INCREDIBLE INDIA

Prepared by:
JUNE R. DUMANHUG
Course Instructor
S-PE 308
INDIA
• Petroglyphs (rock
carving)
– Earliest Indian
paintings found in
Bhimbetka, some of
them are older than
5500 BC.
 Asian Art:
INDIA
• 7th century, carved pillars
of Ellora, Maharashtra
state present a fine
example of Indian
paintings, and the colors,
mostly various shades of
red and orange, were
derived from minerals.
• Frescoes of Ajanta and
Ellora caves
Buddha in the Tushita
Heavens
(Fresco in Ajanta Cave)
 Indian Art

a fusion of
Religious various cultures The Indian painting
and traditions was exposed
to Greco-Roman
as well as Iranian
and Chinese
influences.
 Sadanga (Six Limbs) of Indian painting

• Pramanam (Correct perception, measure

and structure)
• Bhava (Action of feelings on forms.)
• Lavanya Yojanam (Infusion of grace,
artistic representation.)
• Sadrisyam (Similitude/likeness)
• Varnikabhanga (Artistic manner of using
the brush and colours.) (Tagore.)
 Genres of Indian painting
• Murals
• Miniature paintings
– executed on a very small scale on
perishable material such as paper and
cloth.
– The Palas of Bengal were the pioneers of
miniature painting in India.
 Schools of Painting
• Madhubani (Mithila painting)
– style of Indian painting, practiced in the Mithila region of Bihar state,
India and the adjoining parts of Terai in Nepal.
– Painting is done with fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and
matchsticks, using natural dyes and pigments, and is characterized by
eye-catching geometrical patterns.
– There are paintings for each occasion and festival such as birth,
marriage, holi, surya shasti, kali puja, Upanayanam (sacred thread
ceremony), and durga puja.
– the origins:
• traditionally derived from the time of the Ramayana, when King
Janak commissioned artists to portray the marriage of his daughter,
Sita, with Sri Rama who was regarded as the incarnation of the
Hindu god Vishnu.
 • Holi
– is a spring festival, also known
as the festival of colours or the
festival of love. The holiday
signifies the victory of good
over evil.

HOLI
Lord Krishna playing Holi
with Radha and other Gopis
• Kali Puja
– is a festival dedicated to
the Hindu goddess Kali,
celebrated on the new
moon day of the Hindu
month Kartik especially
in Bengal, Odisha, Bihar
and Assam. It coincides
with the pan-Indian
Lakshmi Puja day of
Diwali.

KALI PUJA
Hindu goddess, Kali
DURGA PUJA
This autumnal
festival popularly
known as
Sharodotsav, recalls
the power of female
Shakti symbolized by
the Goddess Durga
who slays Asura to
reestablish peace
and sanctity on earth
again.
Schools of
Painting

• Mughal Painting
– a miniaturist style of Indian
painting, typically executed to
illustrate texts and
manuscripts
– a unique blend of Indian,
Persian and Islamic styles
 Schools of Painting
• Rajput
– miniature court-style painting, Rajput art flourished during the eighteenth
century, in the royal courts of Rajputana (the pre-1949 name of the
present-day Indian state of Rājasthān, the largest state of the Republic of
India in terms of area).
• Mysore
– an important form of classical art from Southern India
– Mysore paintings portray Hindu Gods and Goddesses and scenes from
Hindu mythology
• Bengal
– An avant garde, nationalist movement which reacted against the dominant
academic style of art in India as promoted by both Indian and British art
schools
Rajput painting
Mysore
painting

depicting the goddess Saraswati

Bagh Caves
 Ajanta
Caves

• Ajanta caves
– One of the great monuments to Mahayanistic Buddhism.
– carved and decorated from the first to the seventh centuries after
Christ.
Ajanta Caves (walkway)
 Indian Sculpture
• first sculptures in India date back to the Indus Valley
civilization, where stone and bronze carvings have
been discovered.
– one of the earliest instances of sculpture in the world.
– Later, as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism developed
further, India produced some of the most intricate bronzes in
the world, as well as unrivaled temple carvings
Indian Sculpture
KHAJURAJO TEMPLE BADAMI CAVE TEMPLES