Paintings in India

History of Indian Paintings
Indian arts and crafts have always been admired all over the world. Since ages, the tradition of paintings has been fostered in India. Indian artisans have proved their mastery in giving new meaning to the dull canvass, walls, cloths etc. The aesthetic quality of the paintings have made them world wide famous. The various styles and techniques with varied themes makes Indian paintings exquisite. The discoveries say that many patas have reference in Mudrakshaka. Even Vishnudharmottara too has principles of paintings.

Have you ever been to Bheemketa cave sin Madhya Pradesh, located in the central part of India? Here you will find some paintings and sketches of animals that date back to prehistoric times. Even the Harappan civilization have paintings in the form of seals. Later during the Gupta dynasty reign, the art of painting flourished too much. The period of 4 - 6th century A.D. is therefore called the Golden era for Indian arts.

Types of Indian Paintings
Indian arts are greatly influenced by the regional flavors. And so are Indian paintings. The regional variation in the paintings are no exception to it. The Indian paintings are either miniatures or murals.

Murals: The huge works of arts and embellishment done on walls that are solid. Examples of murals are present in Ajanta cave and Kailashnatha Temple.

Miniatures: Miniature paintings are executed on a piece of cloth or paper. The pioneer name in this tradition is of Pala kings from Bengal. The Mughal period gave new glories to the Indian miniatures. Further it was carried to Rajasthan and there it acquired some new schools like:

(a)Bundi
b) Kishangarh
(c)Jaipur
d) Mewar
e) Marwar

Even today Indian paintings are admired much by the connoisseurs. The contemporary artists have retained the aesthetic values of the Indian paintings and have skilfully adopted new techniques and themes.