4 SOCIAL SCIENTIST K.R. Srinivasan and K.V. Soundara Rajan are noteworthy. The Encyclopedia of Indian Temple Architecture^, edited by Michael Meister, M.A. Dhaky and Krishna Deva, some volumes of which are recently published by its systematic classification of important temples based on region and dynasty/period is a good contribution to the study of Indian art. We do not intend to present here a historiography of Indian art, some aspects of which are covered by Pramod Chandra5. M.S. Mate6, Ratan Parimoo7, and that of terracotta art by the present speaker.8. Social aspects of art are woven into the fabric of Stella Kramrisch's essays and books written since 1929 though not directly within her terms of reference.9 One of the pioneering works in the field of social history of art is Prof. Niharranjan Ray's Maurya and Post-Maurya Art, originally published in 1945, which was then acclaimed as the first sociological study of the two important phases of ancient Indian art. His An Approach to Indian Art (1974) discusses a number of broader issues on the meaning and social function of art presenting arguments of ancient Indian thinkers and aestheticians. Amita Ray's book on Andhra art 10, R.N. Misra's monograph on ancient Indian artists and their institutional set-up, based on epigraphical and textual material,11 Vidya Dehejia's work on patronage of early Buddhist art and temple art12 are some of the noteworthy studies bearing on social aspects of Indian art. A concern with broader social context for the work of art is being felt in the writing of the present day art historians Joanna Williams, Gary Tartakov and others who are primarily working on style and chronology of images and monuments. I may mention that I have been concerned with the social milieu of the Indian temple in my study of erotic sculpture, and have examined the social background of ancient Indian terracotta art.13 It is common in books on conventional history to put tinder 'society': dress, ornaments, food and drink, furniture and similar material artefacts. There are several books dealing with cultural life as depicted in art, for instance, of Nagarjunakonda, Ajanta or Khajuraho. Certainly such works are useful documentation on cultural artefacts. But in this essay we are not .dealing with 'Society in Art', rather our term of reference is 'Art in Society', how early Indian art was conditioned by social factors. II In recent years considerable work has been done in the field of social and economic history of India, which if taken into account by art historians can give a deeper perspective into the study of Indian art. It would be rewarding to have a dialogue between the two disciplines— social history and art history. D.D. Kosambi, R.S. Sharma, Romila Thapar and other historians have made significant contributions to the study of ancient Indian social structure which can help us to view art in the total context Their