BENGALURU: Many of India’s artistic and archaeological marvels have been lost to time and neglect, but attempts are under way to rescue them from the clutches of disfigurement. The work of people like art historian Benoy Krishen Behl shows that cultural informatics can help with art restoration and provide wider access to some kinds of art.
On May 28, during an online event hosted by Sapio Analytics, Behl took participants on a virtual tour of six paintings that he has digitally restored. Three of the paintings he worked on were from the Ajanta caves in Maharashtra, one from the Badami caves in north Karnataka, and two from the Brihadeeshwara Temple in Tanjavur.
“It took me 19 years to complete the restoration of many ancient paintings in the country including some from the caves of Ajanta and Badami. I have carefully restored them with an intimate understanding of the painting. Bad restoration is much more harmful than just leaving the art to crumble,” he says.
Behl says that he digitally restored the paintings in the caves based on photographs of the paintings he took in 1991, 1992 and 2001 (Badami). “These paintings were not visible to the world as they are in dark caves and the Archaeological Survey of India does not allow the use of flashes to photograph these paintings because it would affect the art,” he says.
He says that he managed to photograph them in conditions of low light nonetheless, and worked on those images to arrive at re-creations of what the paintings may have looked like when they were created hundreds of years ago. While the paintings in the Ajanta caves are 2,000 years old, the ones in Badami were done in the 6th century CE.
When Behl visited the four caves in Badami in 2001, most of the paintings, including those of Vishnu and Brahma were damaged. However, a painting he restored, titled Queen and Attendants (see pictures), was exhibited during the session earlier this week. One of the images released during the online event features King Mahajanak from depicting how he renounced his kingly life to become as ascetic.
“Thousands of figures in the Ajanta caves contain a vision of life that was full of care, compassion and warmth,” says Behl who has photographed several Asian monuments and even made documentaries on them. Mumbai-based Sapio Analytics will exhibit some of Behl’s photographs and their digital restoration at The Nehru Centre in London in 2022 to mark 75 years of India’s independence.
53,000 photographs of Asian monuments, artistic heritage
145 documentaries on Asian art