Antiquities of Western Himalayas (2 Vols.)

by Sunil Khosa and A.K. Singh and M. Chaturvedi

Himalaya is known as the abode of Lord Siva. Its cultural, social, religious and political significance is so vast that it allured the foreigners in the ancient past and continues to entice people from every nook and corner even today. The present book Antiquities of Western Himalayas has dealt with the cultural aspects of the western Himalayas. An art heritage may belong to a particular region yet it transcends all physical and language barriers to become a pan-human phenomena. The authors of this treatise have ventured to bring out a well researched treatise on the rare works of the art from the not so easily accessible interior of Himalayas.

The present book contains a rich wealth of art treasures from the valleys of Kashmir, Ladhak, Spiti and Kinnaur. In other words it can be said that this work takes us on a voyage of the rich preserve of wall paintings, scrolls, carved and painted wooden plaques and bronze images the citadel of Buddhist culture. This brings to light an important School of Buddhist Art. This book has been divided into two volumes.

Volume one speaks of the cultural panorama of western Himalayas in great details and highlights the art style, its genesis and the development, besides the summing up has been dealt with in the epilogue. In Volume two illustrations with discussion have been dealt with in a picturesque style. Various types of artistic description through illustrations can be observed. One can observe the different styles of art and its allied branch of the places in western Himalayas, like Harwan, Ushkur, Bejbehara, Pandrathan, Parihasapura, Avantipur, Verinag, Alchi Monastery, Tabo and Nako Monastery.

This two volume set will be of rare value of the art historians, the scholars and the academicians besides the research students. This will be a real art treasure to all the libraries in India and abroad.