The key factors of Hindu Rajasthani painting
An Epic had been composed by a poet of the royal court of King Indrajit (Bundelkhand) named Keshavdas known as 'Rasikpriya'(1573 -1581). The king of Bundelkhand assisted in illustrating this Epic, however, it has not been published from there. Because the poet was not so famous, however, they later it might be published from another place. The book was fully illustrated with beautiful Rajasthani Paintings, which crossed the standard of royal court painting of Jahangir. Currently, this Epic is now stored in the Boston Museum.
In ancient India, paintings depicted largely in the walls of caves and temples Intended to campaign the Hindu spiritualism. After a long gap, the necessity of manuscript illustration had been felt and started illustrating in the undersized form on the pages of the manuscript. Illustrations of the Jain manuscripts were the same as the illustration of Rasikpriya. There were no horizontal lines dividing the sky and land, and the paintings were depicted on flat surfaces where the object's contours did not differ from the background. Everything appeared on a flat surface. Following the Buddhist scripture, Jain manuscripts were also illustrated in the same way. Although both religions arose in the same period, Jain artists lagged behind Buddhist artists in painting illustration. However, Jain art practice had a systematic approach that earned it a significant place. In the twelfth century, a new art style emerged, which we can learn from Jain scriptures. This style features many spiritual and supernatural elements such as gods and goddesses, spiritual teachers (Guru), mystical characters, flowers and leaves, and ornaments. Similar to other manuscripts, it was created on small palm leaves and illustrated with intricate designs. The artists seemed to be more interested in ornamental designs rather than portraying life and emotion. As a result, the artwork became dull and lost its grandeur.
This phenomenon was widespread including sculpture, temples, and paintings, and it appears that the deities became overshadowed by the ornate complexity and lost their sense of divinity. They lacked skill in using colors and adhered strictly to traditional hereditary practices, as it was part of their religious tradition rather than an artistic approach. Kalpasutra is considered the oldest among other Jain scriptures composed in 1439. In that scripture, we can get the divine life history of Lord Mahavir, Parshwanath, Neminath, and more with illustrations and written descriptions. Another noteworthy illustration can be seen in the scripture of Balagopala Stuti, a Gujrati manuscript probably composed in the Seventeenth century.
In Bengal, we can see various illustrations composed based on the divine life of Lord Krishna and Radha, especially in the reign of the Pal dynasty because they were a proponent of manuscript art. In the Language of Pali, we see a Buddhist scripture beautifully illustrated with minuscule images known as Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita. At a later time, those images were enlarged to one hundred percent on a screen to reveal intricate details but not a single line of the drawing got distorted. It is indeed astonishing! The painting of the Goddess of wisdom, named Prajnaparamita, followed the style of Ajanta's painting; however, it surpassed the glory of the ancestors' work. All the artworks were composed between 1087 to 1119. During the Pala era, manuscripts were beautifully polished and featured vibrant, transparent colors. The predominant colors used in these paintings were yellow, green, deep red, and blue. Manuscript illustration had been ongoing in Rajasthan before the Mughal era, contradicting the belief that Rajasthan lacked artistic practices before this time. As evidence, we can represent Kalpasutra (1439), Nimatnama (1500-1510), and Laur Chanda manuscript (1540), which were composed before the Mughal era. During Emperor Akbar's reign, Rajasthani Rajput painting gained interest from art lovers. In my earlier writing, I discussed Rajput painting in detail, and we can see that the illustration of the novel Hamzanama followed this interest.
Srimad Bhagavat and Vasantvilas are important scriptures illustrated with Rajasthani paintings. One interesting point to note is that while the subject matter of the paintings shows similarities, the regional influence leads to differences in various aspects such as clothing, ornamental design, and even geographical landscapes. Another important fact is the brushes of the Buddhist era respectively had been getting subtle and were finally made with only a single hair. This allowed artists to create detailed drawings on small surfaces such as palm leaves. Indian ancient artists proved their certitude on all surfaces to depict expertly.
From the middle of the twelfth century to the beginning of the Mughal era, Rajasthani Rajput paintings were characterized by strong and bold lines. However, as time passed, they evolved and incorporated various techniques and skilled modeling. A pure gold layer was later applied to the paintings to create beautiful ornaments, along with the use of various colors to enhance the objects' value. The earlier bold line drawings became more subtle, and paintings began to be created on cloth instead of paper. Materials for the painting were imported from overseas through the port of Gujarat. Although Indian artists preferred to make their own colors, they also accepted foreign colors. It's noteworthy that the glory of the original Rajasthani Hindu painting was accelerated before the reign of Emperor Akbar. When Akbar employed some Gujarati artists in his court to illustrate some Persian books, Rajasthani Rajput paintings got a new way of approaching. That's all. It consorted with the Persian style and got a new look. Here I can say that the Persian Mughal miniature got an improvement with the original Hindu paintings. It gave a new prosperity to the Mughal Persian style.
Image Attribution
Rasikapriya - Minneapolis Institute of Art, Public domain.
Kalpasutra Painting - Public Domain
Prajnaparamita - Situ Panchen, Public domain
Srimad Bhagavat Purana - Open Access for Scholarly Content
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