Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

ART

Sialkot, fibres being cotton and bamboo. Painter's brushes were made from fine hair from squirrel's tails. The master artist visual- ised the colour shade and indicated the colours that were to go on various parts of the painting. Blue was lapis lazuli (Asia), red from ochre and Indian red from oxide of iron in Jabalpur; gold from gold leaf etc. Paintings were also integrated with calligraphy and often on both sides of the paper, and the sheets bound as an album. The most distinctive feature of Mughal miniatures is the calli- graphic character of its outline due to Persian influence, but it shows more realism and freedom than Persian works. In addition, the in- troduction of modelling by means of delicate shading and a more natural interpretation of distance is attempted. Under Jehangir Mughal painting

flowered background, use of gold for the sky, are of Persian inspiration. But the rich palette, lush landscape, elongated female types with one end of the sari drawn across the chest show Vijayanagar strain. The principal states of Mewar (Udaipur), Marwar (Jodhpur), Amber (Jaipur), Bikaner, Kotah, Bundi and Kishangarh were fa- mous for their painters and painting where artists from the Mughal empire found employment and tackled Hindu religious themes. Their main theme and source of inspiration was the life and love of Krishna, who had been the subject of the religious movement of Ramanuja (1070 -1137) and the texts of the Bhagavata Purana, Jayadeva's Gita Govinda, Vallabhacharya (1478), Sivwas (1479- 1584), Mira Bai (1504-1550), Rasikapriya Keshav Das (1580- 1601) and Biharilal(1595-1663). The love of Radha and Krishna is the highest form of human love which symbolised divine love. The Mewar school is characterised by great and primitive vig- our. Primary colours reds, blues, and yellows are lavishly used. Padumavathi (by Malik Muhammad Jaisa) is inspired by the story of Padmini of Chitor. The Bhagvat Purana, Ramayana (1651 - 1652), Gita Govinda (1723) are other examples. Another important style is the Bundi style of painting, where the landscape is a source of inspiration, as well as feminine beauty. Bundi artists portrayed women with a receding forehead and chin, a strong nose and full cheeks and sharp eyebrows. The "Bhairavi Ragini" (Allahabad museum) shows a woman worshipping a linga inside a temple. There is a lotus pond in front with fish and water- birds. The 'Vasantha Ragini" is one of the masterpieces of this school. It shows Krishna with the usual dark blue complexion dancing beside a lotus pond with a pair of gopis to his right. The Bundi artists depicted great skill in portraying elephants. The painting "Summer Elephant" (Prince of Wales Museum, Bom- bay), glows with hot colours, orange and yellow - skilfully portray- ing the searing summer heat. There is also a class of Indian paintings, known as Ragamala, or Necklace of Modes of Music. In these paintings the mood and sentiment behind the traditional forms of Indian music are visual- ised. Usually there are 36 ragas and raginis consisting of the six principal ragas and the 5 mistresses, or raginis each. In later Raga- malas more elaboration is introduced and each raga is further provided with 8 sons, making a total of 84 ragas, raginis and subragas. Coomaraswamy describes the Ragamala as "profoundly imagined pictures of human passion." (A.K. Coomaraswamy, "Hindi Ragamala Texts, "Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol.43 p.396). Most of them either depict joy of love in reunion or two parts of love in separation. In raginis showing love in separa- tion, lovesick heroines pine for their lovers. They watch peacocks, black bucks or play with cobras, rain and tigers - all symbols of the absent lover (as lovers in Rajasthan were often absent in fighting). The plate (no. 14 of Indian Painting by Randhawa and Galbraith) represents Ragini Madhu Madhivi of mid 18th century where a peacock starts screaming when the lady rushes toward the pavilion; and there are dark clouds in the sky. In the desert kingdom of Marwar with its grand palaces at Jodh- pur, flourished a school of painting in the 15th and 16th centuries. A Ragamala series of 1623 was painted in a folk style, while painting in Mughal style developed under the patronage of Jaswant Singh with many portraits of himself. While Mughal style is evident in the

found its most enthusiastic patron. Painting under him strongly reflects his feeling for natural beauty. Mansur, his most talented painter of plants, birds, and animals conveys their spirit. Other subjects include Mughal emperor and princes meeting fakirs and sadhus, hunting (which display suspense and drama), portraits, court scenes, etc. Under Jehangir, the association with Western painting increased. Nim-

bused cherubims, winged figures, lin- ear and aerial perspective, use of shad- ows and landscapes in the background of paintings are signs of European in- fluence. In addition, albums of paint- ings (in contrast to illuminated and il- and romance, such as the one between Laila and Majnu, Khusru and Shirin, Rupamati and Baz Bahadur, Kamrup and Kamalata. During the reign of Aurangzeb, the patronage to art rapidly de- clined and many paintings were defaced due to his fanatic zeal. However, Zeb-un-nisa, his daughter, had calligraphers to copy old manuscripts and her library surpassed all private collections. Art- ists migrated to Hyderabad, Rajasthan and Punjab hills, carrying the Mughal tradition with them. After the invasion of Nadir Shah (1739) painting in Delhi re- ceived a blow. An exodus of artists to Fyzabad, Lucknow, Patna, Murshidabad, Hyderabad, Punjab hills and Rajasthan took place. Names of original artists were copied and copies made, royal seals were also stamped on them. Deccan painting during the rule of the Falcon by Ustad Mansur School of Jehangir.

Bahmani dynasty and the subsequent kingdoms of Golconda, Bidar, Berar, Ahmednagar and Bijapur, developed in those kingdoms during the 16th century in parallel with Mughal painting. It was influenced in style and technique by Persian painting. A form of painting, called Ragamala, expressing the Indian modes of music and portraiture were favourite themes (especially Ibrahim Adil Shah II of Bijapur). Dancing scenes were common in Golconda painting. Here a fusion of Persian and South Indian Hindu elements can be seen. The sinuous lines, dreamy atmosphere,