Art of indian miniatures paintings on indianminiature.org

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Indianminiature.org is an inter-desciplinary platform by Narmada Prasad Upadhyaya for all art scholars on Indian Miniature Paintings. The tradition of painting in India is as old as Rigvedaan ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns dedicated to Rigvedic deities composed roughly between 1700–1100 BCE. We have clear evidences of this tradition in this great epic. The Ancient Indian compositions right from Rigveda to the works of Kalidasaa Sanskrit poet and dramatist are full of the narrations regarding painting. We have Vishnudharmottarpurana, which is a pioneer ancient Indian text of this area. There are several books in different languages, which give ample information regarding this unique tradition.

- Books -

The Concept of Portrait (in the context of Indian miniature painting)

Indianminiature.org is guided by the great and extensive knowledge of Indian painting possessed by Mr. Narmada Prasad Upadhyaya. In his research and publications he demonstrated a deep knowledge of Indian miniature painting and that he possesses an unparalleled insight into many schools of Indian painting, like RaghogarghIndian Princely state from central India, this school of art is famous for its unique style, Malwa Malwa is a Central Indian Region where the painting traditions flourished in different places right from the pre-Mughal times. Mandu was the main center in the early era of pre-Mughal times where "Kalpsutra" was painted in 1439 A.D., Kangra World fame style for Krishna Leela depiction, the Kangra Miniatures of the Pahari School made a mark in the 18th century, Boondi or BundiFamous style of Hadoti region, Pahari, Khandesh etc. and places like BundelkhandBundelkhand is a rich central Indian region where the painting tradition evolved in its own originality and Baghelkhand.

He has also studied and researched regarding the painting tradition flourished during the domination of Mughals The Mughal Empire, as an important imperial power in the Indian Subcontinent from the early sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries GwaliorGwaliar was a big state of Scindias in Central India being a prominent

Miniature painting from Malwa School of art

The basic and foremost feature of this unique style of art is an exhaustive detailing of each and every component relating to the scene.

There are different themes, which have become the base for the flight of the imagination of artist. These themes are traditional and have come out from the great compositions like RamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the poet Valmiki and is an important part of the Hindu canon, MahabharataIt is of immense importance to the culture of India and Nepal, and is a major text of Hinduism. With more than 74,000 verses, long prose passages, and about 1.8 million words in total, it is one of the longest epic poems in the world, MeghdootamA collection of poem from Kalidasa, Geet govindamThe Geet govindam ("Song of the Cowherd") is a work composed in the 12th century by the great poet, Jayadeva of Puri, Orissa. It describes the relationship between Krishna and the gopis (cowgirls) of Vrindavana, and in particular one gopi named Radha. This work has been of great importance and several others alike in the earlier centuries of our cultural history.

These themes have also emerged from the compositions of the great poets like Sur, Keshav, Bihari, Matiram, Dev and Puhukar who wrote great poems like Sursagar, Bihari Satsai, Rasraj, Ashtayam and Rasbeli. There are several themes of different nature and attitude. They centered on the love stories, Nayak-Nayika Bhed and mostly the Leela of Radha and Krishna.

The tradition of wall paintings in India is very rich and colorful. This tradition touched its zenith in Ajanta and the line of Ajanta never collapsed. It transformed and got its fine assimilation in the Mughal period. The painting tradition of Iran merged with the Indian tradition and wrote a unique chapter in the history of Indian art. The Mughal kalam touched its zenith during the reign of Jahangir.

miniature painting of Raja Dhiraj Singh of Raghogarh

Miniature of Shiva from Gayer Anderson Collection

The Collection of Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson and Colonel T.G. Gayer-Anderson

This is an astonishing fact that the art historians and the other connoisseurs of Indian and Egyptian art could not evaluate the great contribution in the field of art by these bachelor twins. Both brothers were not only the disciplined military officers but also great collectors of art objects, writers, illustrators and above all the persons of great vision.