Module 5 Ancient fine arts of India are Painting, handicrafts, Indian classic music,

Dance and Drama

Hello Learners,
Today we are going learn about Ancient Fine arts of India
First let see on Indian Paintings
• Of various art forms, painting has always been a very powerful medium of cultural
tradition and expression. It is associated with values, beliefs, behaviour of mankind
and provides material objects to understand people’s way of life, their thought process
and creativity.
• In simple words, painting has become a bridge to our past, reflecting what people
think and want to depict. Painting is also a part of tangible material culture, where
human creations are termed as artifacts and helps in understanding the cultural values.
It is a human way of transforming elements of world into symbol, where each of it has
a distinct meaning and can also be manipulated.
• Compared to sculpture, painting is easier to execute and that is why Stone Age people
chose it as an expression of their beliefs and imaginations. In fact, painting marks an
entirely new phase in the human history and is regarded as a giant cultural leap.

Ancient Indian Painting Tradition

• Painting as an art form has flourished in India from very early times as is evident from
the remains that have been discovered in the caves, and the literary sources.
• The history of art and painting in India begins with the pre-historic rock painting at
caves near (M.P.) where we have drawings and paintings of animals.
• The cave paintings of (Maharashtra) show skins of spotted deer left drying.
Thousands of years ago, paintings and drawings had already appeared on the seals of
Harappan civilization.
• The Buddhist text Vinayapitaka (4th–3rd century) describes the existence of painted
figures in many royal buildings. The play Mudrarakshasa (5th Century A.D.)
mentions numerous paintings or Patas. The 6th Century AD text on aesthetics-
Kamasutra by Vatsyayana has mentioned painting amongst 64 kinds of arts and says
that it was based on scientific principles.
• The best specimens of Gupta paintings are the ones at Ajanta. Their subject was
animals and birds, trees, flowers, human figures and stories from the Jataka.
• Mural paintings are done on walls and rock surfaces like roofs and sides. Cave no. 9
depicts the Buddhist monks going towards a stupa. In cave no. 10 Jataka stories are
depicted. But the best paintings were done in the 5th – 6th centuries AD during the
Gupta age.
 • The murals chiefly depict religious scenes from the life of the Buddha and the
Buddhist Jataka stories but we also have secular scene. Here we see the depiction of
all aspects of Indian life.
• We see princes in their palaces, ladies in their chambers, coolies with loads over their
shoulders, beggars, peasants and ascetics, together with all the many beasts, birds and
flowers of India.
• In India both murals are painted on thin coat of limestone mixture dried with glue, and
frescoes are painted on wet lime plaster are found. It is also noticed that in ancient
times the colours used in these paintings are derived from natural organic pigments.
Classical paintings
• One of the best examples of the Classical paintings is from the Ajanta Caves, painted
between circa 200 B.C. and A.D. 600 Ajanta has thirty-one Caves, built in two phases
– first one was around 2nd century B.C. and second was between 4th and 6th
centuries A.D. In both phases, the art was patronized by the Hindu rulers – the
Satvahanas (in the early period) and the Vakatakas (in the later period). The famous
Ajanta caves can be considered as ancient art galleries.
• The Indian art has been inspired by spiritualism and mystical relationship between the
God and man. The earliest recorded art was inspired by religious Hindu background
and it was later replaced by the popular Buddhist art. The philosophy of aesthetics
was closely related to thoughts in the Upanishads and thus art played a very important
role in the Indian religious life. Inward vision, sense of great peace and tranquility –
are the hall marks of Indian art. The early caves of Ajanta are of the Hinayana order,
where the monks worshipped symbols such as stupa, wheel etc.

Painting in the post – classical period

• While studying painting tradition of India, the contribution made by the south Indian
kingdoms of the Cholas, Vijaynagara and Nayakas cannot be ignored. In the Chola
temples there are many fresco paintings seen at Vijayala Colesvara temple at
Narttamalai (A.D. 1100), Brihadesvara temple at Tanjavur (A.D. 1100), Sangita –
Mandapa at Tiruparuttikunram in Kanchipuram (A.D. 1387-88 ) and Vcayapa Matha
at Angundi (about the same date). The Chola frescoes were first discovered in A.D.
1931 within the circumambulatory passage of Brihadeshvara temple
• The Chola frescoes have ardent spirit of Saivism expressed in them. In all paintings,
Chola physiognomical and stylistic forms are apparent. The Classical values of full
roundedness of volume, subtle plasticity are also retained. But at the same time, there
is also strongly perceptible lessening of the consistency of colour modelling and
hence a flattening of surface is there, despite ample curves and colour.
• During the Nayaka period, the Chola paintings were painted over. The latter paintings
belonging to the Vijaynagara period (the Lepakshi wall painting), show general
decline in the art style. Outline became sharper and dedicate modelling of earlier
period is absent.
Medieval Indian Painting
• The advent of Islam and the spread of Islamic influence, initiated a new period in
Indian history ---the medieval period. It also had a direct impact on the realm of
painting.
• The pattern of large-scale paintings, which had dominated the scene, were replaced
by the miniature painting during the 11th and 12th centuries A.D.
• The miniature paintings are small paintings. They were often part of manuscripts
written at the time and illustrated the subjects of the manuscript. Thus, a new kind of
illustration was set during the period under review.
Mughal painting
• Medieval painting is, largely represented by the Mughal School, which developed
during the period of the Mughal empire (16th -19th centuries A.D.). Renowned for
their brilliant colours, accuracy in line drawing, detailed realism, intricacy and variety
of themes – the Mughal paintings were a class by themselves.
• It was distinct from all other styles and techniques of Pre- Mughal and Contemporary
art. Contrary to Delhi sultanate, the Mughal paintings were more popular and
widespread.
• There were several factors responsible for it – urbanization, better administrative
system, exclusive patronage by the rulers and nobility, synthesis of cultural values and
tradition of Central Asia, integration of Mughal economy with world economy, etc. In
fact, painting became a widespread source of livelihood during the rule of Mughals.
• The Mughal painting did not develop in vacuum. It had clear influence of different
tradition of contemporary world, namely, Persian, Timurid, Mongolid, Chinese and
European.
• The diffusion of these styles with the indigenous style created a new living tradition
of painting, popularly known as Indo-Sino-Persian art. Initially, the Mughal style of
painting had dominant Mongolid characteristics but gradually the Mongolid elements
diminished and the Indian characteristics came to the forefront. Thus diffusion of
various styles led to creation of a new cultural element.
• The Mughals used paintings as a tool of display of political power, imperial ideology,
authority, status and economic prosperity. The Mughal paintings were very rich in
variety- in terms of themes and colours. Some of the themes were- illustration of
battles, scenes from court life, wild life, hunting, portraits, etc. Rich use of colours
obtained from precious stones, metals like gold and silver-were also hallmark of the
Mughal paintings.

Modern Indian Painting

 • The decline of the Mughal Empire was accompanied by the control of English East
India Company in A.D. 1757 over north-eastern region, thus laying the foundation of
British Raj.
• In the realm of art, Indian art gave into new fashion brought by the English. The art
was no longer confined to court but began to be taught and patronized by art schools,
art societies, etc.
• The new landscape, unusual flora and fauna, stunning monuments, exotic new people
caught the attention of English travelers, Company Sahibs and Mem Sahibs. They
began to hire Indian painters in 18th and 19th centuries A.D. to capture the quaint
oriental images. Thus in the cities ruled by the English East India company, the
Company School of painting emerged under western influence.
• The hub of Company paintings were centers like Calcutta, Delhi, Madras, Varanasi
and Patna, where either the English had a factory or commercial interest. Calcutta was
among the early major center of Company paintings.
• The reaction to the Company School in the mid-19th century was two-fold. On one
hand Raja Ravi Varma adapted a distinct method to evolve a new style of painting of
Indian subjects whereas on the other hand the ‘Nationalist school’ represented by the
nationalist painter preferred to look at Indian themes and manifested it in the works of
the famous ‘Bengal School’.

Raja Ravi Varma (A.D. 1848-1906)

• Raja Ravi Varma of royal family of Travancore received formal training in painting,
before entering the ‘low’ profession of paintings against his family’s objections. His
paintings were inspired by the Victorian art but were more akin to art form of the
royal court. Raja Ravi Varma achieved recognition for his depiction of the scenes
from the epics of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana and thus rose to be a remarkable
portrait painter, prized by both, the Raj and the Indian elite.
• His fusion of Indian tradition with the technique of European Academic art, created a
new cannon of beauty in which characters like Shakuntala, Damyanti, etc. were
portrayed shapely and gracefully.
• His fusion of Indian tradition with the technique of European Academic art, created a
new cannon of beauty in which characters like Shakuntala, Damyanti, etc. were
portrayed shapely and gracefully.
• Bengal School reflected nationalist fervours in the paintings and resistance to British
rule in their own way.
• Various folk-art forms like Mithila paintings (Madhubani), Kalamkari painting, Warli
painting and Kalighat painting took Indian painting to new heights by adding new
dimensions to it.