consists of a broad striped design
with stylized floral motifs.48
48 B. C. Olschak, "Bhutanese Weaving," Palette
(Sandoz, Basel), No. 24 (1966), pp. 3-8.
 510 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December

(7

-- pm

FIG. 30. Woolen cloth with striped pattern and
flower motif is used for women's clothing in Bhutan.
Two silver shoulder clasps hold this garment together.
The top of the silver clasp is decorated with symbols,
often gilded, showing the wheel of the law, the lotus
flower, and dragon.
In Bhutan the blanket with striped pattern
forms the typical woman's garment (Fig. 30).
The longitudinal striped pattern in which the
golden flower design is prominent is used in
men's garments. Flower designs and symbols of
Bhutanese culture also gleam from the brightly
painted pillars of the unnailed, timber-framed
buildings and bridges. In north Sikkim the
floral pattern is used on the special bedstead,
which is similar to the sofa for sitting. The
ground shade of beige or blue is employed to
set off the bright flowers and foliage motifs
(Fig. 31).
Carpet weaving in northern Himalaya is es-
sentially a folk art.49 The most popular kind is
the small saddle carpet on which every element
of ornamentation has a symbolic meaning,
bringing good fortune or providing protection.
Carpet designs often show several or all eight
of the lucky Buddhist symbols of good fortune
either singly or in groups. One of the oldest
FIG. 31. A floral pattern decorates the bedstead
cover in this picture taken at the palace of the
Chogyal of Sikkim in Gangtok. Raw silk produced in
the southern regions of Sikkim has been used to make
the garment for the Chogyal's sister. It is decorated
with floral patterns and ornamental fillets with the
swastika which symbolizes good fortune. A Tibetan
carpet with flower medallion design covers the floor.
decorative motifs on carpets in Bhutan is the
single large swastika on a border of separate
or interlaced swastikas.50
PATTERNS OF ARCHITECTURE
AND SCULPTURE
The distinctive Himalayan cultures are splen-
didly realized in folk architecture and sculpture
(Fig. 32). As the principal visible record of
the religious, aesthetic and material environ-
ments, folk architecture and sculpture vividly
express the various cultures-even colonialism
(Figs. 33 and 34).
The Hindu Cultural Area
In the southern parts of the Punjab, Kuma-
oun, and Nepal Himalaya the Hindu temple is a
common landscape feature but it does not con-
tain a large shelter to accommodate a congre-
gation of devotees (Fig. 35). The Terai in east-

49 Philip Denwood, The Tibetan Carpet (Warmin- 50 B. C. Olschak, "Tibetan Carpets," Palette (San-
ster, England: Aris and Philips Ltd., 1974). doz, Basel), No. 27 (1967), p. 7.

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 1976 HIMALAYAN
- * x-
ID -
FIG. 32. The drawings on these round storage
buildings adjacent to homes in western Terai in Nepal
are associated with socioreligious rites. In symbolic
form they signify that they wish to be blessed to re-
main free from evil influences.
ern Nepal with its tradition of wooden houses
and thatched huts offers some new and interest-
ing architectural modes in the Chandimandapa
(literally, porch of goddess Chandi) and tem-
ples.i' This alluvial region has widespread clay
51 Mary Shepherd Slusser and Gantamavajra Vijra-
carya, "Two Medieval Nepalese Buildings: An Archi-
tectural and Cultural Study," Artibus Asiae, Vol. 36
(1974), pp. 169-218. For details of Indian temple
styles, see K. V. Sundra Rajan, Indian Temple Styles:
FIG. 33. The rest house (Dak Bungalow) was a
product of colonialism introduced by the British. Lo-
cated in eastern Terai, at the edge of the foothills,
their purpose was to accommodate high civil servants
on official business. Living accommodation is on the
elevated second floor. The style is reminiscent of the
old colonial edifices built for similar purposes in the
tropics of both the Old and New Worlds by the British,
Dutch, and other western European colonial powers.
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ART 511
V .
3,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~r.
FIG. 34. Rest houses in Paro, Bhutan, a later de-
velopment by the Bhutanese government. The living
quarters are less elevated than in the colonial rest
house and there are structural differences such as tie
absence of nails and more use of masonry in this later
type, but the overall similarity of architectural style
and functional purpose is striking in the two types.
deposits suitable for brick manufacture. The
Terai mason uses molded bricks to beautify
temples and multiplies the number of pavilions
and spires to make them imposing. Residential
structures, however, gradually evolved which
used wood and bamboo. This distinctive Terai
The Personality of Hindu A rchitecture (Delhi: Mun-
shilal Manoharlal, 1972).
~~~~~~~~~~~~-j 4L~~~~~
*.'4~~~~'a lk
FIG. 35. Durbar Square at Bhatgaon, Nepal. The
palace is on the right; the statue of Bhupatindra Malla
( 1696-1722), the builder, is in left center. The arts of
terra cotta and woodwork are among the most notable
artistic achievements in the Kathmandu Valley, which
means the Valley of Wooden Temples, where buildings
are lavishly decorated with tunals or carved brackets.
The palace of Bhatgaon is a masterpiece of Hindu-
Buddhist art and architecture.
512 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December

of the passing away of the Buddha into Nirvana

- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A
-~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Figs. 39 and 40). The shrine itself reminds the
devotees of the Great Teacher as an omniscient
reality.54 The stupa is a massive hemispherical
relic mound, crowned by a stone umbrella and
surrounded by a balustrade. It was originally
a simple burial mound of earth and bricks
erected over fragments of bones and ashes of a
holy personage. Following this custom, the
- -~
ashes of Buddha, after his Great Departure,
were enshrined within such tumuli. The relief
compositions adorning the stupas and chortens
narrate stories mainly from the life of Buddha
or from the legends of his incarnations. Under
the patronage of lamas, sculpture in Tibet en-
tered a phase of intense creativity with religion
as the principal source of inspiration (Fig. 41).

FIG. 36. This large work of art at Buddha Nilkan-
tha, near Kathmandu, showing Vishnu sleeping on a
bed of snakes in the symbolic cosmic ocean, connotes
profound serenity and peace. Over five meters long,
this seventh century sculpture of Vishnu lies in a tank
fed by a natural spring. Grandiose art devoted to the
Hindu gods produced some massive sculptures in the
Kathmandu Valley. Brahmin priests are shown per-
forming the ritual worship.
architecture is particularly shown in the sloping
roof, curved eave, and a pointed arch style.+2
In the Hindu sculpture of southern Hima-
laya, a wide range of Vishnu and Siva images
appear from the Punjab to the Nepal Himalaya
(Figs. 36 and 37).5 Bhairawa is another com-
mon deity in Hindu architecture; the club and
skulls in the hands of Bhairawa symbolize death
(Fig. 38). A sculpture depending greatly for
its expression on the religious ideals requires
little jewelry, but the little that is tolerated is
only to further reveal the philosophical being
in the outer form.
Architecture and Sculpture of the Tibetan
Culture Area
In Buddhist Himalaya chortens and stupas
dominate the landscape and serve as symbols
52 For details on regionalism in architecture, see H.
Sanyal, "Regional Religious Architecture in Bengal: A
Study in the Sources of Origin and Character," Marg,
Vol. 27 (March, 1974), pp. 31-43.
53 Often the images of Vishnu are set in a tank-a
unique architecture of water which in areas of Hindu
cultural influence underwent elaborate development
into forms combining beauty and utility. John Nico-
lais, "Water Architecture of the Kathmandu Valley,"
Arts of Asia, Vol. 4 (September-October, 1974), pp.
62-67.
Architecture and Sculpture in the Islamic
Culture Area
'The Islamic architecture and sculpture of
Kt.tirmir Himalaya is characterized by the
neatly defined outline and the geometric pro-
portion of interior space. The Islamic Law,
based on the Koran, forbade any sculptural
decoration; the only plastic embellishments in
which the Moslems indulged were the carving
and paintings of texts from the Holy Book and
the use of Persian and Arabic geometrical and
floral motifs (arabesques) for surface decora-
tion. The artists represented geometrical and
floral motifs in endless combinations and with
remarkable aesthetic sense. The Moslem build-
ers in South Kashmir showed a great structural
ingenuity in coordinating the main elements to
form a unified and pleasing architectural com-
position.
Religious architecture in Islamic Kashmir
consists of mosques which fulfill the practical
needs of a religion which advocates community
worship and mausoleums, the finest expressions
of Islamic architecture in the Vale of Kashmir.
The mausoleums are almost always situated in
the center of a beautiful garden, giving an im-
pression of serenity and peace.55
54 P. Pal, The Art of Tibet (New York: The Asia
Society, 1969), p. 44; Philip Denwood, "Bhutanese
Architecture," Asian Affairs, Vol. 58 (February,
1971), pp. 24-33; Gelongma Karma Kechiog Palmo,
"Mantras on the Prayer Flag," Kailash: A Journal of
Himalayan Studies, Vol. 1 (1973), pp. 168-69.
*5 For the role of environment in the Mogul land-
scape architecture, see Mulk Raj Anand, "The Treat-
ment of Environment by the Mughals," Marg, Vol.
26 (December, 1972), pp. 3-8.

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 1976 HIMALAYAN ART 513

_
-. . m

0 M~~~~~~~~~.

FIG. 37. Entrance to the Hindu Temple of Pasupatinath (Lord of the Animal World)
viewed from the bank of Bagmati. Siva, the god of this Nepalese national shrine, is symbolized
by the productive and creative Linga, or Phallus. It is in this symbolic form that Siva is wor-
shipped in the Temple of Pasupatinath. On the banks of Bagmati flanking the temple, the Hindus
carry out their ritual ablutions on stone steps. Washing for the purification and expiation of
sins is a ritual to the Hindus in Nepal and elsewhere.

The Southeast Asian Hill Culture Area
Tibeto-Burman villages are made up of sev-
eral long-houses containing a number of patri-
lineally related families. The houses are raised
on piles and are made of bamboo in contrast
to the stone houses of the Buddhist Himalaya,
and the mud brick houses of most of the Hindu
Himalaya and South Kashmir.
Architecture is influenced by the abundance
of bamboo groves which provide the material
for house building. Cane, which is common in
the forests, furnishes material of great utility
for home building. The Aka house, for example,
is a long bamboo and cane structure raised on
a platform, about six feet above the ground and
divided into two compartments by a partition
wall (Fig. 42). The space between the plat-
form and the ground serves as a shed for pigs
and goats. The roof is usually thatched, sup-
ported by bamboo sheets.

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514 PRADYUMNA P. KARAN AND COTTON MATHER December
FIG. 38. Bhairawa in Kathmandu's market place.
Originally, a "fearful" form of Hindu god, Bhairawa
is wrathful, but protective in spirit, the emanation of
divine omnipotence, and slayer of demons.
CONCLUSION
Vernacular art forms are largely products
of a group's behavior within the context of spe-
cific traditions and environmental settings. The
regional patterns of Himalayan art were recog-
nized three centuries ago by Taranatha, a Ti-
betan historian. Contact between the ancient
cultures in this realm was minimized for long
periods in the past by physical isolation. In more
FIG. 39. A chorten in Gangtok, Sikkim, sur-
rounded by prayer flags with sacred mantra
them. Chortens such as this one mark the route of
pilgrims bound for the holy places of Buddhism in the
Himalaya. Among the relics of various kinds depos-
ited in the hollows of the edifice are clay figurines rep-
resenting images of deities, and sacred inscriptions.
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___ A 4
FIG. 40. This huge, hemispherical stupa in Kath-
mandu Valley is a striking example of religious archi-
tecture. At the top of the spire is a canopy. Four gi-
gantic pairs of eyes are painted on the base of the
spire. These represent the wisdom of Buddha, mani-
fested on all sides by his all-seeing eyes. Originally,
this decoration was probably intended to protect the
building from the "evil eye" or the machinations of
evil spirits.
FIG. 41. This impressive sculpture of Padamsamb-
hava in Gangtok, who brought Buddhism to Tibet,
Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan in the eighth century,
evokes the presence of the great saint of Lamaism.
Considered as the central transcendent of Buddha, he
is represented in paintings and sculpture throughout
the Tibetan culture area. He is dressed in his religious
gown and wears the characteristic headdress with ear-
lappets turned up. His tiara-like cap is crowned by a
thunderbolt, topped by a peacock feather that sym-
bolizes purity from sin. On the front of the cap is the
painted on
twin-symbol of sun and moon, emphasizing his perfect
comprehension. Sitting in the posture of meditation,
he holds the thunderbolt scepter and the skullcap with
the base which is filled with the Water of Life. A tri-
dent with skulls is a special feature of this representa-
tion.
 1976 HIMALAYAN ART 515

embraced significant elements of both the

FIG. 42. Aka house This long bamboo and cane
structure is representative of the residential architec-
ture of the eastern Himalaya.
Those questions of necessity must remain un-
recent times, however, intercultural contact has
prevailed in many places and yet the regional-
ism of Himalayan art has persisted. It is true
that Pahari culture in the central Himalaya has
Lamaist and Indic traditions, but that fusion
has constituted simply an enrichment of the
regional cultural pattern of the Himalaya in a
variety of art forms.
Himalayan art is strongly vernacular, not
international in character. One may wonder
why vernacular art has persisted here, why it
persists in many other regions and on other
continents and in areas like the American
Southwest which are not isolated and in which
there is the constant impact of international art.
answered until geographers and other students
of culture address themselves further to the de-
velopmental aspects of regional art.

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