Slides collection and other visual resources

The prime aim of collecting materials on Indian Art was approached meticulously and a special collection in reprographic form (slides) was built up on the history of Indian art. The process, started fifteen years ago has yielded great results. At present our collection has not only grown in quantity but also in content and quality. With our present infrastructure of slide production, duplication and scanning and with the introduction of computerized information, the centre is one of its kinds in the whole of South East Asia.
The slide unit of the Kala Nidhi Reference Library has been in existence since 1989 and over the years it has acquired and generated over one lakh carefully selected slides from 17 centres in India and 16 centres abroad. The growth rate of the collection is approx. 3,000 slides per year. In addition to slides, there are more than 2270 photo-negatives on Himachal Pradesh (Land and people), monuments of Sri Lanka and museums in Jammu & Kashmir.

The slide unit of the IGNCA has the largest collection of slides on Indian art viz painting, sculpture, architecture, illustrated manuscripts, and performing arts in India. It is also the only library in India which is equipped with the proper infrastructure for archival storage, computerization of data, duplication and scanning of slides.

Collection on Indian art from foreign museum and institution

We have in our repository around 16 foreign institutions which has contributed a major portion in the slide unit collection.

Major collections are:

American Committee for South Asian Art Collection

IGNCA purchased 3023 master slides from ACSAA in two lots and also the copyright of these slides. In the first lot are the sculptures from Amaravati, Goli, Jaggayyapeta, Nagarjunakonda, Ghantasala, Bharhut and the sculptures of Pala period. In the second lot the slides of Indian Collection in U.S.A. museums were received.
From the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art California the collection comprises the early Indian stone sculpture; early bronze sculpture; Sultanate and Mughal Painting, Nepali and Tibetan sculpture; Pala and Nepali manuscript painting; Sultanate, Mughal and Rajput Painting. From the Brooklyn Museum of Art is the collection of India Terracotta. There are sculpture and paintings from the Cleveland Museum; Kushana and Gupta gold coins from the Skanda Collection, University of Michigan; Indian, Southeast Asian and Himalayan sculptures from the Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas city; Southeast Asian sculptures housed in Kimball Museum of Art, Texas. The Indian, Southeast Asian and Himalayan sculptures from the Asian Arts Museum of San Francisco, California are also available in slide form.

Gita Govinda Painting Collection

Gita Govinda is a 12th Century Sanskrit poem composed by Jayadeva. He was the court poet of Lakshmanasana, the last Hindu ruler of Bengal in the late 12th century. The Gita Govinda is a work of infinite beauty and the poem is based on the love play of Krishna and Radha, their union, Radha’s jealousy and anger and reunion. The poem communicates a cosmic drama, which unfolds at macro and micro levels. The multi layered texture of the poem moves concurrently at the sensuous and the spiritual, terrestrial and celestial, human and the divine, eminence and transcendental levels.

Raza Library, Rampur Collection

under the expertise of Dr. Barbara Schmitz and Dr. Z.A. Desai, IGNCA has photo-documented 2483 slides on the Mughal and Persian miniature paintings and illustrated manuscripts in Rampur Raza Library. The preparation of the catalogue of illustrated manuscripts and albums in the Rampur Raza Library took more than five years to complete and the publication was brought out in 2006. There are 35 albums in the Raza Library containing about 1000 paintings. These loose albums were assembled in the mid 20th century. These paintings date from 17th to 20th century and represent different schools of painting e.g. Mughal, Deccani, Rajasthani, Pahari, Lucknow, Farrukhabad, Lahore, Persian and Bukhara Schools of painting. Out of the 35 albums, four albums depict pornographic paintings. These loose album paintings had a painting on one side and calligraphy on the other side.

In these albums there are also the imperial paintings of Akbar (1556-1605), Jahangir (1605-1627) and Shahjahan (1628-1628). The finest of six Ragamala sets in the Rampur Collection were painted in Lucknow, Ca 1780-1800.

Some of the earliest illustrated manuscripts possessed by the library are Divan of Hafiz, Ca. 1585-95; Suwar al-Kawakib Ca. 1590-1610; Mayalitis al-Akbar dated 1st half of 17th Century and Ajaib almakhluqat dated 1571 A.D.

The illustrated Persian manuscripts dated 18th -19th Century are from the provenance of Delhi, Lucknow, Bengal, Banaras, Kashmir, Rampur, Lahore. There are also illustrated Persian manuscripts from Herat, Bukhara, Tabriz, Shiraz, Abarquh, Astarabad, Ardabil, Isfahan, and Teheran. There are four Arabic illustrated manuscripts from Mecca.

Some of the famous illustrated manuscripts in the Raza Library Collection are Ajaib-al-makhluqat, Bahar-I-danish, Ramayana, Kokashastra, Nal Daman, Gulstan and Bustan, Ahdnama-I-Salatin-Tughlaq, Qissa-I-Chandarani, Mush va gurba, Tutinama, Talinama, Dhakhira-I-Iskandari, Iskandarnama, Shahnama, Baznama, Divan of Hafiz, Khusrau va shirin, Darabnama, Khavarnama, Shahinshahnama.

Festival of India in U.S.A. Slide Collection

Festival of India held in U.S.A. was a milestone in the co-operative efforts between the two countries. The festival held in 1985-86 featuring exhibitions and performing arts was mainly to culturally bridge the two countries, especially to understand the life and culture of India by the American people.

Thirty five museums participated in the exhibition by providing their collection on loan:- National Gallery of Art, Washington; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Cleveland Museum of Art; University of Iowa, Iowa city; The Asia Society gallery, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Cincinnati Art Museum; American Federation of Arts, New York; Metropolitan museum of Art, New York; Mills College, Oakland, California; New York Public Library; Jewish Museum, New York; The Royal Oak Foundation; Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts; Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute, Washington; Smithsonian Institute University of Oregon; Wight Art Gallery, University of California, Grey Art Gallery, New York., Museum of World Folk Art, San Diego; American Museum of Natural history; New York., International Museum of photography at East man house, New York; University Art Museum, Berkley; Museum of Modern Art, New York, Lincoln Centre for the performing Arts, New York and American Institute of Indian Studies participated in the festival by hosting the exhibitions performances etc. on different themes portraying the entire panorama of cultural development in India. Sculptures, terracotta, toys, costumes, paintings, manuscripts, dance, drama, music theatre, films brought the richness and diversity of the Indian nation. IGNCA has in its collection 1059 slides on Festival of India received from the Department of Culture, Government of India.

Ashmolean Museum Collection

Ashmolean Museum is one of the oldest public museums in England. It was opened to the public in Broad Street in 1683 and in the late 19th century and its collection was moved to Beaumont Street, Oxford. The main focus of the museum was on the Greco-Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Egyptian art. It was in the late 18th Century that the impetus was given on collecting objects of Indian art. In the initial stages the Madras Museum dispatched Southern domestic and ritual metal wares, ornaments, textiles, lacquer and wood etc. to the Ashmolean Museum. The main motivating force behind the acquisition of Indian artifacts was Sir Monier- Williams, Boden professor of Sanskrit.

From Bengal the museum received handicrafts, devotional images, folk paintings etc. the Jaipur Museum committee collected Jaipur paintings and arms, metal wares and from Moradabad.

The Indian Art collection in the Museum includes Hindu, Buddhist and Jain sculptures; Folk Bronzes; Paintings; ritual objects; Mughal miniature paintings and the decorative arts. The sculptures are from early Indian art, Mathura, Gandhara, Gupta and the post Gupta period. The late Hindu, Buddhist and Jain sculpture collection are from the Northern and Eastern India, Orissa, Western India, Deccan and South India.
Some of the masterpieces of the Indian art collection in Ashmolean museum are mother goddess in terracotta C.200 B.C.; head of a Tirthankara, Mathura; standing Buddha, Gandhara; Bodhisattva, Gandhara.
Mother goddess in terracotta C.200 B.C.; Head of Tirthankara, Mathura; Goddess Hariti, Mathura; Vishnu, Mathura; are some of the masterpieces of Early Indian Art. In the Gandhara Sculpture collection, birth of Buddha, Pancika and Hariti, and stucco figure of old man are some of the finest specimens of Gandhara art. Shiva and Surya sculpture from Mathura represent the Gupta period.
Durga Mahishasuramardini, from Bharatpur, Rajasthan, Lokeswar- Padmapani from Punjab, Surya from Kashmir are some of the best sculptures of the post Gupta period. Yoga Narsimha from Orissa dated 14th C. A.D., Virabhadra 16th-17th C. A.D., Deccan are also unique pieces of art. In the folk bronze and ritual objects the artifacts from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Banaras, Bengal, Tirupati of the 18-19th centuries are the best specimens to study the Indian folk art.
Miniature painting section is also very rich and the earliest Mughal painting in the collection is dated circa 1562-65. There are also the paintings of representative schools of Golconda, Malwa, Rajasthan, Punjab Hills and Bengal.

Miniature Paintings of Kashmir

It is only recently that art historians have started taking some interest in the Kashmir school of painting, which has otherwise remained an obscure topic in the field of Indian art history.There has been a long tradition in Kashmir of the art of painting as an expressive medium of the creative impulse, which goes back to the earliest times. Numerous references to it in literary works like the Nilamata Purana, Ranatarangini, Kshemendra’s writings and Mammata’s Kavya Prakash, testify to this. Most important of all, the Vishnudharmottara Purana, with its Chitrasutra, the earliest text on pictorial art is said to have been written in Kashmir. No example of early Kashmiri paintings has survived in Kashmir itself due to the ravages of political and religious turmoil.

The Kashmir school of miniature painting revived taking a new avatar in the 18th century. Continuing through the 19th century to the early decades of the 20th century Kashmiri religions art found expression in the illumination of manuscripts, horoscopes, and ritual art-works besides individual paintings. The themes were essentially religious with Hindu deities. The latter forms, however, were threatened into extinction by the advent of printing technology; IGNCA has 343 slides on the miniature paintings of Kashmir. The original paintings are housed in cultural academy, Srinagar, Kashmir University Museum library-Srinagar, J and K state archives-Srinagar and S.P.S Museum, Srinagar.

Ballisattra Bhagvata Purana Illustrated Manuscritps

Bhagvata Purana Canto X from Assam dated 1539 A.D. popularly known as Balisattra, Bhagvta Purana is preserved at Sri Narow, Ballisattra, District Nagaon Assam. The Dasamaskanda, Canto X, according to local tradition is considered the original copy prepared and painted by the great Asamiya Vaisnava preceptor Sri Sankardeva (1449-1568). According to local tradition Sri Sankaradeva was also an accomplished painter.

The manuscript is an important document of early Assamese literature and paintings of the Vaisnava School of Assam. The manuscript has 156 folios and the size of the folio is 48 cm x 20cm. The manuscript is written on tulapat in old Assamese script and has 2463 complete verses. Both the sides of the folio are used for writing and painting.

The main features of the paintings in the text are arched panels and decorated canopy; monochrome red, blue, grey or brown backgrounds, angular figures and lavish costumes; arched eyebrows, fish shaped eyebrows, fish shaped eyes, pointed nose, wide shoulders and narrow waist; simple landscape with blue skies and decorative trees; hills indicated by concentric semicircular patterns having multi colours; water represented in a rectangular form or in a basket weave pattern; Mudras or hand gestures are used in the paintings to denote on –going conversation.

Ballisttra Bhagvata Purana was personally brought by Prof. K.D. Goswami from Assam to IGNCA and with his scholarly inputs the manuscript was photo-documented and 968 slides prepared. Not only were the folios photographed but emphasis was also given to focus on the main features of the painting and to highlight, architecture, costumes, head gears, crowns, carts and carriages, landscape, flora and fauna, mudras or hand gestures, thereby opening new vistas for the artistic and scholarly study in these areas.

Victoria and Albert Museum Collection

The Victoria and Albert Museum has the richest collection of Indian paintings. IGNCA has acquired 6419 slides on Indian paintings from the Museum.The earliest Indian painting in the collection is the illustrated folios from Asthasahasrika Prajnaparamita manuscript from Bengal dated C. 1118 A.D.
The important collection in the Indian section is the miniature paintings from the Imperial Court artists of the Mughals. The outstanding collection is Hamzanama of Akbar’s period. Another collection is Akbarnama the illustrated chronicle dated 1590 AD, containing 117 illustrations. The Royal albums of Jahangir and Shahjahan reflect the zenith of Indian miniature paintings. It shows the court life and also the architecture, which reached its climax in Shahjahan’s period. The paintings of flora and fauna of Jahangir’s period are a delight for nature lovers.

The illustrations from Baburnama, Akbarnama are also in the slide collection. In the Rajasthani collection the important paintings are from the Ragamala album, Royal portraits of Rajas of small states of Rajasthan and the Hindu deities. These paintings are representative of the sub-schools of Rajathan e.g. Amber, Bikaner, Bundi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kishengarh, Kota, Marwar, Mewar, Nathadwara. From the central India there are the illustrated folios of Bhagvata Purana from Malwa, dated C. 1730 A.D. The finest collections of Pahari miniature paintings are housed in Victoria and Albert Museum. This collection is credited to W.G. Archer who has written number of books on Indian paintings. It includes the romantic play of Radha and Krishna based on Gita Govinda and Rasmanjari in Basohli style; Ragamala and Nala Damayanti painting from Bilaspur; Bhagvata Purana from Chamba; Vishnu Avatara and Krishna Sudama series from Garhwal; Nayaka Nayika and Bhagvata Purana series from Guler; Portraits of Dogra rulers from Jammu; Rasikapriya, Ramayana, Nala Damyanti series from Kangra; Rasa Panchadhyayi, Ragamala, and Ramayana series from Kulu; Ragamala series from Mankot. The collection includes, Company, Kalighat paintings, Bengal patas with wide and varied themes like costumes, festivals, occupation, Hindu deities, social life hunting etc.

The Asian Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) Collection

ACCU is a private body established in 1971 through the cooperation of private scholars and the Government of Japan for the purpose of promoting mutual understanding among people in Asia and Pacific through conducting regional programs in the field of promotion of culture, library and book production in the region. IGNCA has purchased four cultural kits containing 978 slides from the Asian Cultural Centre for UNESCO, from Tokyo (ACCU)
The Cultural kit No. I titled “The Music of Asia- As an element of cultural environment.” contains 180 slides depicting people’s daily lives and the natural beauty of the Asia-Pacific countries.

The Cultural kit No. II titled” Our Wonderful Cultural heritage in Asia and Pacific: comprises 273 slides representing 22 cultural sites and monuments in Pakistan, China, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Kampuchea, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, Nepal,

Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Korea and Japan. Famous sites like Moenjadoro, The Great Wall, Sanchi, Borobudur, and Angkor Wat feature in the slide collection.

The Cultural Kit No III titled “Traditional handicraft in Asia and the Pacific” comprise 278 slides. There are slides on Lacquer ware from Japan, Tapa cloth from Papua New Guinea, Masks from Nepal, Tie and dye from India, Anyamen from Malaysia, Kites from Singapore, Kantha from Bangladesh, carpets from Iran Bamboo crafts from Vietnam, Jade crafts from China, embroidery from Philippines, silver jewellery from Pakistan, Mut-mee silk from Thailand, Rush ware mats from Sri Lanka, Pottery from Burma, Bamboo craft from Korea and Batik from Indonesia.

The Cultural kit IV of ACCU titled ‘Looking around Museum in Asia and the Pacific comprises 240 slides of 22 Museum from 18 Asian and Pacific countries. The slides focus on Art, Historical sites, folk culture and science. The Art treasure of National Museum, New Delhi; National Museum, Bangkok; Palace Museum, China; National Museum Jakarta and National Museum Katmandu are revealed through slides. In this kit there are also the visuals of Museum of the Qin Dynasty terracotta warriors and Horses, China; Colombo National Museum, Sri Lanka; Mahasthangarh Museum, Bangladesh; Taxila Museum, Pakistan and Kabul National Museum, Afghanistan.

The folk culture artifacts housed in Korean folk village, Republic of Korea; Ayala Museum, Philippines; Ethnological Museum, Iran; Kuala Lumpur National Museum, Malaysia; Port Moresby National Museum, Papa New Guinea, National Museum of fine art, Vietnam; Kurashiki Museum Town, Japan and Singapore National Museum are available in slide. Science Museums of Thailand, India, Japan and Australia also feature in the slide collection of ACCU.

Staatliche Museum, Berlin Collection

The Staatliche Museum collection consists of 99 slides. The slides are Indian miniature paintings, wall paintings, illustrated manuscripts, sculpture, architectural elements and decorative arts. The miniature paintings represent the schools and sub schools of Mughal, Pahari, Oudh, Golkonda, Malwa, Ajmer, Mewar, Kishangarh, Bikaner, Bundelkhand, and Orissa. Ragamala set of paintings from the museum collection is of Late Mughal style. There is interesting wall painting collection from Kizil, Mumtara, Khocho, Bezeklik, at 8-9th c. Paintings are an different medium e.g. cloths, paper, silk, wood, palm leaf, leather.The illustrated manuscript of Jinacarita, Gujarat dated 15th c. also feature in the slide collection.

The sculpture collection of the museum an Indian art covers the wide pantheon of Hindu, Buddhist & Jain deities. The sculptures are in stone, wood, metal and bone. The sculpture and architectural elements are from the Sanchi, Mathura, Bodhgaya, Gandhara, Kashmir, Taxila, Bengal, Tanjore, Gujarat and Andhra. The sculptures from Bhutan, Nepal & Tibet are also in the Museum collection. In the Decorative arts there are a wide range of objects in metal, ivory and jade.

Photo-negatives of sites in Himachal Pradesh

The state of Himachal Pradesh nestled in the Himalayas with its snow clad peaks, gushing steams, lush green valleys, majestic pine trees, enchanting lakes and flower meadows is said to be the abode of gods.

In every village there is a presiding deity recognized by people of all faiths. Every year festivals are held in the honor of the village gods, which is not only attended by the people of nearby villages, but the gods of other villages participate in it. The experience is exquisite and the people rejoice by singing and dancing in the honor of the presiding deity. Devotees trek hundreds of kilometers crossing the ravines, rivers and snowy peaks to pay obeisance to their tutelary deity.
500 photographs taken by the staff of Slide Unit of Kala Nidhi Reference Library of IGNCA are part of this collection. These photographs were taken in May-June 2003 and August 2003 and cover the landscape, shrines, festivals and other cultural artifacts.
Two exhibitions titled “Malana-Shangrila in the Himalayas” and “Valley of Gods” based on the research and photo documentation was held in Nov.-Dec. 2002 and Nov. 2003 at Matighar, IGNCA and AIFACS gallery, New Delhi. Some of these photographs are also available on the IGNCA web site.

Copyright of slides in slide unit

Some of the collections in the slide unit cannot be given to any user as these are bound by copyright issues. The user needs to take prior permission from the parent organization to use the copyright slides for their research work. We have in IGNCA some slides in which the copyright is in the hands of IGNCA. We have 32 sections in our collection in which IGNCA holds copyright.
Some of the slide collection to which IGNCA holds copyright for is as follows:-
Gita Govinda (Phad style Rajasthan) (354); Govt. Museum, Madras (436); Bharhut (136); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California, U.S.A (146); The Skanda collection, University of Michigan, U.S.A. (215); Illustrated rare books in IGNCA (1537) etc.

The Slide Unit: resource for research in Arts

All the slides which are housed in the Unit are properly classified collection-wise placed in the slide jackets and preserved in the specially designed cabinets. A unique number is assigned to each slide for record and retrieval. Copies of these slides are made in-house for the purpose of giving these to relevant parties/institutions/individuals besides earmarking one copy for the use of the scholars in the Reference Library.
The catalogue / indexing cards are prepared and these are compatible with the catalogue of books. Appropriate keywords are assigned for each visual and catalogued data are entered into the computerized Libsys data base.
The unit maintains and provides the slide viewing cabinets, slide viewers, slide projectors for in-house use and visiting scholars for studying slides.
The unit has helped immensely the scholars coming from Delhi and other states. Here they get the opportunity to see art heritage of India, though the originals of these are housed in Museums and art galleries abroad.

Catalogue

• Catalogue of Cultural Archive (Kalanidhi – C)
• Digital Images with Cultural Informatics Laboratory

Descriptive Catalogue of the Illustrated Rare Books in the IGNCA (1080)

Cultural Informatics Laboratory (Digital Images)

No. of Digitised Images : 100300.

Following collections are available in “Digital only” format.