Ghulam Rasool Santosh (1929–1997), born in the idyllic village of Dab, near Srinagar, Kashmir, was a visionary Indian artist whose lifelong romance with nature and spirituality shaped a remarkable artistic legacy. Originally named Ghulam Rasool Dar, he would later adopt the name Santosh, symbolizing his deep personal and philosophical evolution.

From an early age, Santosh demonstrated an extraordinary sensitivity to the natural world. His schooldays were punctuated by long, contemplative walks through Kashmir’s orchards, fields, and meadows, a journey often delayed by his fascination with the landscape. When confronted by school authorities for tardiness, the young Santosh offered disarmingly poetic justifications, revealing a budding artist already attuned to the rhythms of nature.

Artistry ran in Santosh’s lineage. While his father served as a policeman, his grandfather was a traditional papier-mâché painter, a master of intricate ornamental motifs characteristic of Kashmiri craft. Though much of his early life remains undocumented, it is widely believed that Santosh absorbed the fundamentals of form, color, and composition by observing his grandfather at work, laying the groundwork for his own artistic journey.

Ghulam Rasool Santosh’s art would eventually transcend the regional and the decorative, evolving into a unique style rooted in Kashmir Shaivism, Tantric symbolism, and Indian metaphysical traditions. A significant figure in modern Indian art, he is best remembered for his geometric abstractions, spiritual iconography, and deeply meditative compositions that fused the sensibilities of a mystic with the rigor of a modernist.