Layout 3 - India Foundation for the Arts - IFA

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ArtConnect: The IFA Magazine, Volume 6, Number 1
figuration of giants and demons. In the
awe-inspiring image of a colossal
Agnipurusha emerging from the
sacrificial fire and literally touching the
sky, in the imperial folio as well as in a
sub-imperial version of it in the
Khankhanan, inventive means of
naturalism reach magical heights.
Interestingly, the sub-imperial version,
designed to emulate the imperial
example, changes the visage: whereas
Basawan’s dramatic figuration of a
darkened man with golden locks with
hands clasping the golden pot matches
the colours of fires and embers, the
softly drawn giant of Nadim’s, clad in
animal skin offering the bowl while
standing against a mineral-green
background, appears gentle in
comparison. It seems as if the demonic
figures aroused a greater sense of
wonder than the human heroes did.
Did the fixed iconography for depicting
heroes limit the artist’s flight of
imagination, as opposed to the freedom
he had to devise his own demons by
unleashing his hand and mind across
unknown realms? Could this be the
source of the practice of making and
burning colossal effigies of Ravana?
Who are these demons? The kind that
attack the hermitages or disturb sages
in their meditations are perhaps
demonised forms of spirits of earth or
forest, whereas the demons in the fleet
of Ravana are demonic forms of
soldiers devised from the variety of
physical types that the artists may
have observed. Visualised as incredible
creatures—part-human with spotted
or pockmarked bodies of bright green,
deep blue or blazing red; part-animal
with horns, sharp teeth, fangs, nails
and tails, and elephant ears—they are
images of unadulterated fantasy.
Improvisatory instincts seem to have
run amuck, letting loose a variety of
permutations to produce an amazing
play with deviance, which is often
grotesque or comic rather than evil or
diabolic in the satanic sense.
The Mughal workshop also seems to
bring about a change in the
representation of sexuality, which
takes a somewhat subtle or
understated tone. There are
exceptions, though, as in the story of
Rishyashringa, the sage with a horn
on his head, which appears in the
preamble of the Ramayana. King
Lomapada, on learning that his
kingdom could be alleviated of the
successive droughts it had suffered if
the celibate sage Rishyashringa could
be enticed to visit it, devises and
executes a plan of sending beautiful
damsels to lure him from his forest
retreat into worldly pleasures. As the
presence of Rishyashringa brings rains
to the kingdom, Lomapada offers him