Painting used to be viewed as a mood expression and depiction of reality as viewed by the artist. Various types of paintings in India are a visual representation of a philosophical concept, an invocation of divine favours, or decoration for a celebration.

Painting Through the Ages

• 10,000-8000 BCE: Prehistoric murals on cave temples and rock surfaces depict ancient human life and activities.
• 1-1000 CE: Murals representing the life of Buddha and other spiritual stories may be seen in Buddhist viharas (monasteries) and chaityas (prayer halls) such as Ajanta (Maharashtra), Alchi monastery (Ladakh), and Bagh (Madhya Pradesh).
  • In Tamil Nadu, paintings may be found in the Kailashnath Temple in Kanchipuram and the Brihadisvara Temple in Thanjavur.
  • Ancient Jaina paintings have been discovered at Sittanavasal, Tamil Nadu’s Pudukkottai district.
  • Murals of the Andhra style may be found in Virubhadra Sanctuary in Lepakshi.
  • Mural paintings graced buildings from 1600 until 1900. Bundi, Jaipur, and Nagaur are all great examples.
• 1900-2000: Many of our local communities, particularly in Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, strive to produce murals today. One of the famous types of painting in the Bihar region is Mithila painting.

Types of Paintings in India 

• Rajasthan: Chittorgarh artists create wooden shrines with doorways that could be opened to display intricately painted mythological or devotional stories. Wooden kavads are used in worship and on special occasions.
• Maharashtra: Paintings illustrating their lifestyle, such as planting saplings, transporting grain, dancing, and travelling to the market, are displayed on the walls of Warli tribal homes in the Thane district.

• Vegetation, mammals, insects, birds, and symbols of the solar system, moon, and stars demonstrate their belief in the unification of all forms of life.
• Warli dwelling walls are coated with cow dung on ritual and ceremonial occasions.
• Rice paste and red ochre powder are used to tell stories and invoke the blessings of Palaghata, the Goddess of Fertility.

• Tamil Nadu: Tanjore Painting is an intriguing blend of art and craft which thus arose under Maratha’s dominance in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.

• Red, yellow, black, and white are the primary colours used in Tanjore painting.
• Aristocratic or religious people are shown in magnificent architectural arches and entrances, flanked by elaborate architectural arches and doorways.
• Tanjore painting is encrusted with semi-precious stones and was initially created on wood.
• The artworks were of Tanjore painting were then transferred to glass.
• Colour is applied to the glass artworks from the outside inward.
• Because the artist paints the artwork from the backside of the glass, the outlines and finishing touches must be completed first.

• Bihar: Madhubani painting, also known as Mithila painting, was created in the Madhubani District.

• To commemorate festivals, women adorn the nuptial chamber and the interior walls of their homes with Madhubani paintings.
• ‘Return of Ram from exile’ and ‘Krishna playing with gopis’ are two themes primarily used in Madhubani painting.
• Nature, harvest, tantric motifs of snake worship, and even city landscapes are among the sceneries drawn in Mithila painting.

• West Bengal: Jharnapatachitra is an incredible religious tale on a sizeable vertical paper scroll.

• Artists write melodies that they chant while they unfold each scene of the painting one by one.
• To strengthen the scroll, an old cloth is put on the back. 

• Orissa: The Patachitra of Orissa exhibits religious stanzas from ancient poets, singers, and scribes, as well as tales from the classic poem the Geet Govind.

• Initially, the picture was created as a temple sacrifice.
• Tales are etched as etchings on palm leaf or painted on paper and silk in portions.
• These paintings have deep red, ochre, black, and vivid blue colours derived from minerals, shells, and biological lac.
• Due to modern innovations, artists have been motivated to paint on wooden boxes and picture frames.

• Pan-India: On festive seasons, mehndi or henna is applied to the hands and feet to create auspicious signs, patterns, and designs.
• Kolam is a kind of drawing  in Tamil Nadu using rice flour on the floors

Pahari paintings

Pahari paintings take the names of hilly towns they originated from, including Basohli, Kullu, Guler, Chamba and Jammu. Pahari means ‘mountainous’. It is notable that these schools of Pahari painting came about from the seventeenth through the nineteenth century.

Tribal paintings

This is another tribal art form practised by the Bhils, India’s second-largest tribal community. The Bhils are a Tribal people. They place a high value on art, and the rich textures of their paintings connect their lives to nature. Bhil tribal paintings are traditionally created on the clay walls of their village homes using neem sticks, twigs, and natural colours.

Conclusion

India today has a rich mixture of different types of painting, each borrowing from the other and evolving a style peculiar to an area or a community. There is a continuous interplay between the forms and influences from far away. The earliest Indian art was largely monumental or architectural, with some examples of painting on the walls of temples dating back to the early Harappan period.

Indian painters have created some extraordinary works of art that have captivated viewers all around the globe. In the above paragraphs, we looked into some marvellous types of paintings in India.