|
The earliest remains of painting in India
belong to prehistoric times and it has not been possible to
ascribe any precise date of them. Therefore, a hiatus of thousands
of years intervenes before we come to an authentic example of
painting properly and strictly so called, of the historic period.
The oldest so far known are wall-paintings of the Yogimara caves
of Ramgarh Hill in Madhya Pradesh.
From early Buddhist records we find that paintings added
to the gaity of popular festivals in ancient India. The themes of
the Ajanta paintings are almost exclusively Buddhist religious
lore. The frescoes Gwalior are conteporary with the closing years
of Ajanta glory
Another important searies of wall painting surviving in South
India is to be found in Rajrajesvara or Brihadesvara temple at
Tanjore completedabout the year 1000 by the great Chola ruler
Rajaraja I. The subject are devoted to the saivite religion in
which Siva is represented as Nataraja.
A center of miniature painting flourished in the western part
of country. As the majority of the extant temples in this style
come from Gujarat or Jain.But the same style of manuscript
illstration that was practised in Gujarat was also prevalent with
local varitions, in Rajastan, Mandu, Jaipure and many other areas.
Islam condemnded painting as sacrilege painting as against the
precepts of the Qur'an, wich excepressely frobid the
representation of animate nature in art. There is therefore, no
real evidence of any school of painting encouraged by the Muslim
Kings of India.It is undoughtely the enthusiasm of Akbar the Great
that really laid th foundations of the mughal School of painting
in India. The sympathetic attiude of emporor encouraged artists
from Gujrat , Rajastan, Gwalior and Kashmir and from other
countries as well to come to the imperial court as well to come to
the imperial court to carry their art activity under enlightened
patronage. In this manner started an imtermingling of persian and
Hindu streams.
The region of Jehangir (1605-1627) is generally regaded as the
Golden age of Mughal painting. While artists of both persian and
Indian origins were combining to evolve a genuine synthesis of the
Persian, Hindu and Western traditions , it was Jehangir's personal
taste that determined the course of Mughal painting in his time.
His painters aimed primerrily at depiting portaits, the personal
preoccupations of the Emperor and incidents of chase.
uring te formative period of the Mughal style, a school of
painting flourished activity in the Deccan states of Ahmednager,
Bijapur and Golkunda. it continued independent of the mughal court
painting till far into the 17th Century. In the mean tim,painting
in western india was evolving an essentially Hindu style.Paintings
of this style came from Rajasthan,inspired by a renassance of
popular Hindu culture on the grab of Vaishnavism which from 15th
Centuary dominated the art and literatyre of the region.
Though Rajput artists contituned to show a preference for
Mughal techniques, the art slowely changed into a Rajput one.The
most popular subjects of the paintings were loves of Krishna and
Radha revealed amorously and yet tempered with refinement.
|