Ritual

tantric art and their own. Like their predecessors, these artists were
led by the same interior impulse to transform a dream into a vision.
Can the vision contained in tantra's diverse ideologies help the
artist to re-create himself? Any quick and easy answer will lead to
self-deception. Living tantra is a matter of certain cultural
disciplines, and the creation of its aesthetic forms cannot be
divorced from their original intention. Just as history repeats itself
through and in many events - wars, peace, socio-political
upheavals - from deep within it new patterns evolve, new
situations arise. In essence, however, they retain a thread of unity
whose 'genus' is never lost. In this way, a cross-fertilization of
tantric ideas with the contemporary art world may generate a new
vision, whose outer structure and rhythms may vary though the
underlying insight will be the same. Tantra art has opened the
doors of our perception and given to the world, like all great
epochs, a vision-inducing-aesthetic-creativity. Some of the art
forms which have come down as an anonymous legend will
remain unparalleled in the history of Indian art and in the larger
context of the art of various cultures.
Goloka, the world-egg with its nine
fields. Rajasthan, c. 18th century.
Gouache on paper.
91