Well, I'll have to admit, this chapter was quite difficult for me to get through. The chapter was about art and literature and it discussed art from the fourth centure to the present, and literature from that point to the present as well. I am not an art history "buff" by any stretch, nor am I a history person...so that made this material quite dense for me to read. It's also difficult to read through that amount of history in a few short pages. Ok...with all my complaining aside, I did find some things interesting.
In the beginning of the chapter the author discusses aesthetics. She mentioned that a good portion of Indian art has been produced in the context of religious use. I was struct by this part because I could really understand the truth in this statement. I have had the priviledge of going to India before, and after seeing first hand the elaborate temples and ornate shrines, this statement really rang true to me. The temples themselves are massive pieces of artwork it seems, and that's not to mention the ornate things that are found inside. They truly are artistic in nature. While in India I was also able to visit an idol factory. This was amazing to see as streets of a small section of town made up this factory, and there were hundreds, even thousands of idols being built in this area. They were all built with clay and straw, and as the author of the book mentioned, many images are used only once for a festival, worshipped, and then sunk into a river or pond. This was true of the idols I saw while at the idol factory. This portion of the chapter in particular really struck me because I could visualize from first hand experience what the author was describing. The idols that are worshipped each day are pieces of art and creativity, that although I do not worship these gods, they are more than impressive to appreciate for their aesthetic and artistic appeal.
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