Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c5.13

c5.13

Having fixed the subject or theme the artist makes a choice of his rhythm (*Chhanda*, *Tāla*, *Laya*), or measure (*Mātrā*) which determines the various elements of beauty as symmetry, harmony, grouping, proper relationship of the main figure with its constituents and composition (*Sampūrṇjana*). An important branch of Indian art thus relates to iconometry (*Tālamāna*). The cosmos with its individual objects presents a measured model for the artist which he accepts to be imaged not so much objectively as through his mind (*Chitta*) or meditation (*Dhyāna*), each art object thus becoming an individual creation.