Paintings are visual creations of
the emotional and perceptive concepts of a culture, articulated
in religious and secular themes. Indian Painting traditions
have existed since primordial times. The rock paintings of Bhimbetaka
caves, 40 km south of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, India, eloquently
trace the roots of painting in India. These paintings in red,
green, and white hues are 25,000-20,000 old and are witness
to the evolution of civilization.
Painting traditions in India have centered on naturalism, limitless
self-expression, liveliness, finesse and sophistication. The
natural colors derived from the pigments of minerals, vegetables,
animal products and lampblack were used to provide a visual
appeal to the paintings.
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Raga Kalinga painting in Kangra School
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| Mughal Miniatures found expression
in the late 16th century from the reign of Emperor Akbar who
was a trained painter himself. Mughal workshops produced illustration
projects like Harmza-Nama, Tuti- nama, Akbar-nama and Tuzuk
I-Jahangiri. The Mughal miniatures were aristocratic, individualistic
and strong in portraiture. Plush court scenes, hunting expeditions
of royalty, flowers and animals were the recurrent images in
these paintings.
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| Handmade Miniature Painting |
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In South India around 16th and 17th centuries Manuscript
Illustrations were in vogue. The best example is of illustrated
Mahabharata (epic depicting the conflict between Pandavas
and Kauravas) executed in conservative style.
Company School developed in the 18th century where Indian
artists produced paintings capturing Indian scene in all its
aspects, including natural history and human society for British
tastes. Many English men and women had settled in South India
during the time of Carnatic and Mysore Wars and the exoticness
of India struck them. The Indian painters trained in classical
traditions like Tanjore and Mughal schools recorded ‘picturesque’
India for these new patrons. The popular subject themes were
portraits, landscapes, monuments, flora, fauna and scenes
of everyday life. With the emergence of photography in the
19th century, which facilitated effective documentation of
India by the English themselves, the Company School received
a setback.
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| Raga Bhaskar in Kangra School |
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| Indian Miniature Paintings
of Shiva |
| The illustrated manuscripts or miniatures
from the western and eastern India marked their appearance in
the 11th century AD and employed symbolic use of colors. These
manuscripts were made of palm leaf folios. The use of long narrow
palm leaf was gradually replaced by the introduction of paper
in the 14th century.
In the early 16th century, Chaurapanchasika group
notable for its flatness, bold lines, colors, and vigorous
rhythms emerged. The Chaurapanchasika group consists
of Chaurapanchasika series itself (A Sanskrit Love
Poem called Fifty Verses of a Love Thief), the Gita Govinda
(Sanskrit devotional poem of Jayadeva celebrating Krishna
amorous exploits), Chandayana(poem on the romance of
the lovers Laurak and Chanda, composed in East India in 14th
century) and Bhagavata Purana.
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| Miniature of Veena with Gold
Work |
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The late 16th and early 17th centuries saw the rise of the
Rajput paintings in the region of Rajasthan and the Hill States
of Punjab. Mewar, Bundi-Kota Kalam, Jaipur, Bikaner, Kishangarh,
Basholi, Bilaspur, Chamba, Guler, Mandi and Kangra were main
centers of this school. Hills, valleys, palaces, forts, gardens,
court scenes, religious processions and the scenes from the
life of Lord Krishna, Shiva and Durga were the popular themes
of the paintings. Many of these were also based on Ragas
or musical codes of Indian classical music. The artists personified
different Ragas in pictorial images conveying a specific
mood and sentiment and a new category of miniature paintings
- the Ragamala - emerged. Ragmalas, Rasikpriya,
Amarusataka, Bhagavata Purana, and Ramayana are few of
the significant works from this school.
Meanwhile in 16th century Deccan India, indigenous style
showed fusion with Persian and Turkish painting traditions.
The consequential Deccan style grew and flourished in Ahmadnagar,
Bijapur, Golconda, and Aurangabad. Some of the notable works
from this school are Tarif-I Husayan Shahi Manuscript,
Ragamala, Nujum al-Ulam, Portarits of Sultan Ibrahim Adil
Shah II and Kulliyat from Golconda.
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| Miniature Painting of Peacock |
The Kashmir school of miniature resurged in the l9th century
and found expression in the Sharada manuscripts, horoscopes,
folk-art works like the krula pacch, nechipatra (almanac)
etc besides individual paintings.
Due to the changed political equations in the late 19th and
20th centuries, the miniature artists lost out the courtly patronage
and struggled to make their ends meet. Nevertheless many artists
continued with their ancestral occupation due to their innate
passion for the art. However today, absence of support structure
and their own personal needs have compelled many of the talented
artists to embrace other lucrative professions.
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