The A@Z of The Indian art
Hindu Art India
Hindu art and Hinduism - A diverse body of religion, philosophy, and cultural practice native to and predominant in India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being of many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly evils.
Hinduism originated in northern India and spread to the south and later to the mainland of Southeast Asia and Indonesia. The religion has no founder but developed over a period of centuries out of India's various pantheistic cults. Nor is it based on a single text. There are countless writings, tales, myths and legends.
One key feature of Hinduism is the notion that all living beings form part of an eternal cycle of reincarnations from which humanity can only break free with immense effort. The existence of the world is also seen as part of this cycle. Creation came about, it exists and it will once more be destroyed. In the course of time a new world era will dawn again. This process continues throughout eternity. Three gods are central in Hinduism: Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. They form a divine trinity. Of these, it is Vishnu who preserves creation and Shiva who is the destroyer. The Hindu divinities are worshipped both in temples and in the home.
Making generalizations about the visual culture of any group of people is a crude endeavor, especially with a culture as diverse as that of Hindus. With this thought in mind, know that this survey, as any must be, is tremendously limited in its breadth and depth.
Source : http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/h/hindu.html
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