IMAGING SPIRITUALITY: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF SURFACE DECORATION IN MARYAM ZAMANI MOSQUE

Abstract

The study while examining the surface decoration/ornamentation in Maryam Zamani Mosque looks at the historical as well as cultural significance of mosque interiors in Islamic world. In doing so it is fully immersed in socio-political underpinnings that define Mughal and/or Islamic aesthetic thrusts in Pre-Modern India. It also addresses some well-established figments about the status of representational iconography in Islamic Art and compares the concept of aniconism in various indigenous traditions. ‘Non-figural’ as a scheme of ornamentation mediate the divine presence for the believers but it also effectively stimulates the senses towards the unconfined realities spiritually elevating the viewer. In its broader scope, it is a study of change of decorative features of religious buildings in Medieval India- from figurative to abstract, from earthly to spiritual or from ordinary to ideal. In addition to the conventional historiographic methods of research, ethnographic approach is employed to achieve the paradigm of socially-engaged art history for the global audience.