Indian paintings provide an aesthetic
continuum that extends from the early civilization to the present day. This
form of art in India is vivid and lively, refined and sophisticated and bold
and vigorous at the same time. From being essentially religious in purpose
in the beginning, Indian paintings have evolved over the years to become a
fusion of various traditions which influenced them.
Indian miniature painting is to be savored slowly, intently and privately.
'Miniature' generally refers to a painting or illumination, small in size
meticulous in detail and delicate in brushwork. The art of palm-leaf
illuminations were traditionally labeled as patra-lekhana in medieval Indian
canons. But later a generalized term pata chitra was conveniently used to
define other kinds of painting than wall painting. It indeed included
painted scrolls and panels.
There
are two distinct strands of painting in India. One is rooted in
religious traditions and nurtured by the patronage of the rich and
royal, and done mostly by men. The other is rooted in everyday life and
folk tradition, and done mostly by women. To the former belong the
Buddhist frescoes on the walls of the Ajanta caves in Maharashtra, the
miniature paintings of the Mughal court, and the different school of
Rajasthani painting. The style of Ajanta paintings is truly indigenous
and was revived in the early 20th century by Nandalal Bose in
Santiniketan, West Bengal. Although Persian-inspired, Mughal and
Rajasthani miniatures too are part and parcel of Indian painting of the
former genre. Of the latter genre, the most famous are the Madhubani and
Mithila paintings of Bihar, the Worli paintings of Maharashtra, the
Mandana paintings of Rajasthan, which are basically wall and floor
paintings. 