What was the role of design in everyday life in India since the early records of 3rd millenium B.C? Did the concept of design exist as we know it and if so, why is so little known or credited to the design thinking of this country?

INDIA PAST FORWARD is a journey to understand the ancient Indian approach to design, and see if India’s past has something to share for the way forward.

To make a beginning into the labyrinth of the past - we selected a few everyday objects from the present. And looked for design thinking, evolution of material and craftsmanship, in similar categories from the past.

As we researched key influences down the ages in categories like utensils, iconography and habitat - it became clear to us, as we hope it will for you, that innovation and craftsmanship are embedded in the skilled minds and hands of this 5000–year-old civilization.

Influences like Persian, Greek, Mughal, Portuguese, Dutch, French and British, as well as India’s very own heritage, have been instrumental in shaping the language of Indian design and architecture.

The Indian approach, down the ages, displays an admirable ability to preserve, imbibe, and adapt. This inventiveness coupled with the evolution of time seems to have helped perfect a synthesis of form, function and mastery of material in a unique design language.
Since there are no record of names of these skilled artists, designers and sculptors, one assumes the answer to the lack of authorship up until the 18th Century AD, perhaps lies in India’s approach to spirituality. Where an artist considered himself or herself as only a medium to create. And the original Creator was considered supreme and greater than the self.

It therefore appears that the ancient Indian approach to design was actually a continous cycle of creation for the greater good of the community and not just the individual. An ingenious, spiritual, complex continuum that eliminated and assimilated the useful from the redundant, since time immemorial.

In these times, as the world moves closer to a digital democracy, the dynamics of design are rapidly changing. Everything seems to come from somewhere. And ownership is less than absolute. Like chains of a giant link, ideas and creations, once put out are adapted, improved upon or eradicated based on their relevance and the evolution of time and taste - not unlike the ancient Indian process.

We hope that this research and paper, will illustrate not only the design aptitude and ability of an ancient civilization but also its humility in the act of creation.

- Divya Thakur