The centuries-old exchange of ideas, knowledge systems, resources, skills and materials among the people of the Asian continent left a lasting legacy in various spheres of human experience. This was a dialogue that involved rich exchange of religious, literary, aesthetic and artistic ideas and forms across the regions of Asia. The general impressions of an art, which is spiritual and magical in character, highly charged with literary myths and legends, and presented through a seemingly improvised styles in various art forms, provide us with a clue of an understanding of the fundamental foundations of the arts in Asia. This volume contains the papers of the panel on ‘Asian Aesthetic Theories and Art Forms’ in first two sections. This panel was a part of the international conference on “Asian Encounters: Networks of Cultural Interaction” held in New Delhi. The volume reaffirms that the Indian theory of art as a creative process and creative expression is broadly true for entire Asian theory of art and aesthetics and it opens up a pan-Asian theory of art and aesthetics. ‘Representation of Asian Art in Asian Museums’ was another panel of the conference. The volume contains three papers from that panel also and the transcript of the dialogue held on ‘Cross Cultural Frontiers in the Study of the Past’. CONTENTS Foreword — Sachchidanand Joshi Prologue — Kapila Vatsyayan Acknowledgements Introduction — Advaitavadini Kaul Keynote Address: Historiography of Studies in Asian Aesthetics — Kamalesh Dutt Tripathi Section A. Indian Aesthetics and Its Branches 1. Of Convergences Divergences and Confluences: The Holistic Perspective of Rasa Theory in the First Millennium ce — Radhavallabh Tripathi 2. Abhinavagupta and Indian Aesthetics — Kamalesh Dutt Tripathi 3. Ascetism and Śānta Rasa: The Core Spirit of Jaina Art — Maruti Nandan Tiwari 4. Aesthetic Aspects of the Buddhist Visual Arts in Bhāratavarṣa and Abroad — Suniti Kumar Pathak 5. Expression of Aesthetic Experience in Vaiṣṇava Tradition: With Special Reference to Śrī Caitanya-Mata — Urmila Sharma Section B. Art Forms: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Literature, Music and Dance 6. Aesthetics of Anthropomorphism Marks (Lakṣaṇas) of Beauty in Indian Tradition — R.N. Misra 7. Attaining Bliss through the Convergence of Art and Thought — Advaitavadini Kaul 8. Geography and Iconography — Enamul Haque 9. From Sida to Madsi: An Ideal Role of Women in Thai Rāmāyaṇa and Vessantara Jātaka — Suchitra Chongstitvatana 10. Champa Ancient Temples: The Mysteries — Ngo Van Doanh 11. The “Javanization” of the Goddess Durgā — Hariani Santiko 12. Musical Exchanges, Music Loss and Music Shifts: Flat Gongs in the Archaeological Records in India and Southeast Asia — Arsenio Nicolas Section C. Representation of Asian Art in Asian Museums 13. Singapore’s Peranakan Museum: Making the Case Conceptualizing and Presenting a Unique Regional Culture — Kenson Kwok 14. Museum as a Custodian of Culture: Its Role in Preserving the Malaysian Heritage — Janet Tee Siew Mooi 15. Uses of Enchantment: Asian Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia — Carol Cains 16. Crossing Culture Frontiers in the Study of the Past: A Dialogue between Irene J. Winter, Shereen Ratnagar & S.C. Malik (as Chairman) Contributors Index