Classification of Indian Paintings

  Classification of Indian Paintings

• Indian Paintings have been broadly classified into two.
• Mural Paintings
• Miniature Paintings

Mural Paintings

• The work on the walls or a solid structure are referred to as Murals.
• These have existed in India since ancient times and can be dated between 10th century BC and 10th century AD.
• The evidence of such paintings can be found at several locations in India.
• The beauty and the exquisiteness of mural paintings can be seen in places like Ajanta, Armamalai Cave, Ravan Chhaya Rock Shelter, Bagh Caves, Sittanavasal Caves and Kailash Temple in Ellora.
• Most of the mural paintings are either in natural caves or in rock cut chambers.
• The paintings follow a theme, the most common being Hindu, Buddhist and Jain.
• Mural paintings were also made to adorn any mundane premise. For e.g. Ancient theatre room in Jogimara Caves.

Ajanta Cave Paintings

• One of the oldest surviving murals of Indian sub-continent, Ajanta caves were carved between 2nd century BC to 5th century AD out of volcanic rocks.
• It consists of a set of 29 caves, carved in a horse-shoe shape.
• These Buddhist caves are quite popular for their exquisite mural paintings.
• Murals in Cave no. 9 and 10 belong to the Shunga period, while the rest belong to the Gupta period.
• The paintings in Cave no. 1 and 2 are the most recent of the caves in Ajanta.
• The walls of the caves have both murals and fresco paintings (painted on wet plaster).
• They use tempera style, i.e. use of pigments.
• The paintings portray human values and social fabric along with styles, costumes and ornaments of that period.
• The emotions are expressed through hand gestures.
• The unique feature of the paintings is that each female figure has a unique hairstyle.
• Animals and birds are shown with emotions.
• The common themes of these paintings range from Jataka stories to life of Buddha to elaborate decorative patterns of flora and fauna.
• The medium of painting was vegetable and mineral dyes.
• The outline of the figures is in red ochre, with contours of brown, black or deep red.
• Some important paintings at Ajanta includes
• Scenes from the Jataka stories of the Buddha’s former lives as Bodhisattva, the life of Gautam Buddha, etc.
• Paintings of various Bodhisattvas in tribhanga pose in Cave No. 1: Vajrapani (protector and guide, a symbol of Buddha’s power), Manjusri (manifestation of Buddha’s wisdom) and Padmapani (Avalokitesvara) (symbol of Buddha’s compassion).

Ellora Cave Paintings

• The mural paintings at Ellora caves are found in five caves, mostly limited to Cave No. 16, i.e., Kailasha Temple.
• These murals were done in two phases.
• The first phase paintings were done during the carving of the caves.
• While the second phase ones were done several centuries later.
• The earlier paintings show Vishnu with his consort Lakshmi borne through the clouds by Garuda, the celestial bird.
• The later paintings, made in Gujarati style, depict a procession of Shaiva holy men.
• The paintings are related to all three religions (Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism).
• Ellora Cave paintings are newer as compared to Ajanta Cave paintings.

Bagh Cave Paintings

• Representing an extension to the Ajanta school, Bagh caves in Madhya Pradesh with their exquisite work rank quite close to the actual Ajanta caves in terms of their design, execution and decoration.
• The main difference is that the figures are more tightly modeled, have stronger outlines, and are more earthly and human.
• Cave No. 4, known as Rang Mahal, has beautiful murals on the walls depicting Buddhist Jataka tales, just like those in Ajanta.
• Although scanty and decayed now, these paintings depict religious themes in the light of contemporary lifestyle of people, thus are more secular in nature.

Armamalai Cave Paintings

• Situated in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu.
• These natural caves were converted into Jain temples in the 8th century.
• Unbaked mud structures are located within the cave, which acted like the place of rest for Jain saints.
• The beautiful colourful paintings on the walls and roof depict the tales of Astathik Palakas (deities protecting eight corners) and Jainism.

Sittanavasal Cave (Arivar Koil) Paintings

• Dated from 1st century BC to 10th century AD, and located in Tamil Nadu, these famous rock-cut cave temples are known for the paintings based on Jainism.
• These murals have close resemblance to Bagh and Ajanta paintings.
• The paintings are not only on the walls but also on the ceiling and pillars.
• The paintings are with the theme of Jain Samavasarana (Preaching hall).
• The medium used for painting was vegetable and mineral dyes, and was done by putting colours on the surface of thin wet lime plaster.
• The common colours included yellow, green, orange, blue, black and white.
• The central element of the paintings in Sittanavasal is a pond with lotuses.
• Samavasarana - an important scene of Jain religion.
• samavasarana is a special, beautiful audience hall where Tirthankaras delivered sermons after they reached realisation (kevala-jnana).

Ravan Chhaya Rock Shelter

• Located in the Keonjhar district of Odisha
• These ancient fresco paintings on a rock shelter are in the shape of a half-opened umbrella.
• It is believed that this shelter acted like the royal hunting lodge.
• The most noticeable painting is that of a royal procession that dates back to the 7^th century AD.

Lepakshi Temple Paintings

• Located in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.
• These mural paintings were executed on Veerabhadra temple walls at Lepakshi in 16^th century
• Made during the Vijayanagara period, they follow a religious theme based on Ramayana, Mahabharata and incarnations of Vishnu.
• The paintings show a complete absence of primary colours, especially blue.
• They depict a decline in painting in terms of quality.
• The forms, figures and details of their costumes are outlined with black colour.

Jogimara Cave Paintings

• It is an artificially carved out cave located in Surguja district of Chhattisgarh.
• It is dated back around 1000-300 BC and has few paintings and inscriptions of a love story in Brahmi script.
• The cave is said to be an attachment to the amphitheatre and the paintings were made to decorate the room.
• Paintings are of dancing couples, of animals like elephants and fish.
• The paintings have a distinct red outline.
• Other colours like white, yellow and black were also used.
• Rock-cut theatre of Sita Benga is also located nearby.

Badami Cave Temples, Karnataka

• They are one of the earliest surviving Hindu paintings.
• The murals belonging to 6th-7th century AD are of different subjects and resemble the tradition of Ajanta and Bagh.

Miniature Paintings in India

• The word ‘miniature’ is derived from the Latin word ‘Minium’, which means red lead paint.
• This paint was often used in the illuminated manuscripts during the Renaissance period.
• It is generally confused with the word minimum, which would mean that they were small in size.
• Miniatures are small and detailed paintings.

Technique of Miniature Painting

• There are several preconditions that are necessary to be fulfilled for making a Miniature painting.
• The painting should not be larger than 25 square inch.
• The subject of the painting would be painted in not more than one-sixth of the actual size.
• In most of the Indian miniature paintings
• The human figurine is seen with the side profile.
• They usually have bulging eyes, pointed nose and slim waist.
• In the Rajasthani miniatures, the skin colour of the characters is brown, while in the Mughal paintings they are generally fairer.
• The colour of divine beings like Lord Krishna is blue.
• The women figurines have long hair and the colour of their eyes and hair are generally black.
• Men wear traditional clothes and have a turban on their head.

Early Miniatures

• Miniature paintings were small paintings with minute details.
• Developed almost as a reaction to the enormous wall paintings.
• The art of miniature painting developed between the 8th and 12th centuries.
• This kind of painting can be attributed to the eastern and western regions.
• There are two prominent schools
• Pala School of Art.
• Apabhramsa School of Art.

Pala School of Art

• This school was flourishing during 750-1150 AD.
• These paintings are generally found as a part of manuscripts and were generally executed on palm leaf or vellum paper.
• The Buddhist monks mostly used them and as their religion practiced non-violence against all living beings, there was a stipulation to only banana or coconut tree leaves.
• These paintings are characterised by sinuous lines and subdued tones of the background imagery.
• There are lonely single figures in the paintings and one rarely finds group paintings.
• They have simple compositions and were patronised by some of those rulers who promoted Buddhism.
• The proponents of the Vajrayana School of Buddhism also used and patronised these paintings.
• The prominent painters were Dhimman and Vitapala.

Apabhramsa School of Art

• This school traces its origin to Gujarat and Mewar region in Rajasthan.
• It was the predominant school of painting in Western India during 11th to 15^th century.
• The most common themes of these paintings were Jain.
• In the later period the Vaishnava School appropriated them.
• They brought in the concept of Gita Govinda and secular love into these paintings that were otherwise dominated by the Jain iconography.
• In the early Jain phase, the paintings were made on Palm leaf but in the later period they were made on paper.
• Even though the paintings were made as illustrations for books, they did not develop a different style but were mural paintings in a reduced dimension.
• The colours used in the paintings had symbolic meaning and they usually used red, yellow and ochre.
• In the later phase, they used bright and gold colours.
• The features of the human figures depicted in the paintings have fishshaped bulging eyes, a pointed nose and a double chin
• They tried to begin the trend to make angular faces in the third and fourth profile.
• The figures are usually stiff and even the ornamentation is carefully done.
• The female figurines have enlarged hips and breasts.
• The animal and bird figurines in the paintings are represented as toys.
• The most famous example is of Kalpasutra and the Kalakacharya Katha from the 15^th century.

Transition Period Miniature

• The colours were applied in a flat manner and the dress and human outlines are demarcated in black.
• The view of the face forms a three quarter angle and gives a detached appearance.
• The landscapes are full of trees, rocks and other designs that do not try to replicate the natural appearance of the subject.

Miniature Art during Delhi Sultanate

• These paintings tried to bring together the persian elements of their origins with the Indian traditional elements.
• They gave preference to illustrated manuscripts.
• This manuscript shows the synthesis of the indigenous and Persian styles.
• Apart from this, another style called Lodi Khuladar was also prevalent during this period that was followed in many of the Sultanate dominated regions between Delhi and Jaunpur
• Later, three major styles emerged that dominated the medieval landscape - Mughal, Rajput and Deccan.
• They borrowed from the sultanate precedents but developed their own individuality.

Mughal Era Miniature Painting

• The paintings made in the Mughal period had a distinctive style as they were drawings from Persian antecedents.
• There was a change in colour palette, themes and forms.
• The focus shifted from depicting the god to glorifying the ruler and showing his life.
• They focused on hunting scenes, historical events and other court related paintings.
• The Mughal paintings brought together Persian naturalistic style.
• These paintings were considered unique because of the use of brilliant colours.

Babur

• He patronised Persian artist Bihzad who made illustrations of Mughal family tree.

Akbar

• He was very fond of paintings and he dedicated an entire department for paintings called Tasvir Khana .
• Most illustrated work is Tutinama, which is the tale of a parrot.
• Other famous works are Hamzanama, Anvar -i- suhaili etc.
• From here Indian influence started in painting because he saw painting as a means of study and amusement.
• Theme – Fairs and festivals, 3D printing, use of foresight techniques.

Jahangir

• The Mughal paintings reached zenith.
• He was a naturalist by nature and preferred natural paintings of flora and fauna i.e. birds, animals, trees and flowers.
• He was fond of paintings and even dedicated a private workshop for him to practice paintings.
• He made naturalistic paintings on Zebra, Turkey and Cock.

Shah Jahan

• He introduced artificial elements (reduced liveliness) in his paintings.
• He started using gold and silver in paintings and encouraged artists to use pencil and charcoal.
• European influence also started in painting.

Aurangazeb

• The Mughal school of painting gradually declined during the Aurangzeb period.
• The artist migrated to other places primarily to the south which gave rise to Deccani school of painting.

Mughal Painting

Tanjote Painting

Patachitra Painting

Regional Schools of Painting

• Even though the medieval period was dominated by the Mughal style of painting, the sub-imperial schools developed a space for them by developing their own styles.
• They remembered their Indian roots and a penchant for colourful paintings as opposed to the more naturalistic Mughal style.
• The different schools and styles that developed in this period were:
• Rajasthani School of Painting
• Pahari School of Painting.

Rajasthani School of Painting

• The Rajasthani School of painting is more or less synonymous to the Rajput school of paintings as they were the dominant ruling class in this period and patronised most of the artists
• There are several sub- genres of Rajasthani paintings which correspond to their princely State of origin. It includes
• Mewar School of Painting
• Amber-Jaipur School of Painting
• Marwar School of Painting

Mewar School of Painting

• It was dominated by the extraordinary painter of the 17th century, Sahibdin.
• This period of Mewar painting focuses on Sahibdin’s depiction of literary texts – the Ragamala, the Ramayana and the Bhagavata Purana.
• After Sahibdin’s death, the style of Mewari paintings changed.
• Most of the paintings depicted life at court in Mewar.
• The unique point of this period is the extraordinary ‘tamasha’ paintings that show court ceremonial and city views in unprecedented detail.

Amber-Jaipur School of Painting

• The Amber school is also called the ‘Dhundar’ school and their earliest evidence comes from the wall paintings at Bairat in Rajasthan.
• Some paintings can also be seen from the palace walls and mausoleum of Amer Palace in Rajasthan.
• The overall finish of the paintings is folkstyle.
• This school reached its pinnacle in the period of Sawai Pratap Singh in the 18th century.
• He was a deeply religious man and a passionate patron of art.
• These two strains combined to ensure that his suratkhana or the department of painting made miniatures to illustrate Bhagavata Purana, Ramayana, Ragamala and several portraits.

Marwar School of Painting

• It is one of the most extensive schools of painting as it includes Jodhpur and Bikaner, both ruled by the Rathods and Jaisalmer that was ruled by the Bhatis.
• In the paintings produced in the 15th and 16th century, the men wore colourful clothing and so did the women.
• In this period, they followed the Mughal patterns but after the 18th century, the Rajput element became predominant. For example, there was an influx of paintings that contained linear rhythm coupled with bright colours.
• The Jodhpur atelier has many brilliant paintings but the focus has always been on the extraordinary paintings in the time of Man Singh (1803-1843).
• Afterwards he commissioned an extensive series of paintings including the Shiva Purana, Natacharitra, Durgacharitra, Panchtantra, etc.
• Kishangarh School and Bundi School are the prominent schools that come under Marwar school.

Kishangarh School

• Paintings at Kishangarh are associated with the most romantic legends – Sawant Singh and his beloved Bani Thani, and intertwining of lives and myths, romance and bhakti.
• After surveying earlier developments in Kishangarh, the focus is on the interplay between Sawant Singh (the prince and lover), Nagari Das (the poet), and Nihal Chand (the painter) who created some of the most legendary paintings under this school.
• It is sometimes argued that the women in ‘bani thani’ are said to resemble the character of Radha.
• She has a distinctive profile and has lotus-like elongated eyes, thin lips and a pointed chin. Her ‘odhni’ or headgear defines her side profile.
• This became the unique painting associated with the Kishangarh School.
• They also made many paintings on the devotional and amorous relations between Radha and Krishna.

Bundi School of Painting (17th–19th Century AD)

• The twin kingdoms of Bundi and Kota are collectively known as Hadoti.
• Bundi and Kota’s kings were devotees of Krishna.
• In the 18th century, they declared themselves to be mere regents, ruling on behalf of the god who was the true king.
• Their Krishna-bhakti plays a role in painting or perhaps painting plays a role in their Krishna bhakti.
• In Bundi school, paintings of local vegetation were in detail.
• Human faces were round with pointed noses.
• Colour of the sky is painted in different colours and mostly a red ribbon is visible in the sky.

Rajput Style VS Mughal Style

Points of Difference	Rajput Style	Mughal Style
Type	Initially   based on mural and fresco forms. In the later   period, the miniature painting form became dominant	It is based   on the Persian miniature painting style.
Peculiarity	It uses   Hindu symbols like the lotus, peacock and swan very frequently.	They focus   either on the person in the picture or on trees, camels and falcons
Time Period	The   17th-18th century was the major period.	16th-18th   century.

Pahari School of Painting (17th-19th century)

• This style of painting developed in the sub-himalayan states also under the umbrella of Mughal influence.
• There were many schools that were flourishing in smaller Rajput kingdoms, which came under the blanket of ‘Pahari Paintings’.
• These consisted of ateliers in the court of around 22 princely states stretching from Jammu to Almora.
• The Pahari paintings can be grouped into two major groups:
• Basohli School
• Kangra School
• The themes of the paintings ranged from mythology to literature and brought new techniques to the fore.
• A typical Pahari painting would bring several figures into the canvas and they would all be full of movement.
• Each figure is different in composition, colour and pigmentation.
• Three of the greatest painters of this school were Nainsukh, Manaku and Sansar Chand

Basohli School (from 17th century)

• Paintings of Pahari school in the 17th century were from Basohli of Jammu and Kashmir.
• They were Miniature Paintings.
• This was the early phase and expressive faces with a receding hairline and big eyes that are shaped like lotus petals characterised it.
• These paintings use a lot of primary colours, i.e. red, yellow and green.
• They used the Mughal technique of painting on clothing but developed their own styles and techniques.
• The first patron of this school was Raja Kirpal Pal who ordered the illustration of Bhanudatta’s Rasamanjari, Gita Govinda and the Ramayana drawings.
• The most famous painter of this school was Devi Das who was famous for his depiction of Radha Krishna and the portrait of kings in their livery and in white garments.
• The use of contrasting colours is associated with this school and they are borrowed from the Malwa paintings.

Kangra School (from mid-18th century)

• After the decline of the Mughal empire, many artists trained in the Mughal style migrated to the Kangra region of Himachal Pradesh as they got patronage from the Rajput Kingdom.
• It led to the birth of Guler-Kangra School of paintings.
• It first evolved in Guler then came to Kangra.
• This school reached its zenith under the patronage of Raja Sansar Chand.
• His paintings were marked with a sensuality and intelligence that the other schools lack.
• The popular subjects were the Gita Govinda, Bhagavata Purana, Satsai of Biharilal and Nal Damayanti.
• Love scenes of Krishna were a very prominent theme.
• This emotive style was popular till the 19th century.
• The Kangra school became the parent school to the other ateliers which developed in the region of Kullu, Chamba and Mandi.

Ragamala Paintings

• A series of illustrative paintings from Medieval India based on Ragamala or the ‘Garland of Ragas’, depicting various Indian Musical Ragas.
• They stand as a classical example of the amalgamation of art, poetry and classical music in medieval India.
• Ragamala paintings were created in most Indian schools of painting, starting in the 16^th and 17th centuries and are today named accordingly, as Pahari Ragamala, Rajasthan or Rajput Ragamala, Deccan Ragamala, and Mughal Ragamala.
• The six principal ragas present in the Ragamala are Bhairava, Deepak, Sri, Malkaush, Megha and Hindola.
• In these paintings, each raga is personified by a colour describing the story of a hero and heroine (nayaka and nayika) in a particular mood
• It also elucidates the season and the time of day and night in which a particular raga is to be sung.

Miniature Paintings in South India

• The trend of making miniature paintings was already prevalent in South India and it developed in the early medieval period.
• These were different from the North Indian schools owing to the heavy use of gold in South Indian paintings.
• They concentrated on painting divine creatures much more than painting the rulers who patronised them
• The major schools are:
• Tanjore Paintings (famous for gold coating)
• Mysore Painting

Tanjore Paintings

• The Thanjavur or Tanjore School is famous for the special style of decorative paintings.
• These paintings are unique as they are mostly created on glass and wooden planks (Palagai padam) instead of cloth and vellum as preferred in North India.
• They are unique because of the use of brilliant colour patterns and the liberal use of gold leaf.
• It has been recognised as Geographical Indication (GI) by the Government of India.
• They used many types of gemstones and cut glasses for embellishments to create larger than life images
• Most of the paintings depict smiling Krishna in various poses and various major events in his life.
• These paintings reached their zenith under the patronage of Maharaja Serfoji II of Maratha dynasty who was a great patron of art.
• Currently, this school is still operational but they have moved towards experimenting with diverse subjects like birds, animals, buildings, etc.

Mysore Paintings

• These paintings were patronised by the rulers of the Mysore province and continued in the British period too.
• The major theme of the Mysore paintings is the depiction of Hindu gods and goddesses.
• The unique part of these paintings is that they had two or more figures in each painting and one figure predominates all the others in size and colour.
• The technique of making these paintings is very different from the North Indian styles.
• They use the ‘gesso paste’, which is a mixture of white lead powder, gambose and glue.
• This gives a particular base to the painting that develops sheen in the background.
• They counter it with the use of muted colours that are not so bright so as to counteract the background.
• Both Tanjore and Mysore paintings have originated from the same source - Vijayanagara paintings to begin with and their Nayaka paintings subsequently.