Bharagarh Fort 1929

Nicholas Roerich painted Bharagarh Fort, capturing the majesty of the Himalayas through the symbolic language of mountains. Throughout cultures, mountains evoke a sense of the eternal and the divine, a meeting point between the earthly and the celestial. Roerich channels this ancient symbolism, echoing motifs found in the art of diverse traditions, from the sacred peaks depicted in Chinese landscape painting to the monumental mountains revered in Andean cultures. Consider the pointed mountain in the background. This is a recurring visual metaphor for the axis mundi, the world center, connecting the heavens, earth, and underworld. It has been passed down through history, shifting in meaning but maintaining its symbolic essence. The mountain becomes more than just a geographical feature. Instead, it acts as a powerful force, engaging viewers on a deep, subconscious level by triggering our collective memory of its symbolic meaning. This cyclical progression of symbols highlights their journey through time, constantly resurfacing, evolving, and acquiring new meanings in different historical contexts.