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Chola Migrations reproduces, in an accordion format, the large 6.75 feet high by 72.5 feet long mural done by Krishen Khanna in pencil. It is a celebration of the wonderful history and achievements of the Cholas of southern India roughly between the 10th and 14th centuries. It represents the religion-centred culture they built and enriched in their own lands along the Coromandel coast, their conquests on the Indian subcontinent and of Sri Lanka, and their bold ventures across the Indian Ocean to trade in luxurious goods with the peoples they found further east.
The theme Khanna chose for this mural is historical rather than mythical, celebrating the outgoing activities of the Cholas. Filled with strong, majestic figures, the negative tonal idiom shows how compositions rendered with quiet control, like the leaves of palm trees, or a dramatic blackbird, give the world its rhythmical cohesion.
Norbert Lynton was professor emeritus at the University of Sussex and former director of exhibitions for the Arts Council of Great Britain. He passed away in 2007.
