Indian Sculpture and Painting, Illustrated by Typical Masterpieces, with an Explanation of their Motives and Ideals c12.153

c12.153

After many centuries, when the spiritual fervour which created the splendid art of Ajanta, Ellora, and Borôbudûr had spent itself, religion in India, as in other countries, began to cloak its own deformities in hollow shows and ceremonies; a corrupt priesthood finding in the misuse of man's most spiritual gifts a specious disguise for a false religion and an easy means of quieting the national conscience. Art, too, always a true reflection of man's spiritual nature, losing its vital forces, began to substitute for original creative energy a mechanical repetition of æsthetic formularies—just as the priest listlessly revolved his praying-wheel, and mumbled endless *mantras* the meaning of which had long been forgotten.