[INDOLOGY] Readings on Body Image and Body Ideals in Early South Asia

[Nagaraj Paturi]

https://amzn.in/d/dClc1NY
The sensuous human form-elegant and eye-catching-is the dominant feature of
premodern Indian art. From the powerful god Shiva, greatest of all yogis
and most beautiful of all beings, to stone dancers twisting along temple
walls, the body in Indian art is always richly adorned. Alankara (ornament)
protects the body and makes it complete and attractive; to be unornamented
is to invite misfortune. In The Body Adorned, Vidya Dehejia, who has
dedicated her career to the study of Indian art, draws on the literature of
court poets, the hymns of saints and acharyas, and verses from inscriptions
to illuminate premodern India's unique treatment of the sculpted and
painted form. She focuses on the coexistence of sacred and sensuous images
within the common boundaries of Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu "sacred spaces,"
redefining terms like "sacred" and "secular" in relation to Indian
architecture. She also considers the paradox of passionate poetry, in which
saints praised the sheer bodily beauty of the divine form, and nonsacred
Rajput painted manuscripts, which freely inserted gods into the earthly
realm of the courts. By juxtaposing visual and literary sources, Dehejia
demonstrates the harmony between the sacred and the profane in classical
Indian culture. Her synthesis of art, literature, and cultural materials
not only generates an all-inclusive picture of the period but also
 revolutionizes our understanding of the cultural ethos of premodern India.

https://archive.org/details/bodyadorneddisso0000dehe

No download link

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The body in Indian art and thoughtby Ahuja, Naman P
https://archive.org/details/bodyinindianartt0000ahuj/page/362/mode/2up

360 p. : 25 cm

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels,
October 5, 2013-January 5, 2014 as part of the Europalia.india Festival,
October 4, 2013-January 26, 2014

Includes bibliographical references

No download link.

On Wed, Feb 5, 2025 at 8:19 AM Nagaraj Paturi <nagarajpaturi at gmail.com>
wrote:

> A Bull of a Man
>
> Images of Masculinity, Sex, and the Body in Indian Buddhism
>
> John Powers
>
> seems to be Buddhism centric.
>
> https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674064034
>
> On Wed, Feb 5, 2025 at 1:12 AM Tracy Coleman via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> How about John Powers*, A Bull of a Man* (Harvard).
>>
>> Focus is on men and male body, showing also how the masculine ideal is
>> always constructed in opposition to women, the female body, and femininity.
>>
>>
>>
>> --Tracy Coleman
>>
>>
>>
>> *From: *INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of
>> James Hegarty via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
>> *Date: *Tuesday, February 4, 2025 at 10:31 AM
>> *To: *indology <indology at list.indology.info>
>> *Subject: *[INDOLOGY] Readings on Body Image and Body Ideals in Early
>> South Asia
>>
>> This email originated outside Colorado College. Do not click links or
>> attachments unless you know the content is safe.
>>
>>
>> Dear Colleagues,
>>
>> A student has asked me for some readings in this area and I am at a loss;
>> can anyone advise?
>>
>> Best Wishes,
>>
>> James Hegarty
>> Cardiff University
>>
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>
>
> --
> Nagaraj Paturi
> Dean, IKS and Senior Director, IndicA
>
>
>
>
>


-- 
Nagaraj Paturi
Dean, IKS and Senior Director, IndicA
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