Miniature paintings

Miniature paintings refer to the small size of paintings, generally done on paper or cloth, instead of traditional paintings that were done on walls. Miniatures paintings became popular as soon as manuscripts became common. These were used to enhance the accompanying text.  In India, it developed primarily after the 11th century CE, having diverse features throughout the country. However, few characteristics are common in all miniatures:

• Greater variety of colours than Murals: For each character, multiple colours were used with a variety of bases.
• Surfaces: Frequently painted on paper, clothing, palm fronds, and other surfaces. The oldest miniature paintings are found on vellum (paper made from animal skin), Ivory and copper plates.
• Size: These images are smaller than a writing paper, i.e. A4 Size, generally following the pre-condition:

Prominent features of Miniature Painting:

• Use of handmade colours: They are mainly derived from pure gold, silver, minerals, indigo, precious stones, vegetables and conch shells.
• Base: Earlier, Palm leaves and cloth were used; Later, paper became a more popular choice for drawing miniatures.
• Themes: Mainly religious and Royal lives are depicted in these paintings.
• Accompanying Manuscript: Most miniature paintings are accompanied by a manuscript. Miniatures are used to give illustrations regarding the text accompanied.

Early Miniatures:

Pala School of Painting:

The Pala School of painting flourished from around 750 CE to the mid-12th century. These paintings were usually done on palm leaf or vellum paper, were found as part of manuscripts, and mostly belonged to the Vajrayana School.

Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita (‘Perfection of Wisdom’) is the most prominent work currently in Oxford, England.

• These paintings were generally characterised by sinuous lines and subdued tones of colour.
• Centres like Nalanda and Vikramsila were very dominant.
• There are a lot of lonely single characters in the paintings, and group paintings are uncommon.

Students and pilgrims from all over Southeast Asia took back examples of Pala art to their countries in the form of manuscripts, which helped the spread of the Pala style to Tibet, Nepal, Burma, Java, Sri Lanka, etc.

Apabhramsa School of Art:

This art form flourished in the region comprising Gujarat, Rajasthan and Malwa, mainly Patronised by the Chalukya Dynasty.

• Inspired by the ideals of Jainism.
• Early one on palm leaf and then on paper.
• These paintings were similar to the Murals of the time, but of smaller dimension.
• The colours employed in the paintings were mainly red, yellow, and ochre, and they had symbolic value.
• Kalpasutra and Kalakacharya Katha are popular paintings of this school.

Delhi Sultanate Miniatures:

With the Advent of Mohammed Ghori, a fusion of Indian and Persian styles came into the picture.

The Islamic tradition used Earthy tones, the absence of bright colours, disconnected looks, and so on have all been significant shifts.

With the Synthesis of Indian Art, following features emerged:

• Bright colours with well-defined dark outlines are the prominent character of this painting, and the Faces are sharp and pointed.
• They preferred pictorial manuscripts.
• Nimat-nama (a book on cookery), written during the reign of Nasir Shah. This book exemplifies the blending of indigenous and Persian styles.

Deccani Miniature painting:

The history of Deccani Painting can largely be constructed from the late sixteenth century until the 1680s, with Ahmednagar, Golkonda, Bijapur and subsequently Hyderabad as its centre.

The Deccani style of painting was placed under the Indo-Persian art for long. It was considered to be Middle Eastern, Safavid, Persian, Turkish and even Mughal in origin.

However, these kingdoms developed distinct and highly sophisticated school of court painting:

• Its unique sensuality and intense colours have a strong affinity to regional aesthetics.
• They preferred dense composition and attempted to create an aura of romance, which invariably expressed itself in an idiom that was eloquently natural and vivid.
• This school was sustained by a class of rulers who had their peculiar political and cultural vision. They hired and nurtured artists and commissioned works that enhanced their artistic sensibilities and specific requirements of governance in their kingdoms.

Ahmadnagar School of Painting:

The earliest examples of Deccani painting are in a volume of poems celebrating the reign of Hussain Nizam Shah I of Ahmadnagar (1553–1565).

• The high circular horizon and gold sky has Persian.

  

• Themes: Most of the 12 miniatures that illustrate battle scenes are of no artistic interest, but interestingly, those depicting the queen and her marriage are done in gorgeous colours and sensuous lines.
• Costumes: The women in the paintings of Ahmadnagar wear a modified northern costume with choli (bodice) and long braided pigtails ending in a tassel. Only a long scarf, passing around the body below the hips, is a southern fashion, which is seen in the Lepakshi frescoes.
• These feminine dresses, present in a series of Ragamala paintings, are the most striking and moving examples of the 16th-century Deccan Schools of Painting.
• The women’s hair is rolled up in a bun on the nape of the neck, similar to the Lepakshi murals.
• The horizon, in the painting, disappears and is replaced by a neutral-coloured ground patterned all over with small stylised plants or occupied by symmetrical architectural domes over the arcades.
• All these features, except the hairstyle, have traces of north India or Persia.
• Male costume is also decisively northern. The Jama with pointed tails is frequently seen in early Akbari miniatures and probably originated in the area somewhere between Delhi and Ahmedabad.
• The small pagri is close to the form found in the earliest Akbari miniatures.

Some Notable examples are the “Hindola Raga”, portraits of Burhan Nizam Shah II and Malik Amber. 

Bijapur School of Painting:

The school of Bijapur was patronised by Ali Adil Shah I and Ibrahim II in the 16^th century. They exemplify the luxuriant aestheticism of the Adil Shah court in their daring and brilliantly successful colouring and vigour of simplified compositions.

Most famous compositions include:

1. Nujum al-Ulum manuscript (stars of sciences): It is a richly illustrated encyclopaedia of astronomical illustrations commissioned by Ibrahim II. Bijapur had a close connection with Turkey, and Nujum al-Ulum may have been derived from Ottoman Turkish manuscripts.
2. Ragmala Paintings of Bijapur: The women are shown in South Indian dress, tall and slender as those in the Ragamala paintings of the 1590s commissioned by Ibrahim II.
3. Bijapur’s Yogini Paintings — Yogini is the one who believes in yoga, leads a disciplined life of physical and emotional training, pursues spiritual and intellectual explorations, and is famous for renunciation of worldly attachments.

Ragamala Paintings

Ragamala means Garlands of Ragas, depicting variations of Indian Musical modes, called the Ragas. The Ragamala paintings were created throughout India 16th century onwards: Each raga is personified by a colour, mood, a verse describing a story of a hero and heroine (nayaka and nayika). It also personifies its wife (ragini), sons (ragaputra) and daughters (ragaputri). It elucidates the season and the time of day and night in which a particular raga is to be sung. The six principal ragas – Bhairava, Deepak, Sri, Malkaunsa, Megha and Hindola and these are meant to be sung in – summer, monsoon, autumn, early winter, winter and spring respectively. Most paintings demarcate the specific Hindu deities attached with the raga, like Bhairava or Bhairavi to Shiva, Sri to Devi etc. The Ragamala manuscripts were commissioned throughout India under various kingdoms. In 1570, Kshemakarna, a preist from Rewa, compiled a Ragamala in Sanskrit. This was the first instance of a Ragamala. Immediately, we find Ragamalas in the Bijapur (1590s) and other Deccan sultanates, and then in Mughals and Pahari Kingdoms. Ragamalas have been discovered in the Patachitra Style in Odisha, based on Odissi Music, being distinct from the Ragamalas of other regions of the country.

17th Century Bijapur Yogini Painting

The Yogini is preoccupied with a myna bird as if in conversation. The Yogini is adorned with jewellery, and her hair bun elongates her visual presence. The long scarves swirl in a rhythmic circle around her body, which has exquisite flora surrounding it in an exquisite landscape. It is to be noted that the artist prefers a vertical composition, where the long-standing figure of the Yogini is complimented by a group of white structures right at the top as a tapering visual note.

Throne of Prosperity

The Throne of Prosperity is a symbolic diagram of an auspicious throne of seven stages, each supported by different inhabitants—from elephants and tigers to palm trees through storeys of peacocks and primitive tribes. The basic structures recall the wood-carved doorways and facades of Gujarati homes or perhaps remind us of the temples of the Deccan. The colouring of this page is in Islamic Persian tradition, especially the arabesques on the top of the throne. We see it is surmounted by Deccani foliage against an amazingly deep blue sky. The stylised plants on either side of the throne have a visual reference to margin decoration in Gujarati manuscripts.

Golconda School of Painting:

Golconda became an independent state in 1512. Golconda paintings large wall hanging paintings as high as eight feet. These paintings are covered with pictorial designs, generally figures in architectural settings of varied origins.

The earliest five miniatures were bound up in Diwan of Hafiz, dated 1463. These paintings represent court scenes of a young ruler, who is depicted enthroned, holding a typically long and straight Deccani sword, in the centre of one of the painting folios. The Prince is seen wearing a white coat with embroidered vertical bands.

• All five painted pages are lavishly enriched with gold, touching a deep azure sky.
• Dancing girls are seen entertaining the royal gathering.
• The symmetrical architecture has several registers of flat screens, one above the other.
• The ground appears covered with elaborately patterned carpets.
• The purple hue is amply applied, and at times, animals become blue.
• These early paintings suggest no Mughal influence

Later Themes:

• The most prominent figure is a portrait of Muhammad Qutb Shah (1611–1626) as he sits on a diwan early in his reign. He wears a typical Golconda dress and an elegant tight-fitting cap.
• A manuscript of a Sufi poem with paraphrased prose is richly illustrated with more than 20 miniatures.

Features of later Paintings:

• Gold is again freely used.
• Skies are strangely coloured in in gold and blue in separate bands.
• The men’s and women’s costumes indicate the fashion trend under Ibrahim II of Bijapur.
• The trees in the landscapes are of Deccani type, which are richly coloured and have a tinted edge. Plants are silhouetted against a mass of dark foliage, which is another prominent Deccani feature.

  

Hyderabad School of Painting:

The Hyderabad School of Painting was established in 1724 after Nizam-ul-Mulk established the Asaf Jahi dynasty.

• The style of painting is decorative.
• The painting “Princes in the Company of Maids”is a well-known work from the Hyderabad School of Painting.
• Painting face forms, rich colours, and clothing were utilised in these paintings.

Mughal Miniatures:

In the Mughal era, we found an exclusive combination of Indian, Persian and Islamic styles. Evolved as well as developed in the 16th to 19th centuries.

Themes like battles, court scenes, receptions, legendary stories, hunting scenes, wildlife, portraits, etc., are very prominent.

Kings and prominent works	Features
Humayun	Prominent Painters: Abd-us-Samad and Mir Sayyid Ali. Painting Style: Timuraid style of Persian paintings came into India. Mughals did not adopt Indian styles in this age.
Akbar	Synthesis of the indigenous styles and the Safavid school of Persian painting. Painters: Persian Painters like Mir Syed Ali and Khwaja Abdus Samad. Indian painters like Basawan, Manohar, Daswanth, Kesudasa, Bhim Gujrati, etc, are the most prominent. Tasvirkhana: An entire department of paintings was established by Akbar, and regular salaries and awards were given to the painters. Themes: Paintings were primarily aristocratic and secular in nature. Court art was the most popular art. Since Akbar was interested in tales, the paintings were based on Ramayana, Mahabharata and Persian epics. Striking features: Naturalism and fine and delicate drawings are the prominent themes. 3-D paintings and techniques of foreshortening. Calligraphy became important part of the text. Important arts: Tutinama (‘Tales of a Parrot’), Hamzanama, Anvar-i-Suhaili, etc.
Jahangir	Major Painters: Ustad Mansoor (Mansoor Aqa Riza), Abul Hasan, Bishan Das It is considered a golden period of Indian painting. Jahangir himself was a miniature artist and maintained a private workshop. Main Themes: Portraits Events from Jahangir’s own life, Naturalistic Themes: birds, flowers, animals, etc. Striking features: More refinement in brushwork, along with the use of much lighter and subdued colours. Decorated margins are another prominent feature of this age. Important arts: Ayar-i-Danish (Touchstone of Knowledge), Zebra, the turkey and the cock, etc. One of the most popular examples of Mughal paintings of this time includes the pictorial illustrations of the Jahangir-nama (biography of Emperor Jahangir).
Shah Jahan	Painters: Muhammad Nadir Samarqandi and Mir Hashim. Striking features: European influence: Use of Pencil and Charcoal for drawing a raw sketch. Further, he reduced liveliness, reducing artificial elements in the paintings, mimicking the European styles where the paintings were still. Southern influence: Use of gold, silver, etc. became prominent. After Shah Jahan: Aurangzeb, who considered most of the artforms as un-Islamic, withdrew royal patronage to the artists. We find only few portraits later on.

Difference between Mughal and Deccani Miniature paintings:

1. As compared to Mughal miniatures, Deccan painting exceeds in “the brilliance of its colour, the sophistication and artistry of its composition, and a general air of decadent luxury”.
2. In comparison to the Mughals, Deccani paintings were less interested in realism, instead pursuing “a more inward journey, with mystic and fantastic overtones”.

Regional paintings

After the Mughal emperor Aurungzeb withdrew his patronage of the arts, artists dispersed throughout India. They then developed various schools of arts, where they depicted the themes of mythology and poetry.

Two major categories of paintings emerged from after the decline of Mughal Paintings:

1. Rajasthani Paintings
2. Pahari Paintings.

Rajasthani Paintings:

The term’ Rajasthani Schools of Painting’ pertains to the schools of painting that prevailed in the following princely kingdoms between 17th and 19th centuries:

1. The Mewar school contains the Chavand, Nathdwara, Devgarh, Udaipur and Sawar painting styles.
2. The Marwar school comprises the Kishangarh, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Pali and Ghanerao styles.
3. The Hadoti school with the Kota, Bundi and Jhalawar styles.
4. The Dhundar school of Amber, Jaipur, Shekhawati and Uniara styles of painting.

The Mughal style deeply influenced these. However, unlike Mughal artists, Rajput artists were anonymous and did not enjoy the high status of their Mughal counterparts.

Important Themes in Rajasthani Schools

• Religious themes: The most important themes are from the life of Lord Krishna, the Great epics of Ramayana and the Mahabharata, landscapes and human beings.
• Ragamala: Book of personified description of the Ragas.
• Lives of the Kings such as in Bani Thani Paintings.

Method of Painting:

The painting activity was a kind of teamwork, with the master artist composing and doing preliminary drawings, followed by pupils or experts of colouring, portraiture, architecture, landscape, animals, etc., taking over and doing their bit, and finally, the master artist putting the finishing touches. The scribe would write the verse in the space left for the one.

Surfaces:

• Paintings were painted on waslis, layered, thin sheets of handmade papers glued together to get the desired thickness.
• Ivory and Silk were also used as canvas.
• Hanging Miniatures: Often these paintings were Used on the walls of palaces, interior chambers of the forts, havelis, etc.

Colours and Pigments used:

• The outline was sketched on waslis in black or brown, followed by colours fixed therein by brief notations or sample patches.
• Colour pigments were predominantly obtained from minerals and precious metals like gold and silver mixed with glue as the binding medium.
• Camel and squirrel hair were used in brushes.

Finishing: On completion, the painting was burnished with an agate to lend a uniform sheen and an appealing resplendence.

Schools of Rajput Painting:

Mewar school:

• The emergence of the Mewar School is widely associated with an early-dated set of Ragamala paintings painted at Chawand in 1605 by Nisardin.
• Under the reign of Jagat Singh I (1628–1652): artists added new vitality to the style and vocabulary of Mewar paintings.

1. Sahibdin painted the Ragamala (1628), Rasikapriya, Bhagvata Purana (1648) and the Yuddha Kanda of Ramayana (1652).
2. Manohar’s most significant work is that of Bal Kanda of Ramayana (1649).

• Another exceptionally gifted artist, Jagannath, painted the Satsai of Biharilal in 1719, which remains a unique contribution of the Mewar School.
• Other texts like Harivamsha and Sursagar were also illustrated in the last quarter of the 17th century. Nathdwara Paintings are also a type of Mewar Miniatures.

Keshavdas’ Rasikpriya.

Rasikpriya is one of the main themes of Rajasthani miniatures. It was written in 1591 in Braj Bhasha by Kheshav Das, the court poet of Madhukar Shah of Orchha. It is a foundational text on mannered poetry (Ritikavya).  It details about the various ras (mood) present in the poetry such as shringar-ras, Vir-ras, Bhakti ras. For such foundational classification of Hindi poetry, Keshavdas is known as the father of Ritikaal.

Characteristic Features of Mewar Paintings:

• Colours: Mewar artists generally prefer a bright colour palette with prominent reds and yellows.
• Depictions: Flamboyant coloured figures with different scenes from mythological stories like Ramayana, Mahabharata. It encompasses natural to human elements. Evidently, each of the paintings portrays exquisite and intricate details.
• The most unique feature of this painting is that the female sketch is smaller than the male. Women’s dress code is chaniya choli with transparent veils and embroidered turbans and patkas for men.
• Influence of Apabhramsa style: The nose is long with fish-shaped eyes, while the faces are oval.
• Themes: Initially the religious themes of Ramayana and the Bhagavata Purana are prominent. Later, this school became secular and courtly.
• The ‘Tamasha’ Paintings show the ceremonial and city views.

Pichhwai Paintings:

The term Pichhwai comes from the Sanskrit words “Pichh” meaning back, and “wai” meaning hanging. There are the paintings mainly produced as wall hangings for the Hindu temples. These are large devotional Hindu painted pictures, normally on cloth, which portray Krishna.

Themes: The paintings narrate tales of Krishna. Temples have sets with different images, which are changed according to the calendar of festivals celebrating the deity.

We find these paintings mainly in the Hindu temples of the Pushtimarg devotional tradition, especially the Shrinathji Temple in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, built around 1672

Like the Pushtimarg tradition (Vallabha Sampradaya), they originated in the Deccan, but are now mainly associated with Western India.

Marwar school:

It includes Jodhpur and Bikaner paintings by the Rathods and Jaisalmer paintings by Bhatis.

Evolution of style: In the 15th and 16th centuries, paintings were done on cloth, and people wore colourful clothing. After the 18th century, the Mughal Influence appeared in it.

Marwar painting revolves around royal and romantic themes.

Sub-schools of Marwar School of Painting:

• Bikaner’s painting style is inspired by Krishna Leelas, Bhagwat Puran and Ragamala. Themes like Shiva Purana, Natacharitra, Durgacharitra, Panchtantra, etc. are prominent.
• In the Jodhpur school of painting, due to King Jaswant Singh’s inclination towards the Vallabha cult of Shrinathji (Nathdwara Cult), he patronised many Krishna-related themes, with Bhagvata Purana as the most prominent one. It often depicts natural landscape with sand dunes, camels, horses, deer and crows.

Kisangarh school:

Kishangarh is a town in the Aravalis 200km North-east of Jodhpur, in the Marwar region. This region developed a distinct style in the early 18^th century during the reign of Raj Singh –

Features of Kishangarh School:

1. There is a general tendency to elongate the human form by including features like long necks, arched eyebrows, drooping eyelids, thin lips, lotus petal-shaped eyes slightly tinged with pink, a sharp slender nose.
2. Kings and Queens are adorned with jewellery.
3. Making lavish use of green and a penchant for depicting panoramic landscapes.

Major Themes

• With Raj Singh getting initiated into the Pushtimargiya cult of Vallabhacharya, Krishna Lila themes became personal favourites for the rulers of Kishangarh.
• Under Sawant Singh and his most celebrated and outstanding artist was Nihal Chand, most significant themes include romantic stories of Sawant Singh and his beloved Bani Thani, and the relationship of Radha Krishna (stories from Geet Govinda of jayadeva) and Bhagwat Purana.

Miniatures of Hadoti region

Budi and Kota Schools of miniatures are the most prominent styles of miniature paintings present in the Hadoti region of Rajasthan.

Bundi school:

In Bundi in the 17^th century a which is remarkable for its unblemished colour sense and excellent formal design.

• Bundi Ragamala assigned to the earliest and formative phase of Bundi painting, was painted at Chunar in the reign of Bhoj Singh (1585–1607), the Hada Rajput ruler.
• Rao Bhao Singh (1659–1682) was an enthusiastic, self-indulging patron. Innovative developments have been observed under the reigns of his successors, Aniruddha Singh and Budh Singh, whose whiskered face is visible in many portraits.
• Under Ram Singh, the chitrashalain of the Bundi palace was decorated with mural paintings of royal processions, hunting scenes and Krishna’s stories.
• The last stages of painting at Bundi are best exemplified by several wall paintings in the palace.

Features of Bundi School:

• Excessive use of lush green vegetation, dramatic night skies, rich and glowing colours, the rising sun in golden colour, etc.
• Element of naturalism was prominent: Picturesque landscapes with varied flora, wildlife and birds, hills and thick jungles and water bodies.
• Distinctive way of depicting water with light swirls.
• Standards of feminine beauty—women were petite with round faces, receding foreheads, sharp noses, full cheeks, sharply pencilled eyebrows and a ‘pinched’ waist.

Major Themes

• Baramasa is a popular theme of Bundi paintings. It is an atmospheric description of the 12 Months by Keshav Das.
• Ragamala: Raga Dipak is a very significant painting of this school.
• Scences of hunting, court scenes, the life of nobles, procession, lovers, manuscripts of the Bhagawata Purana, animals, birds and scenes from Lord Krishna’s life, etc.

Kota school 

The Kota School accomplished tradition of painting at Bundi. It excelled in depicting hunting scenes and reflects an exceptional excitement and obsession for animal chasing, which became a social ritual in which even women of the court participated.

• Kota paintings are characteristically spontaneous, calligraphic in execution and emphasise marked shading, especially the double lid eye.
• Artists of the Kota School excelled in rendering animals and combat.

Major Themes of Kota Paintings:

• Themes of tiger and bear hunts were prevalent at Kotah.
• Krishna Bhakti was also reflected in some of the paintings.

Amber-Jaipur school:

The Jaipur School of painting originated in its former capital, Amer, which was the nearest Rajput state to Mughal capitals. This school is also known as the Dhudhar School.

• It reached the zenith in the period of Sawai Pratap Singh. He reorganised the Suratkhana, the place where paintings were made and stored.
• Artists during his reign painted sets based on Rasikapriya, Gita Govinda, Baramasa and Ragamala, where the hero’s figure resembles the king.
• Portrait painting was also popular during his time. Sahibram and Muhammad Shah were very prominent Portrait painters.
• It includes illustrations from the mausoleum of Amer Palace in Rajasthan, Bhagwata Purana, Ramayana, Ragamala and several portraits.

Malwa School of Painting:

The Malwa School flourished between 1600 and 1700 CE and is most representative of the Hindu Rajput courts. These paintings flourished in the courts of their respective kings of the Malwa Region, such as Mandu, Nusratgarh and Narsyang Sahar.

• Its two-dimensional simplistic language appears as a consummation of stylistic progression from the Jain manuscripts to the Chaurpanchashika manuscript.
• Some prominent works are an illustrated poetic text of Amaru Shataka and a Ragamala painting by Madho Das.

Independent artists in the Medieval times

Datia School of Mural Painting: Many paintings discovered from the Datia Palace collection support a claim for Bundelkhand as the region of painting. Contrary to the Mughal works on paper, these paintings are stylistically inclined towards indigenous two-dimensional austerity, bringing it closer to the Malwa School. No Patrons: A complete absence of the mention of patron kings and portraits in this school supports a view that the Datia rulers bought these paintings from travelling artists, who carried paintings on popular themes, such as the Ramayana, Bhagvata Purana, Amaru Shataka, Rasikapriya, Ragamala and Baramasa.

Pahari School of painting:

Pahari denotes ‘hilly or mountainous’ in origin. When the Mughal patronage for the miniature painters dried up, some artisans went to hill kingdoms creating many new schools of painting emerged. Pahari Schools of Painting includes towns such as Basohli, Guler, Kangra, Kullu, Chamba, Mankot, Nurpur, Mandi, Bilaspur, Jammu and others in the hills of the western Himalayas.

Basohli School or Basohli Kalam:

This school of painting developed a distinctive and magnificent style under Prince Kirpal Pal.

Characteristic Features:

• Strong use of primary colours and warm yellows—filling the background and horizon, stylised treatment of vegetation and raised white paint for imitating the representation of pearls in ornaments.
• Use of small, shiny green particles of beetle wings to delineate jewellery and simulate the effect of emeralds.
• In their vibrant palette and elegance, they share the aesthetics of the Chaurpanchashika group of paintings of Western India.

Major Themes:

1. Rasamanjari of Bhanu Datta,
2. Bhagvata Purana and
3. Ragamala.

Artist ateliers from Basohli gradually spread to other hill states, such as Chamba and Kullu, giving rise to local variations of the Basohli kalam.

Bhanudatta’s Rasamanjari

Rasamanjari is a collection of 17th century Sanskrit love poems by Bhanudatta that explore different types of love, including longing, rejection, and deception. The poems are often illustrated with small drawings, or rasamanjari, in the Basohli style.

Guler School:

The first quarter of the 18^th century saw a complete transformation in the Basohli style, initiating the Guler–Kangra phase. This phase first appeared in Guler, a high-ranking branch of the Kangra royal family, under the patronage of Raja Govardhan Chand.

Key Artists:

• Pandit Seu, with his sons Manak and Nainsukh, are the most prominent artists of this school. Though initiated by Manak, his brother Nainsukh (the court painter of Raja Balwant Singh of Jasrota) is emphatically responsible for shaping the Guler School.
• Nainsukh’s genius was for individual portraiture, which became a salient feature of the later Pahari style. His palette comprised delicate pastel shades with daring expanses of white or grey.

Defining Feature: This style is more refined, subdued and elegant compared to the bold vitality of the Basohli style.

Kangra School:

The Kangra style is by far the most poetic and lyrical of Indian styles, marked with serene beauty and delicacy of execution. It blossomed under the patronage of a Raja Sansar Chand.

Characteristic features

• Delicacy of line, brilliance of colour and minuteness of decorative details.
• The delineation of the female face, with a straight nose in line with the forehead, is the most distinctive feature of this style.
• It is remarkable for its effortless naturalism, deft and vivid rendering of figures in unusual poses that crisply portray dramatic scenes.

The most popular themes were the Bhagvata Purana, Gita Govinda, Nala Damayanti, Bihari Satsai, Ragamala and Baramasa.

Artists: Fattu, Purkhu and Khushala.

 

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