Sat 15 Nov | 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm | Free Entry (Registration Required)
Step into the workshop of the unknown painter — where philosophy meets practice, and every line becomes memory.
What makes a painting auspicious? Why do Ajanta’s murals, painted over 1,500 years ago, still breathe with life?
This illustrated lecture invites you into the world of the Chitrasūtra — the earliest known treatise on painting, preserved in the Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa. More than a manual, it is a philosophy of art: painting as interconnectedness, interdependence, and vision in harmony with nature. Its chapters describe the six guṇas of painting (form, proportion, expression, grace, likeness, harmony of colour), the secrets of shading (vartana), auspicious postures, and the mastery of the painter (citravit), who can capture the difference between a sleeping man and a dead man, or waves and smoke moving with the wind.
At Ajanta, these prescriptions are not theory — they come alive. The murals embody sadṛśya (resemblance), anukṛti (faithful imitation), and satya (truth), while auspicious eyes and gestures transform pigment into presence. In every outline and wash of colour, the invisible sthāpati — the master painter — worked with tapas and discipline to create murals that still speak across centuries.
Alongside the lecture, participants will also take part in a short sketching and colouring activity using outlines adapted from Ajanta. Each attendee will receive an illustrated Ajanta Colouring Manual, to continue this practice and reflection at home.
Why you’ll remember this event:
A rare chance to explore the Chitrasūtra through both text and living murals.
Insights into the invisible master painter and his yogic discipline.
Hands-on sketching and a takeaway Ajanta manual to carry the tradition forward.
This is not only a lecture. It is an experience — a chance to step into the workshop of the unknown painter and let his silence speak through colour once again.
About the Speaker:
Dr Sindhu Saraswathy is an artist and researcher focused on India’s artistic traditions. Author of two study companions -Ajanta unfolded -flora,figures and sacred narratives,and The Unknown Painter – Mural practices of Post Ajanta Bharat— their work bridges śāstric texts and practical art education. Through writing, teaching, and workshops, they restore the voice of the sthāpati, the master painter who worked anonymously yet shaped eternity on stone walls.They also run Re-search Hindu, an educational initiative to revive and reinterpret India’s textual and artistic heritage for students worldwide.
