Ritual

Siva-linga with yoni-pitha,
beneath a banyan tree. The figure
of the bull of Siva, Nandi, stands
between an early iconographic
image of Siva, on the left, and his
symbol, linga with yoni, on the
right. Bastar, Madhya Pradesh,
c. 13th century. Stone. The brass
figure of Nandi is a contemporary
tribal artefact.
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through successive generations. In this respect the varied forms of
tantra present a living art functioning within the confines of
defined traditional limits.
Tantric imagery cannot be understood purely on the level of art
criticism, analysing it on the basis of style, form, compositional
elements, colour symbolism, and the like. Its concept overrides the
percept, for tantra is predominantly a way of knowledge, a way of
life with its exclusive concern for enlightenment. Its art, therefore,
is intimately related to living rites. Art and ritual in tantra are
umbilically dependent. As ritual enfolds the entire multiplicity of
life, equally it also creates and multiplies art symbols to suit its
specific context. Art and ritual merge into each other and combine
their resources in exploring and expressing the meaning of
existence, affording an experience to the neophyte which leads him
to inner realization. Art, thus, holds out a new dimension to ritual
and makes its generic symbols emotionally cogent to the
individual.
Most tantric images, if not all, serve as intermediaries between
the transcendent and the immanent to a greater or lesser degree,
forming indissoluble cosmic links through which reality is made