AN ARTISTIC APPRECIATION OF THE SYMBOLS USED IN THE PAINTINGS OF THE MODERN TANTRA ARTISTS

Indian art has depicted religious and philosophical beliefs since its inception. Since ancient times, humans have continuously strived to understand the mysteries of nature and the universe. In doing so, they incorporated tantric rituals and practices into their art subjects. Artists have always endeavored to create something new, leading to the emergence of various forms in the art world. Around the 1950s-1960s, artists began to blend Western styles with philosophical sentiments, giving birth to a new perspective in their artworks. They named this movement "Neo-Tantra." These artworks were abstract in form but had philosophical objectives. These tantric-related paintings are extremely powerful, captivating, and filled with profound mysteries. Although the language of art symbols is abstract, it illuminates the deepest spiritual secrets. To create these artworks, artists used tantric symbols, geometric shapes, and letters, among other elements. The artistic and analytical aspects of these symbols in tantric art have been presented. Modern Indian art has seen the development of tantric art due to the efforts of artists like Gulam Rasool Santosh, K.C.S. Paniker, Syed Haider Raza, Biren De, Nirod Majumdar, Maqbool Fida Husain, Satish Gujral, P.T. Reddy, Deepak Banerjee, Shobha Broota, Prabhakar Kolte, and others. In this research paper, I will present an artistic appreciation of the symbols used in the paintings of modern tantric artists.