Pioneering documentation

A fresh look at the history and culture of India

From Ajanta till today, this series has documented fine paintings of practically every century in India, clearly with visuals before us, dispelling long-held earlier views of the development of painting in India.

What emerges is that India has one of the great traditions of painting, from earliest times.

In 1994, Benoy K Behl photographed the 10th century Chola paintings in the Brhadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, for the first time. The bringing of the Brhadisvara paintings out of the darkness of their inner ambulatory was only the beginning of the unveiling of a glorious and widespread tradition of painting over the centuries.

The Brhadisvara paintings are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the glorious and widespread tradition of painting in India over the centuries. These 26 films present that marvelous tradition of painting, which is one of India’s proudest treasures.

Another very important fact which emerges, on seeing the paintings made over many centuries and in every corner of India, is that the Indian traditions of painting were closely unified. Similar styles of painting are to be found in regions as diverse as Karnataka, Ladakh, Orissa and Gujarat.

The paintings are an integral part of India’s culture and history. They take us on a beautiful journey through historic and cultural developments which have shaped our land.

New and distinct building blocks have been made available to us by the research and documentation of this unique project, which may be used for a better understanding of India’s culture and history.

The shooting for these films has included the coverage of many rare mural paintings which were never photographed in detail before. Rarely-viewed paintings will be seen in these films, presenting the continuous development of the art of India.

The early monasteries of Bhutan have mural paintings which have never been photographed before. In the film on THE VERDANT HILLS, these important mural paintings will be seen for the first time.

Bagan in Myanmar has 11th and 12th century paintings which are great treasures of early Asian paintings and closely reflect their contemporary Indian murals. These will be seen in the film THE PAN ASIAN TRADITION OF PAINTING, along with the exquisite early paintings of Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bali, Thailand, Japan and China.

Owing to the depth and pioneering nature of this coverage, many new things have emerged. For instance, the shooting of the previously un-photographed 10th century Chola paintings in the Brhadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, followed by the study and shooting of Pan Asian murals has revealed close connection and similarity between Indian Chola paintings and the paintings of Polonnaruva in Sri Lanka and Bagan in Myanmar. The Bagan paintings are also found to be closely linked to the contemporaneous paintings in the 11th and 12th century Pala palm leaf manuscript tradition.


This will be a remarkable view of the entire Asian tradition of painting, seen from a very wide and comprehensive perspective.