India is a shrine where traditional sagacity is warmly sustained, where sumptuous cultural relics from our glorious past are reverentially preserved, and an all-embracing heritage of art, religious sanctity, and the unique 'Indian' value system is inter-generationally retained. And, not so surprisingly, she has seen it all -the sunrise of tranquillity, the heat of battles, the coldness of oppression, the evenings of celebrations, and the nights of victory and separation. On one such night, in its dead hour, a completely free India was born. But, what does her birth truly signify? Is it mere political liberation or something more? When the British left India, while emancipating from political and territorial imperialism, she was also breaking the ties of moral and cultural colonialism. India's cultural journey during the nationalist movements is often footnoted when the history of the freedom struggle is told and retold. This book attempts to revisit those chapters to uncover the stories of our cultural past and the tales of artistic revival that did not popularly capture the central spaces of our history books. For this purpose, the author aspires to traverse through the past of art academies that were established after acquiring monumental inspiration from national movements, for humbly preserving our cultural identity.
In the early 19th century, British-induced cultural conversions and moral inquisitions had materially tarnished the reputation of many art forms. Few were already dead, some slowly vanishing and others weak. The declining status of these art forms made few nationalists uneasy, especially the individuals who dearly admired them. In the wake of nationalist movements, this initial uneasiness got converted into an incessant desire to resuscitate the art forms that aptly represented India's cultural heritage. As a result, revivalist initiatives were started by Rabindranath Tagore in Bengal, which later got amplified into various other movements with the same objective. Vallathol in Kerala, Rukmini Devi in Madras, Uday Shankar in Uttar Pradesh, and many more art admirers toiled for the resurrection of classical and traditional art forms and dances. Interestingly, nationalism is not the only element that is strangely common to these movements that occurred at distant regions of Colonial India. In the concluding chapters of these revivalist epochs, the establishment dates of an art academy for the preservation of Indian art forms could indeed be found, which, by virtue of its existence, made these movements interconnected. The abode of peace, Santiniketan in Bengal; the conserver of Kerala's artistic past, Kerala Kalamandalam in Thrissur, and the sacred temple of arts - Kalakshetra in Adyar were art academies founded for reviving almost forgotten art forms. This book will recount the history of these art academies that guarded Indian culture from being destroyed by an imperial oppressor.
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist