Indian Painting B.A. II

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Indian PaintingB.A. II

• Dr. O. P. Parameswaran,
• Assistant Professor,
• Department of Fine Arts,
• Post Graduate Govt. College for Girls,
• Sector-11, Chandigarh.

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Unit-1 History of Indian Painting (BA-3)

• 2.1 Gita Govida from Kangra (Pahari
  painting), about 1781 A.D

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• Introduction
• The art of miniature painting that found
  patronage in the Rajput princedoms of the Punjab
  (now Himachal Pradesh) and Garhwal hills came to
  be known as the Pahari School.
• It developed during the late 17th centuries and
  flourished down to the 19th century.

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• Origin
• Amid the natural beauty of the Kangra Valley,
  Pahari painting developed into an art of great
  charm and delicacy under the influence of its own
  early tradition as well as refined Guler and
  Mughal styles.
• In the late 18th century Kangra became the most
  powerful hill state at the time when the
  patronage of painting declined in Guler after
  Govardhan Chands death. During the reign of Raja
  Sansar Chand (1775-1823) the art of miniature
  painting in Kangra was brought to its zenith.

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• Its major flowering is believed to have occurred
  between 1780 and 1805, with a second important
  phase from 1810 to 1823.
• Sansar Chand ascended the throne at the age of
  10, and soon showed an active interest in
  painting.

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• The subject matter
• The subject matter of Kangra miniature shows the
  cult of Krishna. Themes of the paintings were
  selected from Jayadevas Gita Govinda, Ramayana,
  Mahabharata, and Bhagavata Purana, Rashika priya
  of Krishna Das, the Sat Sai of Bihari lal, the
  Baramasa and the Ragamala etc.

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• Like all Indian painting the Kangra style based
  on line. Nowhere, however, are the lines so
  fluid, so refined and deceptively free.
• By means of thin squirrel-hair brushes they
  succeeded in painting extremely fine line to
  depict rains, jewellery and other details.

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• Though the Kangra artist never mastered the
  complexities of perspective, the richness of
  their varied coloring, their mastery of line and
  sensitive portrayal of nature more than
  compensate for this.
• Inspired by the experiments in Guler lovely faces
  and graceful forms, gracious poses and gestures,
  a harmonious blending of choice of colors and the
  inclusion of nature in its varied moods- the
  Kangra artists gave eloquent expression to the
  Rajput ideals of beauty.
• In their paintings music and poetry, romance and
  religion are intertwined.

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• Their fertile output includes two main themes.
  The first records the royal activities and the
  second depicts the finest religious and romantic
  compositions ever painted in India.
• Above all they created an idealized type of
  feminine beauty- the focal point of all Kangra
  art.
• The most favored pose was a slightly inclined
  head.

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• The dress and veil, forming a curve as though
  filled by a gentle breeze, suggest a graceful
  forward movement.
• The stiff architectural forms mostly of dazzling
  white marble help to emphasis the lithe rhythm of
  the human figures and the delicate colouring of
  their features.

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• A Gita Govinda series comprising more than a
  hundred and forty paintings of which many formed
  part of the Tehri Garhwarl Royal collection,
  exemplifies the mature Kangra style in every way.
  
• The Gita Govida celebrating in Sanskrit lyrics
  the ecstatic love of Radha and Krishna was
  generally sung at weddings

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• This series may have been commissioned for Sansar
  Chands marriage around 1781, and have come to
  Tehri Garhwal through his two daughters who
  married Raja Sudersham Shah of Tehri Garhwal in
  1829.

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• To increase the devotees emotional participation
  in the adventures of their God, the Kangra artist
  transformed lush grows and orchards of their
  country side into the sacred land of Brindavan.
  The river Beas, its emeralds green water laced
  with white foam as it winds along between
  Sujanpur and Alampur, becomes the holy Jamuna.
  Krishna himself resembles handsome Pahari prince
  and Radha a lovely young hill princess, while
  local maidens and villagers were changed into
  idealized gopies and companies of the mischievous
  young god.

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• The theme of the Gita Govinda is based on
  Krishna-Radha. Passionate and intense are the
  visions of the Love of Radha and Krishna passing
  through the phase of fervent longing and
  languishing, pathetic separation and joyous
  union.
• Here the images of Radha-Krishna are depicted
  symbolically. They represent the relation between
  the human body and soul.