Exhibition of 10 thousand year old Rock Art Painting showcased at IGNCA
New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Adi Drishya division held a painting exhibition on “Rock Art of Chandauli ” which will be on till 3rdto 6th of April at Darshnam Art Gallery, IGNCA. On this occasion 7th Dr. Vishnu Memorial Lecture was also organised and the lecture was delivered by Prof. Vidula Jayaswal, Fellow, Prof. R.C. Sharma Jnana- Pravaha, Centre for Cultural Studies on the topic “Artisans at Quarry And Workshop: Early Stone Carving Art of Middle Ganga Plain”. It would be noteworthy that Dr. Wakankar is called the “Father of Rock Art Studies” in India. He was also awarded the “Padmashri”, India’s fourth highest civilian honor in 1975 for his outstanding contribution. The lecture session was chaired by Prof. Kishor Kumar Basa, Chairman, National Monuments Authority. Dr. Sachichidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA, Prof. Ramakar Pant, HoD, Adi Drishya Division were also present on the occasion. The lecture session was moderated by Dr. Dilip Kumar Sant.
On this occasion these books were also launched namely “Affinities and Expansion of Prehistoric and Archaeological Cultures in Northeast India”, “Rock Art of Central India with Special Reference to Madhya Pradesh”, Pragatikhasik Paschimi Himalaya- Paar ki Uttkirnitt Tatha Chitrit Shilayen”, Chandauli Janpad ki ShaiIkala : Ek Parichay” . The exhibition showcases 5 to 10 thousand years old Rock Art paintings of the Chandauli region. These ‘Rock Art Shelters’ are situated on the way of ancient Bodhgaya to Sarnath. While delivering her lecture Prof. Vidula Jayaswal extended her tribute to Late. Padmshree Dr. Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar. She also informed the audience that archaeological finding at Chunar were found in ancient quarries of Chunar hills in the year1990. During the course of her lecture she talked about Mauryan Sculpture. The initiation to select stone as medium for construction of buildings and icons in Indian subcontinent is credited to the Mauryan king Ashoka. She further elaborated on the ‘Artisans’ and stressed that the edicts of Asoka, had no scope for recording the name of craftsmen because Kharoshthi script was not in use in middle Ganga Plains. Further in her lecture she talked about artisans at quarry and workshop, chiseling of Mauryan pillars, beginning of the indigenous carving art during Kushan period and chiseling of images. In context to chiseling of images she stressed on Bodhisattva figures made in Chunar Sandstone, which were donated at Sarnath in every likelihood were, chiseled at the carver village/s located at Rajpur- Nala and after completion it were transported again through navigation to the Buddhist settlement at Sarnath. In this context she said Ganga was the main route of navigation.
While addressing the gathering Prof. Kishor Kumar Basa on this occasion first extended his congratulations to IGNCA for having a dedicated department as ‘Adi Drishya’ for studying ‘Rock Art’. He while sharing his remarks said that the lecture charted the sculptural traditions through ‘Rock Art’ perspective. He also added that it was a great learning experience and in this regard mentioned that reading inscriptions from ancient points of view is difficult. Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi speaking on the occasion congratulated the team of Adi Drishya Department for publishing 5 books on the subject and said that it is an extraordinary feat. He further added Rock Art is field oriented study and it tells the continuity found in civilization. He also said that the young students and researchers will benefit from the study and further urged the researchers to join the field and add to the existing corpus of knowledge. At the end a formal vote of thanks was given by Zakir Khan of Adi Drishya division, IGNCA.