Documentary unveiling Indian culture beyond borders screened

New Delhi, July 2 (UNI) "Indian Imprints", a documentary by noted filmmaker Dr S Krishnaswamy brings to life the contribution of India in art, architecture, aesthetics, dance, music and mythology in south Asian nations.

The documentary was screened here last evening. It pans across five countries - Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, covering more than 100 monuments, besides providing glimpses of Indian contribution to dance forms and literature.

Merchants from the first century AD onwards had been setting sail to these countries and over the centuries Hinduism, Buddhism and Indian culture held sway over the region.

However, many of the present day Indians are unaware of such facts."In India, we are ignorant of our history and to many it is a surprise that the Indian merchants went to all those south-Asian countries and left a vast impression of our culture there." The documentary depicts ancient rock-cut images portraying 'Vishnu riding Garuda' and 'Ravana lifting Kailasa' to name a few.

The ancient ruins of the "Angkor Wat" temples in Thailand and the Ramayana dance drama performance with elaborate costumes also finds mention.

Dr Krishnaswamy, who has several documentaries to his credit winning international accolades for his work, said he was inspired to undertake the project while making another documentary that revealed India's glorious past.

"While making 'Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi', I came across the fascinating facets on the relationship between ancient India and the countries of south east Asia, kindling in me an appetite to understand more," he said.

The project required an extensive tour of those nations. The film is the product of a good two years of travel and documentation.

He was assisted in this work by Mohana Krishnaswamy.

He said this initiative was to project Indian culture accurately.

Dr Krishnaswamy expressed the hope that his work would help the viewers to explore the past and inspire them to understand India better.

The documentary has been conceived in 18 episodes of 25 minutes each in English and is soon going to be dubbed in Hindi, he said.

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