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2 PREFACE It is proposed to reconstruct from the Principal Puranas and Upa Puranas the theory of six major fine arts. The six fine arts under discussion are Music (Vocal and Instrumental), Dance, Architecture, Sculpture, Painting and Literature (Poetics and Dramaturgy). The material for the study of fine arts in the Puranas is voluminous. An exhaustive and detailed treatment of the above six fine arts would necessitate a separate thesis for each of them. All these six arts have been dealt with cumulatively in order to give a broad and synthetic view of the scientific and studious manner in which the Puranas had imparted and treasured knowledge about them. It will indicate the nature of the cultural setting in ancient India and the depth and care with which the ancient sages had studied them. No one work containing all information about fine arts dealt with in the Puranas, is in existence. Brief and scattered information about Architecture and Sculpture as contained in the Puranas can be obtained from the works of P.K. Acharya (Manasara), T.A. G. Rao (Elements of Hindu Iconography), Dr. J.N. Banerjea (Development of Hindu Iconography) and Dr. Stella Kramrisch (Hindu Temple). In these works the authors have attached greater value to ancient Indian Texts on Architecture and sculpture. The Puranas have been considered in the context of such ancient texts. Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan has discussed the art of dancing as dealt with in some of the Puranas in her work "Classical Indian Dance in Literature and the Arts."

(111) Dr. Raghavan has discussed some literary theories in the Agni Purana in his work 'orngara Prakasa'. There are also some articles and research papers. However, beyond the French Work "Texts Des Purana Sur La Theorie Musicals, Vol. I" compiled by Alain Danielou and N.R. Bhatta, no scholar appears to have made a special study of the fine arts dealt with in all the Puranas. And the above mentioned work also is related to Music only. Hence this humble attempt by me. I have classified the information about the fine arts culled from various Puranas and have allotted separate chapters to them. I have dealt with broad issues only. Detailed literal study is neither contemplated by me nor is it necessary for my objective. Ancient Indian texts on this subject have specially dealt with certain specific topics relating to the above fine arts. I have collected information on the said topics as contained in all the Puranas. My main concern in this work is the study of arts as discussed by the Puranas, and to understand this discussion properly I have only referred to other authorities. I have taken up each topic as presented in one or more Puranas. Only in the chapter on Music I have detailed my study of the Puranas separately. I have classified the information regarding various fine arts in such a manner as to give a comprehensive idea about that particular art. My object in doing so is to give a fair picture of the various points of view adopted by ancient sages in their study

(iv) of fine arts. The issue of chronology of the Puranas has not been I have discussed the complicated taken into consideration. problem of the date of the Puranas, particularly of the Agni Purana and the Visnudharmottara Purana in an appendix. A discussion of fine arts in the Puranas can never be complete without a study of the background of arts which were practised in ancient India. I have, I have, therefore tried to trace the origin and development of Indian arts from the pre-historic period (2 nd millenium B.C.) and have followed their development upto the period which gave rise to the Puranic literature. The approximate period of the compilation of the eighteen Mahapurinas and the Upa-Puranas falls between the third century A.D. and the 10 th or 12 th century A.D. Hence I have studied the history of Indian Arts upto the 5 th century A.D. with the help of literary references as well as information relating to the remains of the artistic specimens in the sphere of Architecture, Sculpture and Painting. After giving the general outline of the background of the Arts I have discussed the art sections in the various Puranas. Then I have mentioned in brief how much of the information derived from the Puranas regarding Architecture, Sculpture and Painting can be corroborated by actual artistic remains.

(v) In the first chapter on Music I have given a detailed exposition of the theory of Indian Classical Music discussed by the Puranas like the Markandeya, the Vayu, the Visnu dharmottara, the Narada and the Linga. Here I have given information about the 'Svaramandala' which includes the Svaras, Gramas, Murechanas, Srutis, Jatis, Tanas etc. and also the technical details about the instrumental music. All these topics are discussed with the help of the gigantic works like the Natyasastra of Bharata (Chapters 28, 29, 30, 31 and 33) and the Sangita Hatnakara of Sarigadeva. In the second chapter on Dance I have discussed many technical details about the Indian Classical Dance such as Gestures, Postures, Mudras and the four types of Abhinaya discussed by the Visnudharmottara and the Agni Purana. All these details are similar to those in the Natyasastra and the Abhinayadarpana with slight variations. The Visnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana and the Harivansa provide some general information of the Rasa Dance of Srikrsna. The third chapter deals with architecture in the Puranas. The wealth of architectural details in the Puranas is extremely impressive. The nine Mahapuranas and the Visnudharmottara have however treated the subject very systematically. The main subject of architecture is subdivided among various important topics such as site-plan, building material, town planning, residential architecture, temple architecture etc. This will give the reader a clear

(vi) idea of the rules and conventions discussed by the Puranas about the ancient Indian Architecture. The fourth chapter on sculpture (or to be precise, on Iconography - the special branch of sculpture) deals with the images of various gods and goddesses which are mainly associated with the cults of different divinities. Among the Puranas the Agni Purana, the Matsya Purana and the Visnu dharmottara are considered to be the representative Puranas on this subject. They provide ample material for the study of Brahmanical Iconography. Some technical details about the various poses as well as about the sculptural measure are given here. Then there is a discussion about the construction of the images of various deities which commanded popular respect. The illustrations of the extant artistic remains which more or less agree with the Puranic description are also given. Among the texts on painting in ancient India the Citrasutra in the Visnudharmottara is the most authentic standard text. This gives us the fullest account of the technique, methods and ideals of Indian Painting which is described in the fifth chapter of my thesis. I have subdivided the valuable account of the Citrasutra in the Visnu dharmottara in various important topics. These diverse topics clearly show that the text deals with practically all the points pertaining to the technique and conventions in Indian painting.

(vii) The last chapter deals with the art of literature Poetics and Dramaturgy. which is divided into two parts The Agni Purana and the Visnudharmottara have contributed to Sahitya (Literature). The main subject of poetics is classi fied into the Rasa, Riti-Guna-Dosa, Alankara and Dhvani, and each topic is discussed separately in the context of the material collected from these two Puranas. The theory and technique of the Indian Drama is discussed in the section on Dramaturgy. It is true that in these branches of knowledge the Puranas have not established any basic or original principles or new theories. They have however collected honestly the traditional knowledge and have preserved the important topics in various subjects which were current in the period of their compilation and this is their contribution to these branches of knowledge. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to all the previous scholars who have made valuable research in the field of fine arts. But for their pioneering work, I would not have been able to do what little I have done. I am offering my heart felt thanks to the University Grants Commission, Delhi, for giving me an opportunity for this research by the award of a fellowship, to my guiding teacher Dr. A.D.Pusalkar end to the authorities of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona for making available to me all the facilities for this research.

(viii) From the initial stages of this thesis, my father Dr. R.S.Walimbe, Head of the Department of Marathi, University of Poona, (formerly Professor of Sanskrit, S.P. College, Poona) has given me very valuable suggestions for which I am grateful to him. Poona (Mrs) Meena Jeste June 1973. )