Dhan Gopal Mukerji

"According to the Shilpa Sastras, in which the symbolic art of India has been thoroughly explained, certain rules have been laid down for the guidance of artists. One of these is that the novice should not be taught the technique for the asking. He must meditate, and find within himself a vision that clamors for expression, and only then may his masters instruct him in technique."

"In India, all our art is ritualistic, especially the art of the temples and the caves. When I went to the cave temples, to Elephanta or Ellora, I found mountains hollowed out, and temples built underneath them. The columns supporting the roof resembled elephant legs, and the ceilings and the walls were gorgeously decorated with the sculptured forms of human beings and of gods. About 200 B.C, or earlier, a groups of monks went to meditate under the rocks of Ajanta. In meditation they experienced ecstasy, and having experienced it, they carved it on the wall. The story of all the gods of India is carved on these walls, and the youngest of them all is Buddha. Seven hundred years of Indian history is written out in these caves covering vastness with terrific forms."

"I shall never forget my first visit to Ellora, reached after two days tramp from the nearest town. When the sages of southern India wanted to create an image of the universe, they went to Ellora. They worked for one hundred and fifty years and used up generations of artists. They carved a mountain into galleries, and as these rose higher and higher, they gradually attained the summit, and the whole mountain was covered as the Himalayas are covered with strange life.""