Banaras through the centuries

From ancient to contemporary times, diverse communities have shaped Banaras. The ascetics, pilgrims, weavers, craftsmen and travellers have all brought their own experiences to the city, now known as Varanasi. ‘Banaras: Imagined Landscape’, on display at DAG in New Delhi until April 5, traces this evolution through painting, sculpture, objects, photography, books and travelogues.

The exhibition draws on DAG’s collection and two previous exhibitions held in 2019 and 2023 and has been curated by art critic Gayatri Sinha. Divided into three sections, it moves chronologically from the 1800s to the present day.

Views by colonial artists and other foreigners, reflecting Banaras as an important landmark for travellers, artists, and officials alike, offer insight into Orientalist perspectives, with notable canvases by Thomas Daniell, Edwin Lord Weeks, Marius Bauer, and prints by William Hodges, Charles Rasmus Forrest, and William Carpenter. John Dalrymple’s ‘A Panoramic View of the Holy City of Benares’ (1824), a lithograph measuring 117 inches, showcases a sweeping panoramic view of Banaras, and James Prinsep’s lithographs from ‘Benares Illustrated in a Series of Drawings’ (c 1834), present further visual documentation of the city.

The miniature paintings present a glimpse into indigenous painting traditions and their portrayal of the sacred city wherein works by Indian artists such as Ram Kumar, Benode Behari Mukherjee, Jamini Roy, LN Taskar, Indra Dugar and SG Thakar Singh shift the perspective from foreign, architectural depictions of the ghats to capturing the bustling life of communities, daily activities, and the essence of Banaras beyond the iconic riverfront scenes.

Sculptural works by Banaras artists like Latika Katt, who has worked with various mediums to provide social commentary on practices such as Sati, explore the complex relationship between Banaras’ ghats and death rituals. A collection of early photography to works by modern photographers, include iconic images by Samuel Bourne, Babu Jageshwar Prasad, Raghu Rai, and Nemai Ghosh, presenting diverse views of Banaras’ galis, wrestlers, pilgrims, and its place in popular culture and cinema. Rare archival material includes letters from the Maharaja of Banaras (1868 and 1875), postcards, manuscripts such as Tableaux Pittoresques de L’Inde (1834), and bound photography albums from the 19th century.

“Banaras exists as much in the mind as it does as a physical space and has always attracted a melange of people — explorers, philosophers, truthseekers, wanderers, writers, painters and the curious — who have shaped our perception of its past and present. This is a critically important exhibition not only for DAG but for us as a nation and how we imagine and document ourselves. Banaras is the very soul of India. Its unfolding by painters, sculptors, photographers and writers adds another dimension to our understanding of this city and its spirit today and in the times to come”, notes Ashish Anand, CEO and Managing Director, DAG.

Curator Gayatri Sinha says, ‘Varanasi, which compresses the ghats, temples and mosques, a stretch of the river and a constant churn of humanity within a few kilometres, defies description. In writing an essay or selecting exhibition objects, one never has a sense of completion or closure. Even as historians have questioned its architectural antiquity, its mythic past is continually revivified and affirmed. Some of the attraction and unique reading of the city comes alive in this exhibition that celebrates an ancient living culture. The accompanying volume reflects on the ghats, on the artistic views on a spectrum of colonial and Indian artists.”

In the accompanying publication, curator Gayatri Sinha encapsulates the history of Banaras from antiquity to modernity. Writer Tom Young shares his views of Banaras in works by foreign artists of Banaras in art, while Amita Sinha examines the visual legacy of urban interventions in the city’s landscape. Lastly, an interview with Gulammohammed Sheikh situates Banaras in the context of Kabir, whose teachings served as a major inspiration for Sheikh’s artistic practice.

Arts