Indian Aesthetics Convergences And Divergences

TIME tests the merit of a work. That on revisiting the papers after a few years one finds them as relevant as they were when just written speaks of the relatively lasting significance of these works that deal with diverse issues of Indian aesthetics. The relevance of the papers presented here has two implications. One, they are by many of our leading as well as young and upcoming scholars of aesthetics. Second, they are in areas where interest and relevance are sustained through ages. Beauty and what makes a thing beautiful have intrigued humankind since ages. While through advances in cognitive science, some of the answers are slowly coming, they are still far too incomplete and there are still many questions that remain unanswered. The book addresses some of them from diverse approaches and orientations. Thus, literary art, music, visual arts, film, and performance, all come under its purview, both in terms of ancient theorizations, modern reinterpretations as well as application of such theories to modern and contemporary arts - both Indian and Western. Unfortunately, as the book sees the light of the day, we and many of its authors miss the presence of three of its key contributors who are no more with us - Professor Ananta Charan Sukla, Professor Navjyoti Singh and Professor Ranjan Ghosh, three stalwarts of Indian aesthetics and philosophy whom the academic community misses deeply. We offer our prayers for the departed souls. We would also like to take this occasion to thank all the contributors for continued goodwill and support for necessary changes and edits as required for the publication of the volume. We would also like to thank Indian Council of Philosophical Research, where some of the ideas for the book and its themes emerged. Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Susheel Kumar Mittal of D.K. Printworld for his meticulous endeavour and support in making this book possible.