Benoy K Behl

Early life and education

Benoy K. Behl was born in New Delhi on 10 September 1956 and has a B.A. (Honours in English) degree from the University of Delhi (1973–76).

Photography & Documentaries

Behl has taken photographs in India and across the world. He has photographed historic monuments, ancient art and ancient Buddhist paintings of India and he has also photographed Badami caves, Lepakshi Temple, Brahadeeshwara Temple, Ellora Caves, Bagh caves etc. and published in international magazines like National Geographic. He has photographed paintings of Ajanta Caves without using flash and exhibited such photographs, numbering more than 1000, at several places including overseas locations such as Malaysia.

Documentary films

His first two documentary films, made during 1976 were telecast by Doordarshan (Govt. Owner T.V.,India). Other documentary films made by him include Another Look at Khadi (on Gandhi's socio-economic philosophy), First Himalayan Car Rally, The Sculpture of India, The Paintings of India, Divine Marriage etc. The Sculpture of India, which was telecast by Dooradarshan, presents the development of Indian sculpture starting from Indus Valley Civilisation to 17th Century.

A series of documentary films shot by Benoy K.Behl, showing India's heritage especially from remote and inaccessible places were shown at India International Centre, New Delhi during August 2009 and this two-day film show, titled The Journey Within was inaugurated by Information and Broadcasting Minister, Government of India. He has also produced a series of documents called Spectacular India for Doordarshan. which covers historical monuments from Kashmir to Leh, Kangra etc.

He has taken more than 35,000 photographs and made more than 100 documentaries

He has made a critically acclaimed film on Guru Padmasambhava which has been screened at many forums.

Recently made landmark film on yoga entitled Yoga - An Ancient Vision of Life. The film was made by Behl along with his old friend Rahul Bansal. It was shot across India, and in Germany and the U.S.A. "A few thousand years ago, one is not sure exactly when, thinkers in India began to look inward. They realized that joy and peace could only be found within us, not from the circumstances of the external world. They began to map and study the world within. A vision of life was developed, which permeated all aspects of life. This is ‘Yoga’ and is the basis of the Indian spiritual faiths. It is also in the heart of all classic Indian artistic pursuits."

The film also has the last interview with Guru BKS Iyengar.

Buddhist art

Behl has extensively photographed buddhist art and sculptures in India as well as in Afghanistan, Siberia, China, Tibet, Japan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Mangolia etc. etc. After documenting Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, he also visited Uzbekistan and Kalmykia Province of Russia to trace the 400-year-old Buddhist tradition in Europe.

Pre-Historic Art

Benoy K.Behl has also photographed Indus Valley Civilisation sites like Lothal, Dholavira as a part of documenting Indus Valley Art for his films.

Ajanta paintings

Hundreds of Ajanta paintings are photographed using low light photography technique by him and Benoy K. Behl is recognised as the first notable photographer to use zero light photography at Ajanta and photographs of the colour paintings of Ajantha are exhibited by Benoy K. Behl at several places.

Limca Book of records

The Limca Book of Records, which records achievements in India, has estimated that Behl has criss-crossed across India to an extent of about 1,60,000 km (till 2006) while producing his documentaries on art and sculpture of India.

Behl is also mentioned by Limca Book of Records 2012, as most travelled photographer to document Indian art influences across the world; and to have travelled Nagaland, Assam, Tripura, Spiti, Ladakh etc. to document Buddhist and other art.

Updated record in Limca Book of records 2015: Benoy is the only person to document Buddhist heritage of 19 regions in 17 countries. He has delivered 349 lectures in 186 major universities/ museums/ cultural institutions in 21 countries around the world. He has made 128 documentary films on Indian art and cultural history. His exhibitions have been held in 253 major cultural institutions in 30 countries. He has taken over 44,000 photographs of monuments and art heritage in India and across the world.

Exhibitions

Photographs taken by Behl are exhibited at several places like Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong (Feb–March 1995), National Museum New Delhi (21 June 2002 to 4 August 2002), Nehru Centre, New Delhi, London, Tokyo, Washington D.C.

His exhibitions are on permanent display at

He has travelled around the world eight times, giving more than 300 lectures in about 170 locations which include Universities, Museums, Institutions all over the world.

Publications