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 thought

by: 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@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@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@list.indology.info> on behalf of James Hegarty via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>
Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2025 at 10:31 AM
To: indology <indology@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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Dean, IKS and Senior Director, IndicA