INDIAN PHILOSOPHY AS A ROOT OF ART: AN ANALYSIS THROUGH SELECTIVE SPECIMENS OF INDIAN VISUAL ART

Author : Dr. Haripriya Sarma, Dr. Nabajit Deka

Abstract : Human started creating Art from a very ancient time, in fact, before the dawn of civilization. Art was created for various functionality and purpose. However, the primary impulse behind the creation of art over time is held as for the aesthetic relish or for the realization of rasa in Indian parlance. The visual art incorporated and display the belief, worldview, philosophy, tradition etc through aesthetically pleasing language as is evident from the scrutiny of art of different time and place of the world. The analytical discussions of Indian visual art reflect a deep rooted philosophical foundation. Religion is encountered as the main subject of Indian art till the advent of modern era whiles the philosophy, beauty, and rasa are the latent contents. Thus famous art works of the Indus valley like the ‘Male torso’ displays philosophy of prana. In subsequent period, the different Indian Orthodox philosophical thoughts like Vedic, Upanishadic, Buddhist, Hindu and metaphysical belief system acutely defined the form and content of Indian art. The paper with selective examples drawn from visual art of different periods thrives to elucidate the philosophical basis or foundation of the art in India. The relevant philosophy or philosophical thoughts are concisely discussed for proper understanding of the content paper. Methodologically, the paper followed analytical approach of the data primarily collected or accessed from the secondary sources. The scrutiny of selected examples clearly exemplified the rootedness of Indian visual art to philosophical thoughts and notions of varied schools.

Keywords : Aesthetic, content, form, maya, moksa, rasa, style.

Conference Name : International Conference on Aesthetic Philosophy and Visual Arts (ICAPVA-26)

Conference Place : Hyderabad, India

Conference Date : 13th Jun 2026