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The True Colours of Rajasthan
Almost as colourful as the state's tradition
of festivals is its celebrations of arts, and
nowhere is this more manifest than in the variety
and artistry of its varying forms of painting.
Even this takes on two distinctive hues- the
formal school of miniature paintings that flourished
in courts all over north India and the Deccan,
and the folk traditions that resulted in a style
quite unique to Rajasthan.
In Rajasthan, the miniature painter did not
lack patronage and, in fact, as many as seven
styles developed over a period of time, and
in different kingdoms. But to study the development
of the miniature, one must first understand
its origins.
The miniature is, at its most basic, a portfolio
painting that uses techniques similar to wall
paintings, cloth painting or manuscript illustrations
from which it may have evolved. Examples of
miniatures in the Mughal and Rajasthan styles
exist from the 16th century on when there was
an effloresence of the art. Just as there is
a difference in the romantic Kangra style, so
too the Mughal and Rajasthani styles developed
separate identities that, though less apparent
to thelayperson's eye, nevertheless stand out
clearly as far as the connoisseur of art is
concerned.
While the Mughal style derived its inspiration
from its patrons, and more particularly its
emperors, chief among them Akbar, Jehangir and
Shah Jehan, the Rajasthani school of miniatures
was characterised by a revival based on its
increasing contact with the Mughal durbar. However,
the Rajasthani miniature was marked through
its use of bolder colours, the ornamental depiction
of nature, accentuated human forms, all of them
designed to reflect the altogether more flamboyant
Rajput culture. From the 16th century through
the 18th, the miniature style developed independently
in the kingdoms, the differences being marked
in the way the painter looked at the countryside,
the hills and shrubs, the forts and gardens
and dunes of the desert. There is enough evidence
to show that miniature style paintings had flourised
before the establishment of the 16th century
Mughal studios, particularly as illustrations
for manuscripts, and that Akbar hired many of
his court painters from Hindu kingdoms in north
India.
Eventually it was not uncommon to find Muslim
artists working in the ateliers seeking similar
employment in the Mughal court. Even the atelier
in Chittaurgarh, in the decades that it spent
in defiance of the Mughal badshahi, may have
offered employment to the Muslim painter and
had a seminal school in the 16th century from
where a collection of Gita Govinda paintings
may have originated. In the event, the Mewar
school (after the Sisodia rulers of Chittaur
and Udaipur) went on to become one of the most
important in the state.
From the very start, Rajasthani miniatures were
different from the Mughal- the colours, for
example, were stronger, the compositions bolder,
the range of hues almost passionate in their
intensity, and in their response to life of
the people they deemed to reflect in these miniature
glimpses. The Mughal miniature with few deviations,
was restricted to court scenes and portraits
of the emperors and the nobles, but the subject
of Rajasthani miniatures could range over a
variety of subjects - the kingly, religious,
secular- all different shades of life.
 Naturally, the ecstatic frolics of Krishna and
the gopis formed a favourite subject, one of
the most endearing being depictions of Krishana
Leela as a body of work. In the Gita Govinda,
also developed as a series, the miniature became
a lyrical symbol with swaying lotuses, meandering
streams, and trees in bloom suggesting the intimate
passions of lovers. While epics formed the subject
for religious works of art, particularly the
Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the dalliances
of Krishna were in a more romantic mould. later,
shades of royal lifestyle permeated the canvas
of the painters, and ranged from scenes of hunts
to ladies playing chess, or polo.
Today, miniatures are turned out in almost assembly
line in the studios that have been especially
developed to cater to the tourist souvenir trade.
Even now, the tlent available is formidable,
and while the best of the artists rarely see
their way into the open market (they are commissioned
directly, and their work may find its way into
collections, or be used to illustrate prestigious
art books). Mostly, the works are copies of
earlier paintings, and original subjects would
be hard to find. Studios continue to flourish
in Jaipur and Udaipur, and more recently in
Kishangarh as well. |
