Indian Paintings

Part 1

Pre-Historic Painting

The subjects of their drawings were human figures, human activities, geometric designs and symbols.
In India the earliest paintings have been reported from the Upper Palaeolithic times.
Humans are represented in stick-like forms.
A long-snouted animal, a fox and a multiple legged lizard are the main animal motifs.
Wavy lines, rectangle-filled geometric designs, and groups of dots can also be seen here
The largest pre-historic paintings discovered in India belongs to the Mesolithic period.
Used minerals for pigments Eg: ochre or geru.
They used minerals in different colours.
Examples: Bhimbetka caves, MP; Jogimara caves, Chattisgarh; Narsingarh, MP

Murals are works that are painted on the walls or a solid structure.
The wall paintings in India have existed from the 2nd century BC to Medieval times.
Some of the places where this painting is found include- Ajanta, Bagh, Sittanavasal, Armamalai cave, Ravan Chhaya rock-shelter and Kailashnath temple in Ellora caves.
Majority of the themes in these paintings relates to religion- Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism.

The subject matter of these paintings is almost exclusively Buddhist, excepting decorative patterns on the ceilings and the pillars.
They are mostly associated with the Jataka, collection of stories, recording the previous births of the Lord Buddha.
The painting of Bodhisattva Padmapani from cave I is one of the masterpieces of Ajanta Painting executed in the late 6th century CE.
Medium of Paintings: Mineral and vegetable dyes.
The paintings depict human values and social fabric, as well as period styles, clothes, and accessories.

The paintings from Bagh caves in Madhya Pradesh in terms of design, execution, and ornamentation, are an extension of the Ajanta school.
The earliest Brahmanical paintings so far known, are the fragments found in Badami caves, in cave No.III belonging to circa 6th century A.D.
The painting of Siva and Parvati is found somewhat well preserved.
Rang Mahal, Cave No. 4, features exquisite murals on the walls illustrating Buddhist and Jataka tales, similar to those found in Ajanta.

A number of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain temples were excavated from Ellora between the 8th and 10th centuries A.D.
Located nearly 100 Kms away from Ajanta caves in the Sahyadri ranges of Maharashtra, it is a group of 34 caves – 17 Brahmanical, 12 Buddhist and 5 Jain.
The most impressive of these, the Kailashnath Temple is a free standing structure which is in fact a monolith which has several fragments of painting on the ceiling of the different parts of this temple.
It was developed under the patronage of Rashtrakuta king Krishna I and is dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Cave No. 10 is a Buddhist Chaitya cave known as Vishwakarma Cave or carpenter’s cave wherein Buddha is seated in Vyakhyana Mudra here and Bodhi tree is carved at his back.

Badami was the capital of the early Chalukyan dynasty which ruled the region from 543 to 598 CE.
The inscription in Cave No.4 mentions the date 578–579 CE, describes the beauty of the cave and includes the dedication of the image of Vishnu.
The paintings found here are stylistically similar to the ones found in Ajanta.

The paintings at Tiruparakunram, near Trichy, done in the fourteenth century represent the early phase of the Vijayanagara style.
In Hampi, the Virupaksha temple has paintings on the ceiling of its mandapa narrating events from dynastic history and episodes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
Lines become still but fluid, compositions appear in rectilinear compartments.

Kerala painters (during the period from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century) evolved a pictorial language and technique of their own while discriminately adopting certain stylistic elements from Nayaka and Vijayanagara schools.
More than sixty sites have been found with mural paintings which include three palaces—Dutch palace in Kochi, Krishnapuram palace in Kayamkulam and Padmanabhapuram palace.