Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c72.18

v2.c72.18

Not many a savant have contributed to the real genesis and development of this most fascinating branch of Indology—Hindu Science of Iconography. The first and foremost honoured place goes to that renowned South Indian writer, Sri T. Gopinath Rao, the celebrated author of the ‘Elements of Hindu Iconography’ in four volumes (Vols. I and II with parts I and II each). Rao's treatment of the subject, to some extent, remained confined to mainly the South Indian images. Sri Brindavan Bhattacharya's “Indian Images” a pioneering attempt to treat Indian Iconography from the cultural point of view, was in a way a complementary to Rao's work inasmuch as it confined itself to the exposition of the North Indian images. A good many other scholars, notably Smith, Coomarswamy, Kramrisch, Gangoli, Foucher, Grundwedel, V. & B. T Bhattacharyas and so many others were also famous contributors to this side-branch of Indian Art.