Chennai Mathematical Institute

Seminars




CMI Arts Initiative Workshop
Date: Saturday, 28 October 2023
Time: 5:00 PM
Venue: Seminar Hall
Online Talk and Film Screening `Tamil Nadu: Land of Temples'

Benoy K Behl, Adjunct Professor, NIAS
Art-historian, film-maker and photographer.
28-10-23


Abstract

Tamil Nadu is on the East coast of Peninsular India. This state has been a great cradle of Indian culture and many ancient traditions of dance, music, architecture and life-style continue and flourish here till today.

Temples were made out of hard and lasting granite in Tamil Nadu. There is an amazing continuity seen in the styles of temple building here, from Pallava times in the 7th century, through the rule of the Cholas and the Nayakas upto the Maratha period in the 19th century. This makes this region unique in the country. The art historian and filmmaker Benoy K Behl is known for his extensive documentation of monuments and art in all parts of India, including the most remote ones. His deep relationship with the temples of Tamil Nadu began in 1991, when he documented and brought before the world the glorious previously-unphotographed 10th century Chola paintings of the Brhadiswara temple at Thanjavur. His photography made an international impact and changed forever the understanding of the history of Indian painting. This began Prof. Behl’s relationship with the temples of Tamil Nadu, which he explored and photographed with great sensitivity.

About the speaker: Benoy K Behl is a film-maker, art-historian and photographer who is known for his tireless and prolific output of work over the past 47 years. He has taken over 53,000 photographs of Asian monuments and art heritage and made 146 documentaries which are regularly screened at major cultural institutions worldwide. His photographic exhibitions have been warmly received in 74 countries around the world. These have been inaugurated by ministers of the governments of various countries, ambassadors, archbishops, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and others dignitaries. He holds the Limca Book Record for being the most traveled photographer and art historian. His films, including 26 documentaries on ‘The Paintings of India’, 26 documentaries on ‘The Sculpture of India’ and 26 documentaries on ‘Spectacular India’ have been nationally telecast on prime time in India, as well as repeat telecasts. These have also been screened at scores of universities and museums in several countries around the world. The National TV channel DD Bharti has been showing a film of his every day since 2001. In January, 2008, National Geographic magazine carried an 18-page story about ancient Indian art revealed through Behl’s photography to the world. Behl has been invited to lecture by many of the important universities and museums worldwide. He has delivered hundreds of lectures for 246 institutions in 36 countries. He has published several books on Indian art. On 21 October 2020, an acclaimed photograph of an Ajanta painting taken by Behl was archived in the ‘Arctic World Archive’, to be preserved in the memory of mankind. In September 2021, his digitally restored photograph of the earliest surviving Hindu painting, at Badami Caves, was also preserved in the Arctic World Archive. Behl is an Adjunct Professor National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.