The Rajasthani School of Painting

The Rajasthani schools of painting were situated in the princely kingdoms and parts of current Madhya Pradesh like Kota, Mewar, Bundi, Jodhpur, and Malwa among others. During the 16th century, as a result of Vaishnavism spreading across the country, the Bhakti movement led people to idolise Lord Krishna through paintings, called the Gita Govinda paintings. The major symbolism was of the ever-famous love between Radha and Krishna. Rasikapriya, another famous painting, explored various emotional states like love, jealousy, anger, and separation among others.  

Some Famous Paintings

Maru Ragini

• A form of miniature painting of the ‘Ragamala’ series, Maru Ragini was painted by Sahibdin, a painter in the kingdom of Mewar
• It depicts the story of prince Dhola, and princess Maru, who had to undergo numerous struggles to finally be together. They are shown eloping together on a camel

Equestrian Portrait of Aniruddha Singh

• Painted by artist Tulchi Ram in 1680, the equestrian portrait of Aniruddha Singh is highly popular
• It epitomises an artist’s perception of speed and a horse in motion that Aniruddha Singh accomplished

Chaugan Players

• This painting depicts a princess playing Polo (Chaugan) with her companions
• The painting is inscribed with a line on the upper portion that is translated as “beautiful maidens on horsebacks, playing”
• It represents the Jodhpur painting of Man Singh’s reign

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Krishna swinging and Radha in a sad mood

• This particular painting was done in 1683 by artist Nuruddin, who worked in the court of Bikaner from 1674 to 1698
• It depicts the annoyance of Radha caused by Krishna after seeing a Gopi waiting for him

Bani Thani

• The Kishangarh province in Rajasthan is the origin of the Bani Thani paintings
• Long necks, large, almond-shaped eyes, and long fingers are the features depicted in the painting
• It depicts Radha and Krishna as divine lovers and portrays their mystical love
• Themes include portraits, court scenes, dancing, hunting, music parties, nauka vihar (lovers travelling in a boat), Krishna Lila, Bhagavata Purana
• The facial features of the paintings found in Kishangarh school are presumed to be derived from the attractively sharp features of Bani Thani. 

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Some Famous Texts modelled in the Paintings

Gita Govinda

• It was composed in the twelfth century by Jayadeva, who is believed to have been the court poet of Lakshmana Sen of Bengal
• The ‘Song of the Cowherd’ is a lyrical poem in Sanskrit portraying the mystical love between Radha and Krishna through worldly images

Rasamanjari

• It was composed in the fourteenth century by Bhanu Datta

• It is also known as the ‘Bouquet of Delight’

• It is a treatise on rasa and deals with the classification of heroes (nayakas) and heroines (nayikas) in accordance with their age – baal, taruna and praudha

Rasikapriya

• It is translated as ‘The Connoisseur’s Delight’

• It is composed by Keshav Das in Braj-bhasha, who was the court poet of Raja Madhukar Shah of Orchha in 1591

• It explores various emotional states such as love, togetherness, jealousy, separation, and anger as mentioned before that are common between lovers represented through the characters of Radha and Krishna

Kavipriya

• It is composed by Keshav Das in honour of Rai Parbin, a celebrated courtesan of Orchha
• It illustrates the daily life of people in different seasons

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Highlights of Rajasthani paintings

• This painting technique is profoundly rooted in Indian traditions
• The cults of Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Sakti had a huge effect on this school’s pictorial art
• The many Krishna cults offered a highly rich canvas for the painter, who made a great contribution to the development of Indian painting with his creative talent and commitment
• The Rajasthani School of painting is distinguished by aggressive lines and vibrant, contrasting colours
• Figures are shown flat, with little effort to depict perspective in a lifelike fashion
• To distinguish one scene from another, the surface of the painting is sometimes split into many compartments of various colours
• The Mughal influence may be noticed in the refinement of the drawing and the introduction of some realism in the people and trees
• Apart from presenting events from the Ramayana and the regal lifestyle of kings and queens, they also showed societal ideals and the improvements implemented by monarchs for the welfare of society. The backdrop of the paintings was a distinguishing aspect of the Rajasthani School
• This style of painting employed paper, ivory, and silk as its canvas

Conclusion

The Rajasthani School of painting is profoundly based in Indian traditions, drawing inspiration from Indian epics, religious books such as the Puranas, love poetry in Sanskrit and other Indian languages, Indian folklore, and musical themes.

Between the fifteenth and early nineteenth centuries, this style of painting had a strong effect in Rajasthan and portions of Madhya Pradesh, including Mewar, Bundi, Kota, Jaipur, Bikaner, Kishangarh, Jodhpur (Marwar), Malwa, Sirohi, and other princes.