Indian Art History –Manuscript
Paintings (Mewari -Rajasthani)
• Began as mural art in the palaces at Jaipur and Udaipur
• Mentions in Naradapancharatra,ascribed to 16th c. of
Siva’s palace in Kailasa decorated with pictures of
Krishnalila, actually indicated the presence of beautiful
paintings at lovely palaces
• So Rajastani painting is a continuous tradition
• Rajput rulers from delhi mahoba ajmeer driven by
mahammadens took resort at relatively hilly areas
unimpressive to the enemies
• They were strong conservative rulers, hated anything
foreign
Themes
• Rasalila , love of radha and krishna
• Hindu spirit of religious fervor best seen in this
theme
• birds animals and men in tune with each other
• Lovers in separation and union : nala Damayanti,
triumph of Chandi or Durga.
• Musical modes the main and subsidiary ragas
and raginis – personified in picturesque fashion
• Appealing to peasant and nobility alike
Illustration of Ragini Madhu Madhavi, Bundi
Nayikabhed
• Proshitabhartruka – longing of the separated
wife
• Khandita – the pride of the wronged wife
• Vasakasajja – eager and expectant wife
• Abhisarika – the damsel hurrying to the palace
of tryst
• Mugdha –shy and coy bride
Ragamala , Basholi
Baramasa scenes
• Magnificant representations of rains and
spring
• Dark clouds
• Bright gardens and woods
• Bloom of flowers
Various schools
• Mewar
• Bundi
• Bikaner
• Jodhpur
• Kishangarh school -Peculiarly long and
mango-shaped oblique like radha and krishna
• Close affinities to central Indian Mandu (malwa)
school that owes much to Jain school of Gujarat
Mewar
• Early untained phase of rajastani mode
• Pointed nose
• Large eyes
• Angular features of figures
• General arrangements of browns and reds
• Wavy skyline
• All recall influence of Gujarat manuscripts
• For early rajastani school, the chaurapanchasika
from N C Mehta collection is excellent example
Mughal Vs Rajastani
Mughal Rajasthani
• Aristocratic • More in tune with throbing life around
• Individualistic • Simple and direct appeal to the peasant
and common folk
• Strong portraiture
• Deeply religious and mystic
• Fostered only by royalty as they • True interpreters of phases of nature
were reflections of their personal and emotions of man
glory and vanity • Show least traces of foreign admixture
• Betrays its foreign admixtures by a • Developed the Indian traditions
sinking of indegenous and persian untained
styles – a school with Indian flavour • Rarely artist individualised himself
with a Persian bias inscribing his name
• Specified aristocracy, peeped into • Themes survived – glory of depiction
the inner revelry of the harem,
magnificance of court, elephant
and camel fights appealing to the
emperor,
Rajastani Painting
The schools of miniature painting
flourished between 17th and 19th
centuries in various principalities of
Rajastan
• Provinces in the western Indian region
• Inherited diverse traditions
• Rich range of expression
• Mevar, Bundi, Kota, Jaipur, Bikaner
• Artists known as Chiteras
• Illustrated manuscripts exchanged as marriage
gifts between different principalities
• Formed precious items of dowry
• A fusion of styles
• Rajputs belonged to warrior class
• Descend of Rama
• Heroism immortalised by bards
• mass self-immolation by women to avoid
enemys humiliation – was held sacred
• Divided by internal conflicts Raputs failed to
stem unhindered inflow of Islamic conquerors
• Rajputs were shattered by Babur in 1527
• Raja Bhar Mall, head of Amber ( later Jaipur)
who set the precedent of matrimonial alliance
with the Mughals
• Akbar married his daughter
• Many Raput chiefs joined the impireal elite as
high ranking officials
• They faught loyally in the Mughal campigns in
Bengal, Deccan and Afghanistan
• During their long stay at the Mughal court,
they learnt the fineries and costumes
• Rajput patrons often patronised the artists
who left Mughal studio
• What was growing antithetical to the
emergent Mughal naturalistic diction became
a contributing factor in Rajastani tradition
• Investigating the natural world never became
the sole purpose of Rajastani painters
• Discarding vividness and immediate effect,
they reverted to earlier western Indian types
• Each school worked up different facial type,
invariably profile
• Vibrant primary colours for traditional
Rajastani costumesand elaborate headgear
made of dyed or woven fabrics
• Strong link between aristocratic and folk art of
Rajastan
• Re configuration of Mughalised iconography
for portrait was delightfully sensuous but
quintessentially non-naturalistic
• Painted scrolls used by Picture showmen
represent vital folk tradition, presented
alongside the court tradition
• Rajput palaces adorned by paintings on the
walls, often themes and composition
replicated from miniatures
• Both religious and secular literary sources
• Mahabharata
• Ramayana
• Bhagavata Purana (proected cult of Vaishnavism)
• Devi Mahathmya
• Shringara lore Medieval Hindi Lit
• Nayaka- Nayika bheda
• Barahmasa (changes in seasons) & Ragamala
(musical nodes)
• Ragamala (earliest dated is Chavand Ragamala –
1605 by Nisardin Nasaruddin Chitara in Mevari style)
• Popular Love ballads – Dholamaru, Sohni Mahivala,
Nala Damayanti
• Differences between Mughal and Rajput
painterly approaches , critically summed up by
Ananda Coomaraswamy
• A passage from Coomaraswamys chapter on
Shringara from his 1916 book on Rajput
Painting
Udaipur
The schools of miniature painting
flourished between 17th and 19th
centuries in various principalities of
Rajastan
Kota
The schools of miniature painting
flourished between 17th and 19th
centuries in various principalities of
Rajastan
Bundi
The schools of miniature painting
flourished between 17th and 19th
centuries in various principalities of
Rajastan
Kishangarh
The schools of miniature painting
flourished between 17th and 19th
centuries in various principalities of
Rajastan
Jaipur
The schools of miniature painting
flourished between 17th and 19th
centuries in various principalities of
Rajastan
Jodhpur - Marvar
The schools of miniature painting
flourished between 17th and 19th
centuries in various principalities of
Rajastan
Bikaner
The schools of miniature painting
flourished between 17th and 19th
centuries in various principalities of
Rajastan
Malva
The schools of miniature painting
flourished between 17th and 19th
centuries in various principalities of
Rajastan
