Table of Content
- A Canvas Called Nature
- Mythology: The Soul of the Sculpture
- Yesterday’s Art Still Relevant Today
- The Legacy Lives On
Step into any Indian home, temple, or gallery, and you're bound to encounter more than just brushstrokes and carvings. You're entering a world where art isn't merely created but channeled. Indian art rises from the earth, reaches for the divine, and lets nature and mythology blend into a duet that spans centuries.
A Canvas Called Nature
In Indian art, nature steps forward as the muse, the medium, and the message. Take a closer look of the Peepal and Banyan trees, etched into temple stone and layered into miniature paintings. Painted not just as plants, but as eternal symbols of shelter, wisdom, and continuity, they aren’t background props but are guardians of folklore, witnesses to every ritual under their shade. And then comes the Kalpavriksha, the mythical tree of desires, rooted deep in Vedic imagination and branching into every art form like Pattachitra scrolls and intricate Pichwai canvases, promising abundance, divinity, and dreams fulfilled.
Kalpavriksha - The Tree of Life by Ambika Devi
Animals too, are living metaphors. The elephant, regal and revered, walks into murals with the weight of empires and the aura of Ganesha. The peacock, with its iridescent splendour, becomes a motif of immortality, pride, and courtship, its every plume a poetic verse.
And the cow, sacred and serene, flows across Madhubani borders as the mother of civilisations, a giver of life, love, and larder.
Representation of wildlife in Madhubani by Vibhuti Nath
Even natural elements are portrayed as divine characters. The Ganga and Yamuna rivers are flowing deities, carved into temple walls with delicate curves and sanctified symbols.
The sun and moon, in styles like Pattachitra, Madhubani, and Rajput miniatures, do more than light the scene. They anchor cosmic balance, mark seasons, and guide time, drenching every canvas with celestial rhythm.
Traditional art forms don’t just portray nature, they sing its praises. Kalamkari, with its earthy palette and flowing lines, tells stories of gods and flora alike where vines twist into epics and lotus petals frame divine gazes. Pichwai art, born in devotion to Lord Krishna, doesn’t just depict cows and lotuses, it brings a state of worship, with every petal meticulously hand-painted, and every leaf playing its part in a spiritual symphony.
Radha- Krishna in Brindavan Kalamkari Painting by Siva Reddy
In Madhubani, the jungle breathes. Trees spiral with birds, fishes swim through mandalas, and deities rest under floral canopies: all inked in fine lines and colourful hues that carry stories from Mithila’s past. The Warli tribe paints in stillness. Its monochrome canvases paints an imagery of rural life perfectly. A swirl of dots and lines represents a community harvest, a tribal wedding, a moonlit night under the trees. In Rajput and Mughal miniatures, nature takes a royal turn. Gardens bloom with symmetrical perfection, peacocks nest beside palaces, seasons flirt with lovers. Every blade of grass is stylised, every bloom an ode to elegance.
Nature in Recreation Gond painting by Santosh Uikey
And then there are the tribes, where art is an instinct. The Gonds paint what the forest shows them, trees that speak, spirits in animals, and legends woven into everyday life. The Bhils speak in dots, each one a maize kernel, a memory of farming life, an ancestral heartbeat. Warli art chants a visual hymn about the simplicity of village life. The Santal tribe’s scrolls, called Jadu Patua, unfold tales of dreams, the afterlife, and healing. And the Todas of the Nilgiris? Their embroidered shawls are pure sacred scripts. Through geometric stitches in red and black, they tell stories of sacred buffaloes, wild hills, and ancestral gods.
Mythology: The Soul of the Sculpture
If nature is the body of Indian art, mythology is its living soul. Across temple walls and palace corridors, gods and goddesses take form with stunning intricacy. Lord Vishnu reclines on Ananta in sandstone, Shiva dances the Tandava in bronze, and Lakshmi emerges in symmetrical elegance, blessing homes and hopes alike.
Tandava Shiva In Mysore by Raghavendra B B
The Dashavatar finds life in frescoes and tapestries, each incarnation echoing the eternal struggle for balance. Mythology is not confined to deities alone; it's in the stories we carve like Lord Ram walking the forest, of Arjuna aiming his arrow, of Lord Krishna stealing butter under the watchful gaze of Yashoda. Every tale is immortalised in colour, stone, and movement.
Temples like Hampi and Khajuraho are epic books in stone. Frescoes in Ajanta whisper verses from the Jataka tales, and the apsaras and gandharvas etched into ceilings and pillars exude celestial energy. Mythological motifs like yantras and mandalas go beyond visual delight as they represent the geometry of the cosmos, the architecture of the divine.
Temples, Inscriptions and Misconceptions
Yesterday’s Art Still Relevant Today
In a world of digital noise and fleeting trends, why does this ancient art still move us? A Ganesha painting in a foyer. A brass Nandi on the shelf. A Vishnu motif in a cushion. These decor pieces are reminders of prosperity, protection and peace. Even Vaastu rules these choices, believing art has power, direction, and purpose.
From fashion to digital art, age-old motifs are getting a second wind. Designers borrow from Kalamkari for couture. Artists remix Mandalas into NFTs. Tattooists etch tribal dots from Bhil and Warli styles onto urban skins. Ancient art isn’t disappearing but evolving.
The Dancing Mayura (Tan)
A temple dome rising in a glassy cityscape. A film poster echoing Ramayana’s aesthetics. A brand ad that uses a peacock feather to say "pure." This is how mythology is still alive and well in temples as well as in traffic, timelines, and television.
Fishes In Gond By Kailash Pradhan
The Legacy Lives On
Indian art isn’t a relic behind glass. It’s the rangoli at your doorstep. The mural above your mantle. The deity tucked in the curve of a necklace. It lives not to be remembered but to be relieved.
Yes, nature has been interpreted in Indian art for centuries as devotion. Trees were givers of life. Rivers were goddesses flowing with faith. And every bird, beast, and breeze carried a story worth preserving. These motifs of myth and murmurs of nature haven’t faded with time but have simply found new canvases. Handloom, home décor, fresco, fashion, Indian art continue to shape who we are, even when we don’t notice.
The timeless bond between nature, mythology, and artistic expression stands out as a testament. A testament to a civilization that saw no line between the sacred and the scenic. And that is why, even today, Indian art doesn’t just depict nature but reminds us to revere it, to listen to it, and to live in rhythm with it. In doing so, it continues to shape not just how we see but who we are.
Citations:
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5. The Guardian. (2013, December 19). Why The Body in Indian Art and Thought exhibition is unique. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/dec/19/william-dalrymple-body-indian-art-exhibition-brussels
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