Indian painting is a form of Indian art.

Prelude

The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of pre-historic times, the petroglyphs as found in places like Bhimbetka, and some of them are older than 5500 BC. Such works continued and after several millennia, in the 7th century, carved pillars of Ellora, Maharashtra state present a fine example of Indian paintings, and the colors, mostly various shades of red and orange, were derived from minerals. Thereafter, frescoes of Ajanta and Ellora caves appeared. India’s Buddhist literature is replete with examples of texts which describe that palaces of kings and aristocratic class were embellished with paintings, but they have not survived. But, it is believed that some form of art painting was practiced in that time.

Tanjore Painting

Tanjore Painting is an important form of classical South Indian painting native to the town of Tanjore in Tamil Nadu. The art form dates back to the early 9th Century, a period dominated by the Chola rulers, who encouraged art and literature. These paintings are known for their elegance, rich colours, and attention to detail. The themes for most of these paintings are Hindu Gods and Goddesses and scenes from Hindu mythology. In modern times, these paintings have become a much sought after souvenir during festive occasions in South India.

The process of making a Tanjore painting involves many stages. The first stage involves the making of the preliminary sketch of the image on the base. The base consists of a cloth pasted over a wooden base. Then chalk powder or zinc oxide is mixed with water-soluble adhesive and applied on the base. To make the base smoother, a mild abrasive is sometimes used. After the drawing is made, decoration of the jewellery and the apparels in the image is done with semi-precious stones. Laces or threads are also used to decorate the jewellery. On top of this, the gold foils are pasted. Finally, dyes are used to add colors to the figures in the paintings.

Rajput painting

Rajput painting, a style of Indian painting, evolved and flourished, during the 18th century, in the royal courts of Rajputana, India. Each Rajput kingdom evolved a distinct style, but with certain common features. Rajput paintings depict a number of themes, events of epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, Krishna’s life, beautiful landscapes, and humans. Miniatures were the preferred medium of Rajput painting, but several manuscripts also contain Rajput paintings, and paintings were even done on the walls of palaces, inner chambers of the forts, havelies, particularly, the havelis of Shekhawait.

The colours extracted from certain minerals, plant sources, conch shells, and were even derived by processing precious stones, gold and silver were used. The preparation of desired colours was a lengthy process, sometimes taking weeks. Brushes used were very fine.

Schools

Over a period of around 300 years, beginning from the 16th century, different schools of Rajput painting emerged, and notable among them are Mewar School, Bundi-Kota kalam, Jaipur school, Bikaner school, Kishengarh school, Marwar school, and Raagamala style of painting.

Decline

With the advent of the Europeans, and gradual colonization of India, decline set into the the Mughal as well as the Rajput courts, and the royal patronage to artists waned. Another factor contributing to the decline was the rising influence and awareness of the European art forms and the changing tastes, for example, oil paintings on canvass appeared in India.

With the shifting of the power center, and the same shifting to the British officers of the East India Company, a number of traditional families of painters, particularly in the North and the East India, moved to the proximity of the Company, and these artists trained in the tradition of the Mughal and Rajput courts, commenced depicting Indian scenes and themes, which were exotic to the British. This gave rise to a new style of Indian painting, and by the middle of the 19th century a distinct style of Indian painting, known as the Company School painting (deriving its name from the East India Company) has evolved and emerged.

Mughal painting

Mughal painting is a particular style of Indian painting, generally confined to illustrations on the book and done in miniatures, and which emerged, developed and took shape during the period of the Mughal Empire 16th -19th centuries).

Genesis

The tradition associated with Mughal painting state that when the second Mughal emperor, Humayun (reigned 1530-1540 and 1555-1556) was in Tabriz in the Safavid court of Shah Tahmasp II, he was exposed to Persian painting. When Humayun returned to India, he is believed to have brought with him two artists well accomplished in the Persian style of painting. Their works, and during succeeding decades, assimilation of local styles gave shape to a distinct style, which became known as Mughal painting. Tutinama (literal meaning “Tales of a Parrot” is considered the first credible example of Mughal painting.

Themes

Mughal painting was rich in variety which included portraits, events and scenes from the court life, wild life and hunting scenes, and illustrations of battle fronts. The Victoria and Albert Museums in London have a large and remarkable collection of Mughal paintings.

Madhubani painting

Madhubani painting is a style of Indian painting, practiced in the Mithila region of Bihar state, India.

Origins

The origins of Madhubani painting are shrouded in antiquity, and a tradition states that this style of painting originated at the time of the Ramayana, when King Janak commissioned artists to do paintings at the time of marriage of his daughter, Sita, with Hindu god Lord Ram.

Madhubani painting has been done traditionally by the women of villages around the present town of Madhubani, the literal meaning of which is: forests of honey, and other areas of Mithila. The painting was traditionally done on freshly plastered mud wall of huts, but now it is also done on cloth, paper and canvass.

Style

As the Madhubani style of painting has remained confined in a compact geographical area, and the skills have been passed on from one generation to the next, the content and the style of Madhubani painting has largely remained the same over centuries. Madhubani painting also uses three dimensional imageries, and the colors used are derived from plants.

Madhubani paintings mostly depict nature and mythological events, and the themes generally revolve around Hindu deities like Krishna, Ram, Shiva, Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. Natural objects like the sun, the moon, and the religious plants like tulsi are also widely painted, along side scenes from the royal courts and social events like weddings. Generally no empty space is left, and the gaps are filled by paintings of flowers, animals, birds, and even geometric designs.

Traditionally Painting was one of the skills that was passed down from generation to generation in the families of Mithila Region. The painting was traditionally done by women. The painting was traditionally done on walls during the festivals, religious events or any other special events of the life-cycle such as birth, Upnayan (Sacred thread ceremnony), marriage, etc.

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