Art Notes on Design‑Drawing, Painting and Picture‑Galleries in the Tilakamañjarī

In 'Art Notes on Design‑Drawing, Painting and Picture‑Galleries in the Tilakamañjarī', N.M. Kansara surveys descriptions of art and decoration in Dhanapāla’s tenth‑century Kāvya 'Tilakamañjarī'. The author notes that the heroine and other characters paint their bodies with leaf motifs and tilaka marks using sandalwood paste, saffron and camphor. Courtyard floors and walls are decorated with intricate designs (alipanas) such as nandīvṛtta diagrams and pañca‑citra patterns drawn with rice flour or coloured powders. The article discusses how women draw various designs on house floors and courtyards and decorate their hair, moustaches and nails, indicating sophisticated practices of body painting and household decoration. Kansara further examines references to painting, noting that the novel describes coloured illustrations on manuscripts, paintings on cloth and murals adorning palace walls. Dhanapāla mentions picture galleries (citraśālā) where portraits of kings, gods and historical scenes are displayed and records how protagonists stroll through these galleries, admiring the art. The essay argues that these references reflect a flourishing tradition of secular and religious art in early medieval India and provide insights into contemporary techniques of design drawing, painting materials and themes. Kansara emphasises that the Tilakamañjarī, although a literary work, serves as an important source for reconstructing the history of Indian art and highlights the need for further interdisciplinary study of Sanskrit literature and art history.

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