One of the world’s ancient civilisations, India is home to varied languages, religions, and cultures. Its heritage is as colourful and vibrant as the multi-hued rainbow. India’s rich heritage spans from beguiling architecture, traditional art, handicrafts, folk dances, and music. India’s folk paintings are also unique and varied, telling the tales of their origin and style.
From documenting the daily life of tribal people, animals, plants, and portraits to depicting mythological Hindu gods and goddesses, Indian painting styles are far and beyond. Ranging from the Mural Paintings on the walls of Ajanta Caves, Persian Miniatures, inlay work handcrafted in the palaces of the Mughal era, to the local style of paintings, this art form has undeniably travelled across the generations and centuries.
Surprising as it may sound, some painting styles in India today date back to the 5th century BC. Honestly, these styles are priceless treasures and the oldest forms of an art thriving in today’s contemporary world. The richness of our heritage is that even some modern-day painting styles are getting inspired and returning to the ancient painting styles to create marvels. Purely hand-made by the deft painters journeying across the different states of India, this article covering traditional and contemporary painting styles is a definite read for all art enthusiasts and mavens.
Deccan Paintings
Produced in the Deccan region of Central India, during the late 16th century to mid17th century Deccan Painting was produced. It depicted “a more inward journey, with mystic and fantastic overtones”. The painting exceeded the sophistication and artistry of the composition in question and displayed brilliant colours. Deccan paintings exhibited royal portraits conveying intense imagery of the subjects. Many Deccan paintings are rare, where very few are signed or inscribed compared to the well-preserved and documented Mughal artwork. Apart from showcasing the usual royal portraits, illustrations, literary works, sometimes the Deccan painting illustrated chronicles. Many artists even revealed in depicting elephants acting up badly and robustly in Deccan style of paintings.
A ‘composite animal’ used to be carved in the ivory, wherein a large animal was made of many smaller images of other animals. Deccan paintings also showcased rulers with halos and servants fanning them with cloths.
Pattachitra Paintings
The oldest yet most famous living art form, the Pattachitra painting tradition, is more than a thousand years old. An ancient artwork hailing from Odisha and Bengal, the art form Pattachitra is evolved from the Sanskrit words ‘Patta’ meaning ‘Cloth’ and ‘Chitra’ meaning ‘picture’. It is the traditional art of visual storytelling where the painting primarily exhibits the stories of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. It is hand painted on cloth-based scrolls showcasing intricate details, mythological stories and folktales carried out by the maven artists.
Inspired by Hindu mythology, especially Jagannath and Vaishnava sect, the Pattachitra paintings portray simple mythological themes enriched with bold and bright indigenous colours (red, yellow, indigo, black and white), creative motifs, and designs. Even today, the preparation for creating the painting begins at home, where the women members use all-natural and eco-friendly products. She prepares the glue, a mixture of chalk and gum from the tamarind tree to coat the cloth to prepare the canvas and fills in what is drawn by the master hand, i.e., the male member. The expert painter, also known as ‘Chitrakars’, directly uses the brush (hair of domestic animals) to draw the lines on the canvas. They even prepare natural colours for the painting by using locally available ingredients like vegetables, earth, stone and mineral colours.
In Odisha, Pattachitra is created for ritual use and as souvenirs for pilgrims. While in Bengal, it is hand painted as a narrative art, i.e., to serve as the visual aid for enhancing the performance of a song.
Pithora Paintings
A highly enriched art culture dating back to thousand years, the Pithora painting style is still practiced by the Rathwa and Bhilala tribes living in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
More than an art form, Pithora painting is a ritual of the tribal people they have been practicing and painting to either thank God or seek a wish to be granted. To begin with the process of creating the painting, the tribal artists use dung, water, and chuna brought by the unmarried girls, to set the background. Three walls are prepared for the Pithora painting by following the method called ‘lipna‘.
Painted in different and vivid colours, this painting style traditionally celebrates the veracities of rural living. Originated as wall paintings, now it is even painted on cloth, paper and cardboards with organic and synthetic colors & dyes. An honest representation of the tribal life, these paintings depict the scenes of weddings, festivals, farming, ploughing, hunting and countryside, even the depiction of dying cattle to unwell children in the family. The tribal artist uses colours like red, green, orange, blue and pink to paint the birds, animals, trees, social unity among the people, and festivities showcasing their imagination and respect for Pithora and local gods. The paintings thus bear religious and mythological illustrations as the tribal people give immense importance to their cultural heritage. Earlier painted on walls of caves and rocks as the medium of self-expression, the tribal people are now practicing it to diversify their incomes.
Only men paint the Pithora murals, deities, and the realities of tribal life, illustrating the solution the Badwa suggests to him for his concerns and problems.
Rajput Paintings
Rajasthan – the royal state with colourful culture, riveting stories of the Kings, their kingdoms, their palaces and forts is also well known for its contribution to the heritage of Indian Art forms. Rajput painting – is one among them. It was during the 17th century that marked the growth and development of this style of painting in the royal courts of Rajasthan. The artists who were well-versed with the Mughal Miniature style of painting developed a unique style by including local painting traditions.
Rajput paintings mainly illustrated narrative scenes from Mahabharat and Ramayana – two famous Hindu religious epics, portraits of the ruling family, scenes showcasing their hunting and daily activities. The paintings were an artistic portrayal of the high ambitions and legacies of the Mewar rulers. The paintings were precisely indicative of their rule, legacy, and changes they had incorporated for the betterment of society.
In every Rajput painting, the artists utilised complete space – it was a purposeful usage wherein the characters and landscapes were inseparable, equally notable and expressive.
Tanjore Paintings
Originated in the Maratha court of Thanjavur during the period 1676- 1855, the Tanjore painting style is an exclusive, time-sensitive, and traditional South Indian painting style. Renowned for its famous gold coating, this painting style is expensive and majestic. The paintings bear an influence of Maratha, Deccani, Vijayanagar, and European styles of paintings.
Characterised by dense iconic composition, rich, vibrant colours, dazzling gold foils, and use of semi-precious stones, pearls, and glass pieces, the paintings depicted Hindu gods, goddesses, saints as the main subject. Hand-painted on a wooden plank, the artists sketched and painted subsidiary figures and themes surrounding the central subject. Due to the relief work done on them, Tanjore paintings bear a three-dimensional effect.
The artists used canvas pasted over a jackfruit or teak plank with Arabic gum to prepare the Thanjavur painting. They used natural colours like vegetable and minerals dyes to apply on the sketch, gold leaves and colourful gems to inlay on the pillars, arches, and thrones.
The paintings have specific areas and elevated or embossed features. The use of real 22-carat gold foil on the embossed area makes this painting style unique, and evergreen as the gold foil on the elevated surface never fades.
As the history of India’s painting styles unfolds, one can wonder about the richness each held. Every painting style was distinguished and celebrated in its way, telling the tales of their origination, the craftsmanship each required, the artistic viewpoints, and the influences of the Kings as well as other styles of paintings.
Stay tuned to know the heritage of India’s exquisite painting styles and how diverse and far they have evolved from the royal courts of rulers to illustrating mundane life of the ordinary people and mythological deities and saints.
to be continued…
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