As part of the India@75 programme, you are cordially invited to attend an online film screening on masterpieces of Kangra paintings titled “Poetry of the Hills” organized by the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru (Ministry of Culture, Government of India) in collaboration with the Gandhi Centre for Science and Human Values.
The film livestreaming will take place on Friday, 19 March 2021, at 1130 hrs (CET) or 1600 hrs (IST), on https://fb.watch/4keAP7Th4Z/ or https://facebook.com/ngmaBengaluru.
A virtual introductory talk will on Indian miniatures be given by the film’s author, Prof. Benoy K. Behl, Art Historian, Photographer, Filmmaker.
The film ‘Poetry of the Hills’ covers masterpieces of Kangra paintings. The film shots are made basing on the finest selected masterpieces of Kangra miniature paintings in museums and private collections across India, Europe, and the USA. It is unprecedented coverage and all museums opened out their reserve collections, as well as displays, for the selection and shooting.
You may also see the following page for more information: https://www.facebook.com/ngmablr/posts/4415620835118227.
Background information:
From the 11th century onwards in India, there was a great revival of Vaishnavism. With it came the Bhakti cult which was the doctrine of a deep and personal love of the Divine: where the soul of man was seen to be yearning always for the Lord who created him, for the tenderness and ecstasy of being united with Him. The poet-saints of the Bhakti movement wrote beautiful verses about the legendary lives and the love of Krishna and Radha, of Rama and Sita, and of Shiva and Parvati. The love of the divine figures for each other became the ideal of the people. Images of their divine love were used by poets and painters to portray their own love for the Creator.
Kangra is a small hill state tucked away in the bosom of the green hills of Himachal Pradesh far from the clamour of the plains. In Kangra, we see the development of one of the finest expressions in art. A great confluence took place: the burnished delicacy of the court idiom met the deep spirituality of the land.
With the refinement and technical skills in their hands, the spirit of the warm and simple hill painters took wings. They created a large body of paintings which are among the finest made by man. These paintings bring to us the gentlest and most tender thoughts. They enshrine a deep love for all of creation, in a manner that is intensely personal and deeply devoted.
