The Purpose of Art – From Beauty to Bliss
This new series explores the Spirit and Forms of Art in India. The first issue focuses on the theme: The Purpose of Art – From Beauty to Bliss.
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Art for Art’s Sake? Certainly, But Also Art for the Soul’s Sake
This remarkable letter of Sri Aurobindo, with relevant examples and detailed explanations, is a perfect response to the slogan – Art for Art’s Sake.
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“In India God is the All-beautiful” – Conversations with Sri Aurobindo
Read these selections from Evening Talks with Sri Aurobindo on beauty, and the relation between aesthetic refinement and spiritual development.
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The Uses of Art – A 1905 Lecture
The timely relevance of the key points made by E. B. Havell in this lecture delivered in 1905 is remarkable, despite the references to the context of his time.
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“Beauty is his footprint…” (with video)
How is Beauty connected with delight, harmony and life? How does one experience the delight of beauty? Read and reflect. Also, watch a video featuring an insight from the Mother on how “the anguish of desire” distorts the experience of beauty.
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The Realisation of Beauty
This essay is excerpted from Rabindranath Tagore’s book titled Sādhanā: The Realisation of Life. Don’t miss a beautiful poem by Tagore translated in English.
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The Obscene and the Ugly – Form and Essence
The author writes: “Obscenity has its place in art, but not ugliness. Obscenity and ugliness are not the same, nor are decency and beauty.”
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The Figures of Eternity
If all Art is an artist’s interpretation of what he sees in Nature (or in Life), is it right to assume that it would express only beauty? Read to explore.
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“To find highest beauty is to find God”
What do we are truly seek when we seek beauty? How can one consciously appreciate that which is beautiful and true? Read and discover.
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Inner Bliss – Indescribable Beauty (A Poem with Flower Mandalas)
A contemplative composition which speaks of the process of cittasuddhi, the emotional purification, a journey of seeking harmony, beauty and joy.
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Rām-kathā, a Living Tradition of India
A wider view of Indian cultural forms suggests that Rām-kathā continues to thrive as an important influence despite the outer hybridity in Indian popular cultural landscape.
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The Art of Heritage Photography – A Conversation with Madhu Jagdhish (Video)
Our guest Mr. Madhu Jagdhish is a heritage photography enthusiast, with special interest in documenting the rich Indian heritage of temple sculptures. A thoughtful exposure to our culture’s artistic heritage and an overall development of aesthetic sensibility and artistic appreciation are important parts of any meaningful education. In the age of smartphones with photography becoming available at fingertips, it is important that youngsters interested in exploring photography as an art-form and a possible vocation are shown this possibility that photography can also become a great medium to go deeper into one’s cultural roots and in the process discover and reveal (for oneself and for others) the rich artistic and aesthetic traditions that we have inherited. In this regard, Mr. Jagdhish’s work makes a significant contribution.
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