Indian Colours from Murals to the Canvas

Mural of Avalokiteśvara/Padmapani in Ajanta Caves, from 5th Century. In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He has 108 avatars; one notable avatar being Padmapāṇi, the one who holds the lotus (padma). Source: Wikipedia.

Pictures have been the primary mode of expression of feelings, transfer of knowledge, tradition and culture across communities around the primitive world, way before script and writing came into existence. Painting pictures has been in practice since the prehistoric times of humanity. Starting from the walls of the caves dwelled by vagabonds, storming into the murals of the prayer halls and palace walls, before settling on the canvases in the community dwellings the passage of painting has been an ever-evolving voyage.

Painting in India dates back to the early rock paintings of ‘Bhimbekta’ rock shelters of central India about ten thousand years ago, depicting the human evolution from hunter-gatherers to agricultural settlers. As the community settlements brought about spiritual thinking and introspection, their artistic expression took the form of murals. Between the 2nd century BC till 10th century AD, Murals were found in many locations around India, mainly in caves and rock settlements such as Ajanta caves, Bagh, Armamalai caves, Ramgarh, etc. They mostly depicted mythological themes of Buddhist, Jain and Hindu religions.

The first masterpieces started unveiling in the form of Ajanta cave paintings showcasing the Buddhist religion’s art at its highest esteem around the 2nd century BCE and then around the 5th century CE. These caves a UNESCO World Heritage Site are situated in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra and consist of about 30 Rock-cut cave monasteries that were inhabited by Buddhist monks. The paintings artistically depict the past lives and rebirth of Buddha called jataka tales, serving as the finest examples of the masterly art of ancient Indian wall painting.

Though the caves were a prominent centre of activity for Buddhist tourists for more than a millennium they got engulfed by the jungle until they were accidentally discovered by a British colonial officer John Smith who went hunting for a tiger in the area in 1819.

The Ajanta paintings represent the great glory of the Indian painters’ skills of Shatavahana and Gupta regimes. They were painted on a dry plaster surface colourfully showcasing large scenes with uncompromising beauty and naturalistic style.

As literature started flourishing, many treatises on painting were written, some as part of a larger holistic text of art, like the chapters of ‘Chitra sutras’ in Vishnudharmottara Purana. An exclusive classic on painting was written around the 5th century called ‘Chitra Lakshana,’ making it the oldest text on Indian painting.

From the mural marvels of the caves, Indian paintings moved into miniatures that were often found as illustrations in Jain manuscripts. The earliest miniatures can be seen in the Jainist texts from around the 11th century. By the 15th-century, miniatures could be seen in Hindu scriptures too, illustrating their content and the artform was widely practiced all over India.

During his return after his exile from Persia, Humayun, the Mughal king, brought in painters who introduced the Persian touch to the Indian style of paintings. As the Mughal era established all over India, so did its art and culture, influencing various existing local painting styles such as the Pahari, Rajput and Deccan styles. This trend seems to have ended during the reign of Aurangazeb, who disapproved and disbanded many cultural art forms, including painting during the 17th century as part of Islamic conservatism.

Along with the Mughal painting style, many regional Indian styles flourished across India simultaneously imposing subtle influences upon each other coexisting styles during the 15th to 19 century. Notable painting styles include:

The Deccan painting, which is more of an extension of Mughal painting style, evolved into its unique form by incorporating characteristics like brilliance in colours and sophistication in composition. Ragamala paintings evoking the moods of various musical ragas appear to have been innovated from the Deccan style.

Pahari painting flourished around Himalayan India predominantly distributed into the Jammu Dogra school and the Basohli Kangra school with stark variations in the forms and portrayal between them, the bold and intense Dogra style and the delicate lyrical Kangra style.

Rajput painting from the Marwar and Malwa regions have developed their unique style of depicting the corporal features of figures such as portraying the eyes and hips larger than real. Persian influences can be found in the usage of gold foils and imported dyes like ultramarine blue. The themes were centred around events from the Hindu epics.

Mysore paintings are probably the most elegant of all the Indian painting styles from Mysore in South India, which developed its unique method of painting on a gesso pasted paper on a wooden platform and using gold foil protruded application of colours bringing about the raised effect of carving.

Tanjore painting is another important form of classical South Indian painting from Tanjore of Tamil Nadu. It has its origins as early as 9th century Chola rule depicting Hindu mythological events and images. Tanjore paintings are famed for their beauty, with bright colours applied over a pasted cloth over a wooden base and making use of many decorative materials like gold foils and semi-precious stones. Thus they are much sought after souvenirs amongst the connoisseurs of painting.

Pattachitra means paintings on cloth. Originated in and traditional to West Bengal and Odisha of eastern India, the images primarily imagine Hindu Gods popular to the region, such as Kali and Krishna. The painters painstakingly prepare their own dyes using indigenous materials and natural ingredients. Even the painting brushes are prepared using the hairs of domestic animals tied to the end of a bamboo stick. It is astonishing to find the astounding effect they bring about in their end products using such primitive age-old techniques.

Madhubani painting is another painting style from the region of Bihar characterized by ostentatious decorations of ornaments and flowers depicting Indian mythology. Many more such regional styles evolved all around India, picturizing the local practices and culture in their unique manner according to the availability and accessibility of materials and techniques as exemplified in the ‘Kalamkari’ painting on cloth and ‘Nirmal’ paintings of the Telugu region.

By the 18th century, with the advent of British rule, a new era of ‘Company’ painting style started taking roots. The style still maintained traditional Indian elements from Rajput and Mughal paintings in the ways people were depicted while following modern Western trends emphasizing the realistic picturization of lifelike images importing equal importance to nature and other non-human life forms in the background. These paintings were usually commissioned by the British colonial officers and Royal patrons of princely states of India, mainly comprising their portraits, family pictures, and capturing festivities on canvas or paper.

By the 20th century, modernism crept into Indian art, getting caught in the storm of modern art movements sweeping through the western world and the European masters, making its initial realism paving the way for surrealism. Let’s catch up with the transformation of trends in contemporary Indian art starting from the classical times of the Raja Ravivarmas to the modern eras of the MF Hussains in the next edition…