In the Absence of Jagannatha

Description

This “micro art history study” documents in its first part all known samples of anasara pati-paintings, i.e. annually produced pictures on cloth which serve as temporary replacements for the then absent wooden icons in temples of Lord Jagannatha in Puri and South Orissa. Since the iconography of this type of ritualistic paintings is defined by tradition and has to be strictly adhered to by the painters; changes in iconographic details and even stylistic features can only be minimal. Nevertheless minor deviations occur. By carefully viewing these paintings, the exact range of variations, the scope for idiosyncrasies, personal liberties and preferences, and the perpetuation of changes in the production of these religious pictures can be pointed out in the face of an ideology advocated and severely controlled by temple authorities that doesn’t permit something like “change” but believes in the permanence of eternal values and forms. In the second part of the book the authors reconstruct the history of anasara-pictures. Here the focus is on why do two different iconographies for the Jagannatha triad co-exist and under what conditions these painted “classical” triptychs may have been invented and made to stay.

Eberhard Fischer

Eberhard Fischer is an art historian and cultural anthropologist. Till recently he was the Director of the Museum Rietberg Zurich. Dinanath Pathy is a practising contemporary painter, art historian and creative writer. He has significantly researched into the pictorial art traditions of Orissa, its traditional and contemporary nuances, has published extensively, designed and curated international exhibitions.

Dinanath Pathy

Dr Bijaya Kumar Rath is an archaeologist and historian and has published about seventy research papers and seven books. He has undertaken the conservation of nine hundred built heritage structures in Odisha under the 10th and 11th Finance Commissions of Government of India. He is a member of the Committee of National Mission for Monuments and Antiquities and is a Consultant for heritage conservation and culture.