By S. Rupsha Mitra: South Asia Correspondent
India’s vibrant, and profuse artistic history is one of the most ancient throughout the world. Natives of the Indian subcontinent have been producing artwork for 12,000 years, from the Indus Valley’s cave artistry to the famously intricate miniature paintings of the Mughal Empire. While each period of Indian art history has its unique style and tone, there are repetitive themes that have structured Indian arts and culture.
Each region of India offers its own distinct style of art. Religious motifs are some of the most common subject matters, often featuring mythological human and animal forms as well as elaborate ornamentation and flowerets. Some of the most prevalent art forms of India are myriad forms of paintings.
Each style of painting that emerged in India represented traditions, customs, and ideologies passed down from one generation to the other. Though early paintings existed on walls or as murals, the art form was eventually transferred to more modern materials such as paper, canvas, cloth, and other mediums. Paintings are various kinds in India, especially some forms of paintings include Madhubani paintings, the style which originated in the Mithila region of Bihar as a form of wall art, but became known to the Western world when British civil servant and art historian W.G. Archer stumbled upon their brilliance in 1934 while inspecting damage from an earthquake near the border of India and Nepal.
The Madhubani style is represented by a simple and evocative portrayal of culture and tradition, typically portraying mythological scenes. Artists juxtapose vibrant imagery with pared-down patterns, often bearing floral, animal, or bird motifs. The art form is practiced in many different styles including Bharni, Katchni, Geru, Godna, and Tantric.
A FRESH OUTLOOK
Another form of painting is Miniature Paintings which are small works created mostly as illustrations for manuscripts initially found on palm leaves, painted for merchants who carried them throughout their travels across the subcontinent in the 10th and 12th centuries.
The art form became increasingly important throughout the Mughal and Rajput courts. Miniature paintings were highly detailed and intricate, drawing from different Persian techniques. Themes ranged from religious and historical scenes to depictions of daily life.
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Yet another early form of painting, called Patachitra paintings date back to the 12th century B.C. near Orissa, an eastern Indian state on the Bay of Bengal. The small villages within the area still produce this style of painting today. Patachitra literally translates to “cloth picture,” aptly describing this traditional, cloth-based type of scroll painting. Known for its intricate details and mythological narratives, the paintings call upon angular, bold lines and draw extensively from Mughal-era influences.
Warli painting is another interesting form of painting. This form of tribal art belongs to one of the major tribes, the Warlis, in Maharashtra. It has been practiced for over 2500 years. It mostly depicts the daily activities of the local people such as farming, dancing, praying, hunting, sowing, etc., and the elements of nature. These paintings focus on showing social and daily life. They are closely connected to nature rather than showing mythological characters and deities.
“true art takes note, not merely of form, but also of what lies behind
Mahatma Gandhi.
Worked by the pen…
A fascinating painting style from India is Kalamkari which is often used today in modern fashion as well. Derived from the words “Kalam” meaning pen and “Kari” meaning craftsmanship, the Kalamkari art form is practiced by many families and people in Andhra Pradesh and some villages in Tamil Nadu. Kalamkari usually depicts scenes from epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata, musical instruments, animals, Buddha and Buddhist art, flowers, and Hindu symbols like swastika. Kalamkari is an organic hand-printing or block-printing Indian folk art form which has been practiced for over 3000 years. The painting is done using a Kalam or a bamboo reed on fabric and natural and earthy colors and vegetable dyes are used like indigo, green, rust, black, and mustard. It is generally done on cotton fabric and it involves a twenty-three steps process. The Kalamkari art form is widely used on sarees and ethnic wear and is very popular.
Continued below…
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A painting from Tanjore popularly known as Thanjavur painting is an ancient Indian folk art form that originated in the town of Thanjavur in South India. It is a traditional South Indian painting style and it dates back to 1600 AD. These paintings are known for their use of gold foil which gives the painting a surreal look, the colorful panel painting done on a wood plank and a deity being the main theme of the painting, their use of semi-precious stones and vibrant colors. The main themes of the Tanjore paintings are Hindu deities, saints, scenes from Hindu Puranas, Sthala-Puranas and mythological, etc.
These are panel paintings done on a wooden plank which is why they are also known as “palagai Padam” meaning “picture on a wooden plank”.
An amazing fact about Tanjore paintings is that the shine of the gold leaves which are used in these paintings last forever. Tanjore paintings are extremely beautiful and graceful.
In modern times, paintings of India have greater relevance in the form of paintings on shirts and other forms of fashionable cloths. They have become an epitome of style.
Some important modern paintings include Sudip Roy’s “Charulata Series”, Rabindranath Tagore’s “Self portrait”, Abanindranath Tagore’s Bharat Mata.
Fusions in paintings and relevance of paintings in modern world to keep at par with contemporary times have been brought about by artists like Avinash Karn, who is a Madubani artist and Kalam Patua, a self taught Kalighat Painting artist.
Photo Credits: Insert Row: The British Library, Skyshot: Shubham Kumar Top Painting: McGill Library, Peackcok Cover: Ayush Tiwari
S. Rupsha Mitra
S. Rupsha Mitra is a poet and writer based in India with works published in Navii Media, Blue Marble Review and North Dakota Quarterly.
