Miniature Painting of India

Though India is known as a land of art, culture and religion, there have been many ancient arts and art forms that are still unknown to the people of India. This particular topic deals with a similar subject of art that is hugely unexplored and many people still wonder “what is a miniature painting”. This article intends to give a brief idea about the same. 

Miniature Painting as suggested by their name are very small-sized color paintings that are a combination of unraveling stories from ancient India. These are the paintings that look beautiful from a distance but if observed from a closer distance, there are very precise details of the characters, their emotions and expressions that were wonderfully brought to life with the help of brush works that are highly complex but at the same time mesmerizing. Thus the miniature paintings are seen as a kaleidoscope of the ancient histories, scriptures, various characters and their ways of life. The colors that were generally used at that period were mostly derived from natural sources like vegetables, fruits, indigo, precious stones, gold and silver. 

Various Indian miniature paintings around the world are derived from various influences and represent the varied artistic forms and outlooks of thousands of painters from history. Similarly, the miniature art form is an amalgamation of representational ragas that are the musical notes drawn for various seasons and moods and the ancient mythological stories. They are made with the intention to fit into a book or an album. The paintings were mostly drawn on pieces of clothes or handmade papers back in that era. The Palas of Bengal who were basically the diplomats and the military conquerors of the Pala empire were considered as the pioneers of  Indian miniature paintings. But this form of art spread throughout the country during the Mughal period of India. From there an intrinsic form of art was then adopted by various artists from different schools of paintings of Rajasthan that includes Bundi, Jaipur, Mewar, Marwar and Krishnagar.  

(Image will be Uploaded Soon)

The origin and development of miniature painting in India

The rock shelter paintings of the Bhimbetka cave which are about 30,000 years old that are restored now reflect the initiation of miniature painting in the form of prehistoric art forms. They reveal about the people and the animals during the time of evaluation of human society and their dancing and hunting forms. These cave paintings highlight the life of the prehistoric era.

But the miniature paintings that we know today, have originated during the ruling of Pala in the eastern part of India back in 750 AD. Initially, the Palas of the Pala empire used to write the teachings of Buddha along with his image on the palm leaves. Since the leaves have a constricted area to draw on, naturally the paintings that were done were miniature in size. Later this form of art was adopted by the rulers belonging to the Chalukya dynasty in the western part of the country during 960 AD during this era, miniature paintings were the portrayal of religion, religious beliefs and customs followed in a religious ceremony. After the arrival of the Mughals, the development of miniature art reached a new height that was never explored before.

As the first emperor of Mughals, Akbar, had a profound love for Art, these miniature paintings were adopted in his empire with an influence of elements of the Persian art style in it. It was done in a way to promote the Mugal art forms in the courts of the Mughal emperors. It was further developed with the introduction of the European style of painting in the Mughal court. Even after the decline of both the Mughal as well as the European influence on India, the Rajputs of Rajasthan took this form of art and gave it a touch of patronization. Even with the hint of the Persian form of art, Rajasthan’s miniature art has its own unique features. To date, the miniature paintings that belong to the Rajasthani school of art forms have a great influence on royal mythological stories, especially that of Radha and Krishna. Most of these paintings are the witness of the lifestyle of the kings and queens during that era. Many of the brave battles that were fought among the rulers are depicted in the form of miniature paintings that we often see in our time. Some of the paintings are portraits that recites about certain rulers and their contribution to their respective kingdoms or subject of matter.  

The main features of the Evolved miniature painting are:-

1. All the colors and the paintings are completely handmade.  The colors in the paintings were manually created with the help of various flowers, vegetables, fruits, precious stones, gold, Indio, silver and other metals.

2. The style of the paintings when first introduced in the kingdom of Pala had the elements of ragas and Indian classical music theme in them.

3. The majority of these paintings give a fair description of the life of royals and their lifestyle along with the battles fought.

4. Some of the paintings are the pictorial derivation of the ancient mythological stories about gods and goddesses, especially, stories of Lord Krishna and Radha. 

Types of miniature art painting

From the time the miniature paintings were first introduced in the country many of the empires have adopted these forms and have inculcated their own traditional form of art in them. Through many evaluations, these paintings have been a reflection of varied social, political, religious and economic diversities that prevailed in different parts of India. Though all the miniature paintings have an amalgamation of different cultural aspects each one of them has its own unique style of representation. Thus some of the important types of miniature art painting that is still known in India are:

1. Pala School: Pala school is considered as the pioneer of the miniature art form. The symbolic use of colours and the themes were encouraged by the teachings and the illustrations of Goutam Buddha in the Buddhist manuscripts that were followed in that era. The scripts of Buddha’s teachings and the tantric of the Buddhist rituals along with his image was painted on the palm leaves that were then displayed in the Buddhist monasteries such as Nalanda, Somapura Mahavihara, Odantapuri and Vikramasila. This unique form of paintings has attracted thousands of students from different parts of the world. Many students from south-east Asia have learned this form of art and taken it to their places. Thus in the later 18th century AD, this form of art became famous in Asian countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, Tibet etc.

(Image will be Uploaded Soon)

2. Odisha School: this painting was adopted by Odisha School during the early 17th century AD. Though by that time the use of handmade papers were already widespread in the country, the Odisha School maintained its authentic art theme and continued to paint the complex art form on the palm leaves. But the use of colours and the theme made it unique in its features. Bold colours were used to depict the mythological stories related to Lord Krishna and Radha. Many of such paintings depict the famous “Krishna Leela” and “Geeta Govinda”. The backdrop of each painting showcased the massive landscape of eastern India back in that century. 

(Image will be Uploaded Soon)

3. Jain school: Jain school is considered as one of the old schools to adopt the miniature art form back in the 11th century. Like others, they also used to paint on the palm leaves that consisted of the religious texts from the ancient religious manuscripts like “Kalpa Sutra” and “Kalkacharya Katha”. They mostly incorporated the bold stroke of gold and silver in their depictions. Later in the 12th century, they started using paper to paint on rather than palm leaves. The unique characteristics of these paintings were enlarged eyes and square hands and the use of other vibrant colours like blue, green, red, gold and silver to portray stylish figures. Most of the paintings were displays of male figures and goddesses of Tirthankara. 

  (Image will be Uploaded Soon)

4. Mugal school: the introduction of this form of art was done in the Mughal dynasty by the first emperor who was a profound art lover, Akbar. After then from the 16th to 18th century this art form flourished under the Mughal influence. During that period, Art saw the amalgamation of the Indian and the Persian art forms. But interestingly, the Persian art forms represent a great influence on the Chinese art style. Most of the paintings depicted the lifestyle of the Mughals, scenes from the Mughal court, battlefields with the realistic portrayal of the humans and the trees with extensive decoration that made the frame very rich in its form. Many Mugal courts have also encouraged the Hindu artist who came up with the paintings depicting the stories of “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata”. Since the Mughals stayed in India for a prolonged period thus the painting styles differed from each other with the change in the Mughal emperor and their courts. 

(Image will be Uploaded Soon)

5. Rajasthani school: as the Mughal empire came into extinction in India the Rajputs of Rajasthan took up the art form and gave it a twist of patronization. The Rajasthani school of miniature art was further divided into Bundi, Jaipur, Mewar, Marwar and Krishnagar schools. Each of them has exclusive features that totally depend on the region it is from. Other than mythological stories from epics like “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata” and the lifestyle of the kings and queens, it also displayed the legacies of past and present emperors. One of the most motivating features of the Rajasthani school of art was that it incorporated the themes in the paintings that encouraged the betterment of society. They often used bold and contrasting colors to paint. 

(Image will be Uploaded Soon)