Art has many forms in India - from simple hand drawn pictures to sculpture to magnificient architecture. Intricate inlay work and sandstone carved panels adorn the walls, ceilings, pillars, and floors in the many forts, temples, and palaces. Looking up, there are elephants holding beams with their trunks, delicate lotus flowers decorating the arches, mirrored ceilings and walls, frescoes of both bright and pastel colors, arches that are both majestic and serene. Gods and goddesses look down upon us, colors pop out at us. What lies behind the lattice windows and beyond the heavy wooden and golden doors?
As I look at these features of Indian art, I can imagine clandestine meetings beneath the arches, candlelight walks beneath the mirrored ceilings and past the frescoed walls, sitting at an marble table inlaid with precious stones, my bare feet walking silently on a hand woven Kashmir carpet. My imagination goes wild in the midst of this beauty. As Thoreau said “the wold is but a canvas to the imagination.” Travel is my canvas.