Miniature Paintings of Rajasthan

The miniature painting style of Rajasthan ( State of India ) has been popular throughout many generations. Many "schools" of painting evolved during the late 16th century and the art and tradition has been carried ever since.

Fortunately, I live in one of the regions that was influenced by this painting style and I happened to visited the City Palace of Jaipur. There are still a few families of artists who have carried the tradition of miniature painting from generation to generation.

As soon as I entered the hall, I was blown away by how huge and beautiful it was! Intricate details and antiques were present all around me. Some of where even hard to believe that they were handmade!

We were not allowed to use cameras or mobiles as per their policy, but we really wanted to see how these paintings were created. So, we sat with some artists and started conversing with them. Many of them were reluctant to talk to us and give us any information at first as they feared that it would pose a threat to their livelihoods. But later on they gradually opened up about the technicalities and were so generous that they allowed us to take pictures of their artworks.

The following paintings are made on stamps which the King of Jaipur actually used!

Some very famous music instruments of Rajasthan.

He is the 5th generation in his family line to continue the painting tradition. He also showed us painting made on real peepal leaves. ( See pictures below)

The paintings are made with natural colors and vegetable oils. And sometimes there is use of real gold too!

The paintings on the leaves were so mesmerizing that I felt I could look at them for hours! These leaves go under a specific process of washing and drying to be of perfect condition to paint.

Men and women appear in proportion. Male figures have clean, attractive faces. They are often depicted with swords tied to their waists. Wealthy men are shown wearing turban, kurta, pyjama, chogga, angrakin, belt, pataka, shoes in such paintings.

Female figures are shown with large eyes, bunch of long hair, stout physique and pleasant mood. Artists drew elegant gardens to provide the background in paintings.

Illustration of deities ( Lord Krishna & Radha )

Hope you enjoyed these pictures and learned something new as these have very rich history behind them.

If you want, you can learn more at : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajput_painting

Keep Creating

Lots Of Love <3