Tantra Art in Rajasthan?

jackie

HI -

I have some amazing images in books (specifically the catalog from the Drawing Center in New York show of 2004) of geometric Tantra paintings that all say "anonymous, 1990's, rajasthan" as their origin....does anyone know where to find these, how to contact the workshops/painters involved, etc.?

I am a painter, and will be in rajasthan for about two weeks from Sep. 25-Oct. 9 or so, and would LOVE to track down some of these paintings/artists. I'm pretty sure the standard tourist shops and
guides will NOT take me to what I want, so any advice or leads from
all of you in the know will be really appreciated!

Thanks!

itgirl

I am not an artist so this may all be irrelevent, but I love paintings, so, this is what happened:

I procured a painting that I absolutely adored from a fake emporium in Delhi. Be wary of the fake emporiums, but browse through them because you may find the name of a local imitation artist through one of them. Anyway, when I got it home everyone thought I had a bizarre Kama Sutra fetish even though I selected the more conservative painting (no visible reproductive organs). It's a romantic court scene with many women, moonlight, musical instruments and one rather noble looking chap who appears to be about to fondle the prettiest of the harem. Sure when its described like that it sounds pretty seedy, but artistically it has a universal blue theme and the leaves are coloured in various shades of green according to where the moon is located and the veils of the women look like they are actually blowing in the hot breeze. Its sexy, far from pornographic, yet it's crazily artistic.

The irony is the white people here, who are of the typical ignorant-that-India-exists crowd, were inflamed by this "kama sutra" stuff. Since when were Michaelangelo-inspired pieces that have naked men all over the place any better.

Sorry if I wasn't any help. But don't you hate it when people don't appreciate things?

cdrake

I think we're talking very different things.

Jackie can find much geometric tantra art(or mandalas) at the tibetian/buddhist places. rajasthan has some (jaipur/udaipur) but it's more a delhi/ nepal/ gangtok/darjeeling thing AFIK.

(how do you resize these pics!)

Geometric Tantra art:



Dirty tantra pics:


Formula I Pit babe:
(that was arbitrary, so please forgive me )

Lugubert

I wouldn't call that tantric style dirty. After all, the Tibetan name for that position is Yab-Yum, which means Father-Mother. Very decent indeed.

jackie

Yeah, the images I'm talking about are very much not the erotic tantra we are so familiar with in the West, and not Buddhist mandalas either - they are specifically mystical diagrams that usually are simple geometric shapes floating in a white field, gouache on paper......

jackie

cdrake

I thought these were mandalas.

can you show me examples? how do these look?

if they are monochrome, do they look something like this?

India Edge

http://www.drawingcenter.org/exh_pas...xh=108&do=vexh

If these are what you're referring to I think it is maybe more about modern than it is about tantra. Interpretive perhaps... Since they are unsigned it could be very difficult to locate the artists - you might try contacting the Drawing Center. Or maybe the Museum of Modern Art in Delhi could help (you should definitely pay a visit there anyway if you are interested in contemporary Indian art). There are a few galleries in Delhi too - might be some in Jaipur - long shots but ya never know...

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infinion

the famous Tibetan tantrik mantra " om mani padme huum om " has an erotic undertone. mani = jewel , padma= lotus, mani padme = jewel in lotus , further meaning is " male in female organ "
according to Hindu tantras , a goddess can be worshipped with these five methods - madya ( wine), mamsa ( meat), matsya (fish) , mudra ( grain) & maithuna ( copulation). but many selfish tantriks misuse these "privilege", esp. maithuna which is goddess worship - the ananda ( bliss) received from the union of supreme Sakthi and self.

most oriental religions have beliefs based on strong eroticisms.

jackie

Thanks Greg -
apparently, I was told they are contemporary renderings of a continuous tradition - but the 17th/18th century versions are not readily accessible as they are all in collections, museums. Plus, I like the idea that they are continuing to produce them (obviously NOT for the tourist market as no one knows about them! Tourist shops always assume you want miniatures or erotica).

OH,CDrake, the monochrome "mandalas" are actually yantras - the sacred diagrams used in many tantric rituals. See Ajit Mookerjee's excellent books on both Yantra Art and Tantra Art.
Related, but the link Greg provides to the Drawing Center shows exactly what I'm thinking of.. Maybe I just need to find a dealer with internet in his shop and show him that site!

Will definitely check out the museums in New Delhi - tho last time I was there, the galleries were of no help. These are fairly obscure/specialized artworks.....I'll keep hunting around tho!
Jackie

cdrake

yah I know. that was a sree yantra.

this is the hindu aspect of tantra.(although hindu tantra...has sometimes devolved into bhakti, so is all over the place)..

itgirl

How convenient.

All cynicism aside, I suppose copulation could serve as an apt analogy for creation (thinking of the Greek sky god and the Pangaea goddess, whose tryst allegedly led to our creation)however, to say copulation in and of itself is a form of worship is a bit crazy. Imagine how many rapes of respected figures or random people could be justified in a court founded upon this belief. I don't know if its appropriate in this thread to elaborate but I would be interested in pursuing this thought experiment in a more appropriate forum.

cdrake

contents deleted by poster..

itgirl

To CDRAKE:
No thanks, not with you.


*Edited to clarify that comment was not directed at the OP or Mod.

infinion

may be this is what Rajnish attempted in USA before being deported , thaliam doped and died in his Pune ashram? did any member attend his US ashrams ?

of the four Hindu vedas rig/Sama/Yajur/atharva, the fourth one , the atharva lists many such practices. one black magic is called yoni puja which is performed with a totally nude women.

Apart from khajuraho temple , you can find many erotic sculptures in a few Kerala temples. (for those who are interested in Hindu temples , it is mainly in kerala temples where Tantrik puja is given more importance than North Indian and other south indian temples. the deity's idol is kept in sanctom sanctorum which is built with tantrik dimensions & vastupurusha mandala, where only brahmin priest has access to. many north india's temples have relevance related to the origin of rivers - gangotri /yamunotri etc ) .

Copulation/Sex is given divine dimension - higher than lust driven procreation-dedicated function. regarding misuse of sex , nothing is immune to misuse . rape stems from lust. sex has a divine dimension.

there are many tantrik painters in Kerala.

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