Nepali and Indian Art: Connections Revisited

By Kurchi Dasgupta (an Indian artist and writer based in Kathmandu)

That Nepal and India share socio-cultural ties over thousands of years is a commonly accepted
syllogism but historical facts validating this is not usually explored or explained. Links between the
arts practiced in the two nations is a point in case.
Nepals recorded history begins with the Licchavi dynasty that arrived in Kathmandu Valley, probably
from Vaishali in what would be todays Bihar, ousted the Kiratas in the 2nd century CE and ruled for
the next five hundred years. The Licchavis were a politically and culturally advanced clan and
needless to say their arrival must have brought a strong Indic influence into Kathmandu Valley. The
simultaneous rise of the Gupta dynasty in India, with whom the Licchavis shared ties, is known for its
extraordinary cultural efflorescence that has left indelible marks on Nepali culture. The famous
inscription on Garuda Dhwaja at Changu Narayan temple complex is very similar to the Brahmi
inscriptions found in Vidisha (near Sanchi) erected by the Bactrian-Greek ambassador Heliodorus in
113 BCE. Firstly, the inscription (464 CE) is written in Sanskrit language though in the Licchavi script.
Secondly, while the statue of Vishnus vahana Garuda sits atop the Heliodorus pillar still, the Garuda
at Changu Narayan fell off but is installed nearby. Though the Garuda Dhwaja inscription glorifies
the Licchavi King Manadeva I, its formal content oddly resonates with the inscription on the pillar
raised only a decade earlier in honour of the last effective Gupta king, Skanda Gupta, in Bhitari.
If we look at the physiognomy of one of the oldest sculptures found in Kathmandu, the sandstone
Yaksha-Bodhisttva found in Hadigaon and currently displayed at the National Museum of Nepal, it is
not difficult to recognize that it comes from a Mauryan tradition of sculpture found in India around
2nd century BCE, like the exquisitely carved Yaksha found in Bihar and now in the Indian National
Museum. Both are crafted out of sandstone and both share the sambhanga stance, colossal aspect,
dhoti, uttariya and the waistband. However, the later Nepali sculpture is singularly unique to Nepal
and is taken to be a more refined specimen of sculpting (Banerjee and Rijal, 1968). Again, a clearly
discernible Kushan-Mathura style of sculpting is evident in the Licchavi/pre-Licchavi statue of king
Jaya Varman discovered at Maligaon recently. The inscription at the base of the statue dates it to
185 CE and in terms of material and style, it can be immediately linked to the statue of emperor
Kanishka of 1st century CE.
Generally speaking, the sculptural tradition of Nepal grew out of the art of Gupta India, and later
was influenced by that of Pala India. However, Nepalese artists created a distinctive style of their
own, summerises the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (compiled by the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York). The distinctiveness is strongly dependent on heavy ornamentation and surface
embellishment. For example, the 6th or 7th century Licchavi Standing Vajrapani is sparser and simpler
and nearer in aesthetic to Gupta period models than the 9th century Bodhisattva Lokeshwara, which
again looks decidedly prehistoric when compared to the 16th century, ornate and detailed rendition
of the same Bodhisattva Lokeshwara. That all three are crafted from the same medium, copper
alloy, highlights the direction Nepali art took over the centuries despite sharing strong initial roots
with the Indian tradition.
During the Malla period (13th -18th century CE) painting, sculpture and metalwork flourished in
Nepal, especially in the Newar community. The sculptures from this era, be it in Patan or faraway

Dullu in Western Nepal, show an overwhelming formal indebtedness to the sculptures found in
Khajuraho, Bhubaneshwar and Konark (Pandey, 1997). Located at a strategic mid-point on the
ancient trade routes across the Himalayas, the Kathmandu Valley or Nepal Mandala had not only
acquired a liberal outlook towards diverse cultures but granted refuge to whoever sought it. The
Islamic invasion of India dispersed its already-established centres of culture and thought between
11th and 15th centuries, and a large number of monks, artists, sculptors etc fled to Nepal and settled
there. Over time the Valley of Kathmandu assimilated these influences and developed a refined art
form with a distinct character that transcended its borders.
A similar trajectory unfolds in the history of painting -- stylistically, both the painted temple banners
and the miniature manuscript paintings are rooted in the Gupta tradition (of India), notes Mary
Slusser in Nepal Mandala: A Cultural Study of Kathmandu Valley. Manuscript illustrations or
miniature painting is the other art form to have developed directly out of the cultural traditions of
Eastern India and corresponds to the Pala school of painting of Bihar and Bengal (Das Gupta, 2001).
Painted in natural pigments on palm leaf and Nepali paper, this style of painting expanded to temple
banners and cloth scrolls and continued till the 18th century. When another sub-continental
tradition, the Rajasthani style, entered Nepal bringing with it spatial dimensions.
Nearer to our time, both Chandra Man Maskey and Tej Bahadur Chitrakar, the fathers of modern
Nepali art, received formal training in the Government School of Art in Calcutta in the 20s and 30s.
They brought back to the Rana court a Western painterly technique but also the inspiration to
record everyday, urban life, which was no doubt a reflection of the freedom movement taking
strong roots in India and its anti-imperial, modernistic as well revivalist artistic tendencies. Maskey
and Chitrakars new artforms, therefore gave agency and voice to the silent narratives of the
common Nepali that were far removed from the royal courts. As a signifier of Nepali nationalism,
and more specifically Newar identity, this period of Maskeys work highlights the modernist concern
for national culture building, notes art historian Dina Bangdel (2011). The history of modern art in
Nepal is largely interlinked with that of the sub-continent, since most artists took training in either
the Government School of Art in Calcutta, the J. J. School of Art in Mumbai, the M S University in
Baroda or the BHU in Benaras. Lain Singh Bangdel is of particular importance for though he is from
Darjeeling, he was responsible for introducing Western abstraction to Nepal and therefore
reconfigured the definition of art in the country. Even today, folk traditions like maithili (that
includes the Indian sub-genre of the madhubani) are practiced simultaneously in the the Terai and
Bihar regions. It would be interesting if we could develop a space or programme for research into
such regional links in the arts of South Asia.
(with inputs from Professor Mukunda Raj Aryal)