The Rajasthani Schools of Painting (major schools)

The ‘Rajasthani Schools of Painting’ mainly signifies all the schools of painting that were a part of princely kingdoms. They were also part of some thikanas of Mewar, Bundi, Kota, Jaipur, Bikaner, Kishangarh, Jodhpur (Marwar), Malwa, and Sirohi principalities. They have existed since around the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries. What makes them unique and sacred is that they represent an indigenous painting tradition and the tradition was prevalent in the mainland before the Mughals’ rule.

Key Features:

• The paintings of Rajasthani Schools of Painting were heavily found on waslis. Waslis are thin sheets of handmade papers that are layered and often glued together
• Colours used for the process of painting, i.e. the pigments were extracted from minerals and metals. Some of the metals were gold and silver and other such metals
• Brushes used to draw the painting were made out of camel and squirrel’s hair
• The craftsmanship was excellent and adored, and often went through a defined process of teamwork. The preliminary drawing was done by the master artist who composed the concept. The pupils were the followers who took the idea ahead through expert colouring. Some of the processes were handled by experts in portraiture, architecture, landscape, animals, etc

Themes of Paintings:

• Going back to the sixteenth century, Krishna and Ram were the themes of paintings
• The influence of Vaishnavism was the main reason for adopting this theme. They were followed in many parts of western, northern, and central India
• Introducing the theme, Krishna is considered the creator of the world. Radha, however, is the soul, a human, who offered herself to the creator of all, God Krishna
• Gita Govinda paintings are a beautiful representation of Radha’s devotion to God himself. The paintings show how Radha abandoned herself for her beloved Krishna

• There was a list of romantic themes of painting that were considered the favourite ones. The romantic themes of the painting list included Dhola-Maru, Sohni-Mahiwal, Mrigavati, Chaurapanchasika and Laurchanda
• A lot of paintings were also done to capture darbar scenes and other historical moments such as hunting expeditions and more

Ragamala Paintings:

• Ragas and raginis were drawn in ragamala paintings
• Ragamala paintings were specifically put in an order, say the format of families
• The ragamala paintings showed families with raga, the male head, along with six female consorts called raginis

Malwa School of Painting:

• The Malwa School of painting is one of the oldest Rajasthani Schools of Painting. It was at the peak of its success between 1600 and 1700 CE
• This place highly represented the Hindu Rajput courts
• There is no centre at Malwa School that can be referred to as the precise place of origin. But, there sure are some famous centres – Mandu, Nusratgarh and Narsyang Sahar
• Also, there is no information on the patron kings of this school
• Some of the common themes of painting are – Ramayana, Bhagavata Purana, Amaru Shataka, Rasikapriya, Ragamala and Baramasa 

Mewar School of Painting:

• Mewar school of painting belongs to the group of early painting centres from Rajasthan
• The Mewar school of painting’s emergence is linked to an early dated set of Ragamala paintings. This painting was drawn around 1605 by Nisardin at Chawand
• In this school, the paintings evolved to include texts like Harivamsha and Sursagar, towards the last quarter of the seventeenth century
• The unique Jagannath, painted in 1719, is truly an iconic painting indeed
• Mewar school of painting artists are biased towards reds and yellows as a bright colour palette is their topmost preference
• Furthermore, Mewar paintings stood out from the others in terms of secular and courtly ambience around the eighteenth century
• Subjects: Flamboyant court scenes, hunting expeditions, festivals, zenana activities, sports

Bundi School of Painting:

• The Bundi school painting became popular in the seventeenth century essentially. The school is known for its colour sense and excellent formal design, which was an absolute favourite for the artists
• The Bundi school of painting reached its peak during 1631–1659 under the aegis of Rao Chattar Sal and then his son, Rao Bhao Singh, until 1682
• The centre of attraction for the Bundi School of painting was its varied flora and fauna
• Of all the Bundi School of painting paintings, Baramasa was the most famous painting theme of this school, and it’s a visual representation of Kavipriya. It was Keshav Das who wrote it for a celebrated courtesan of Orchha
• The first phase of painting from Bundi was Bundi Ragamala
• However, wall paintings depicted in the palace belong to the last stages of the painting from Bundi

Kota School of Painting:

• Let us move on to another Rajasthani School of Painting, the Kota school. It is pretty difficult to differentiate the initial paintings of Bundi from that of Kota. The reason for similarities was the fact that Kota painters borrowed from the Bundi repertoire
• Unique characteristics of Kota paintings are spontaneous, calligraphic in execution and emphasis on marked shading, especially the double-lid eye 
• The expertise of artists from the Kota School was in portraying animals and combat

Bikaner School of Painting:

• Bikaner school of painting is another popular Rajasthani School of Painting. It had a niche in painting that often set it apart from others. The niche emerged from the association of Bikaner with Mughals for a long time
• Portraits from Bikaner were not only a visual representation but also had information on the ancestry. They are referred to as Ustas or Ustad
• Many studios came up in Bikar, also known as Mandi. Mandis were established for groups of artists who worked alongside each other, often with the supervision of a master artist
• Famous Painters from the place were Ruknuddin, Ibrahim, Nathu, Sahibdin

Kishangarh School of Painting:

• Among all Rajasthani Schools of Paintings, Kishangarh paintings were the most styled. The unique style which set them apart was their exquisite sophistication
• The theme of paintings close to the heart of Kishangarh rulers was Krishna Lila themes. This theme of painting represented a significant portion of their court art
• A typical pattern of green and penchant was noticed when Raj Singh was the leader in the eighteenth century. The artists used this specific set of colours for panoramic landscapes in paintings
• The most Famous Painter from this place was Nihal Chand

Jodhpur School of Painting:

• This school had artists that put the Court life in beautiful documentary paintings
• Another typical pattern found in the Jodhpur school of painting was Krishna, who was referred to a lot in the theme of paintings
• Veer Durgadas Rathore’s painting is found in the court painting from Ajit Singh’s reign. The paintings depicted heroic tales of Veer Durgadas Rathore, who recaptured Marwar from Aurangzeb
• From Man Singh’s reign, the most common paintings were of Nath Charita, The Ramayana (1804), Dhola-Maru, Panchatantra (1804) and Shiva Purana
• Some inscriptions were found in Marwar paintings, which are yet to be deciphered

Jaipur School of Painting:

• Jaipur School of paintings, a part of Rajasthani Schools of Painting, grew popular during Sawai Jai Singh’s time
• Jaipur school of paintings had the unique characteristic of Mughal and indigenous stylistic
• When Sawai Jai Singh ruled the place, Sahibram was the artist who drew the portrait Paintings
• Suratkhana was a special place dedicated to paintings. Artists used the site to draw or store their paintings
• The common themes from this school included Radha, Krishna, Rasikapriya, Gita Govinda, Baramasa

Conclusion

The term ‘Rajasthani Schools of Painting’ refers to all of the schools of painting that were formerly part of princely kingdoms. They were also a part of thikanas in the Mewar, Bundi, Kota, Jaipur, Bikaner, Kishangarh, Jodhpur (Marwar), Malwa, and Sirohi kingdoms. They’ve been prevalent since the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries.