What happened to India's Chitrashalas?

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What happened to India's Chitrashalas?

By M.S.N. Menon

 

WE don't know. Perhaps, we don't care?

 

India had a long tradition of painting. It was one of the 64 kalas

(arts). In his commentary on the Kamasutra, Yasodhar gives a

detailed exposition on paintings. It shows that the art of painting

and murals was already well advanced in India. Paintings are

mentioned in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Kings, who were

patrons of painters, also had chitrashalas in their palaces. Ellora

and Ajanta paintings mark the highest perfection of this art.

 

What happened to all these priceless paintings? They were destroyed

by the Muslim invaders. They forced the Hindu kings to destroy the

chitrashalas. Never had bigotry and ignorance combined to wreak such

great destruction.

 

Islam was opposed to reasoning as also to arts. For example, to

painting, sculpting, music, dance and drama. Thus, it blocked the

intellectual and aesthetic development of its followers, which is

reflected in its civilisation. It is said of music that it disturbs

their preoccupation with God. Indeed very strange, when every other

religion considers music an aid to devotion! Why, even the Sufis, a

Muslim sect, say that music is a bridge between man and God.

 

During the 700-800 years of Muslim rule in India, the painters were

a despised lot. It was a major setback to the development of Hindu

art. It meant centuries lost to the Hindus.

 

The leading painter of India today—M.F. Hussain—is a Muslim. And

Muslims occupy high ranks in all other arts like music, dance and

acting. But the mischief has been done. India lost priceless

paintings to religious bigotry. In the opinion of Vincent Smith, the

historian, (Akbar, the Great Mughal) Indian paintings "have perished

almost without exception, and but for Abul Fazl's express testimony,

the continued existence of Hindu schools of paintings throughout the

ages would have been a matter of faith and inference rather than of

positive certainty."

 

During the Mughal period, there was an effort to revive Indian

painting. But why? Because, although the Mughals were Muslims, they

chose to follow a different tradition. They drew their inspiration

from Bukhara-Samarkhand, where there was a flourishing colony of

painters of Iranian, Chinese and Indian origin. The Mughals invited

them to Delhi to do court paintings—especially of court events,

including shikharas.

 

Mughal art reached its glory under Jehangir. According to Prof.

A.M.R. Shustari, miniature paintings had their origin in Buddhist

Central Asia and were developed in Iran before they were introduced

into India. Akbar promoted these miniatures.

 

Aurangzeb, the bigot, personally destroyed many paintings. He even

ordered a whitewash of Akbar's tomb to conceal some of the paintings

on it. He also banned music, and asked his spies to raid houses to

destroy the musical instruments. He also disliked dancing, although

he used to sneak into harem quarters to see the dancing girls.

 

It is said that the Prophet of Islam had an intense dislike for

music. But, then, he disliked poetry too. According to Prof. P.K.

Hitti (History of the Arabs) Mohammed declared the musical

instrument the `devil's muezzin'. Compare this with the Hindu

tradition. The Hindus consider Shiva the supreme patron of arts and

Saraswati, the goddess of learning, is associated with the veena.

 

Today, Muslims are reconciled to the arts—to music, dance, painting,

poetry and so on. But not one word of regret has come from any

enlightened Muslim quarter for what the Muslim invaders had done.

Nor is there an awareness among them of the need to prevent such

vandalism in the future. Which is why a cabal of terrorists was able

to destroy the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. The vandal's spirit

is not dead. In fact, M.F. Hussain pours scorn and ridicule over

Hindus, as his ancestors had done, by drawing Hindu goddesses in the

nude! One may well ask: Who is to pay for Islam's historical

follies?

 

This is why any sign of bigotry and intolerance should be stamped

out in any civilised society. Let us not assume that the vandals are

dead and gone. They are not. Not long ago, the Islamists in

Indonesia threatened to blow up the Temple of Borobudur, one of the

wonders of the world. We cannot allow these demented creatures to

assume that they know better than God how the world is to be

constructed.

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