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Pala School (8th – 12th Century)
Jain School (10th- 14th Century)
Rajasthani School (16th- 19th Century)
Pahari school (17th –Mid 19th Century)
What is Miniature painting?
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History of Miniature Painting
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 Any painting which is done in a small size, in any medium, on any surface
is a Miniature painting
 Important features of these paintings are the intricate brushwork with
minute details which contributes to their unique identity.
 Earlier these paintings were done on plam leaf( tal patra/Bhojpatra), a
piece of cloth, a piece of leather or ivory, and later on hand made sheet.
 Theme may be portrait or any illustration of any story or a scene from
daily life.
 It has started in medieval times (8th century) and lasted till 19th century
 To understand Miniature paintings let learn about it through their many
schools –
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Pala School
Jain School
Rajasthani School
Pahari School
Mughal school
Daccan school
Pala School of Miniature
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Earlier u have learned about Ellora and Ajanta Fresco and mural paintings. (can
anyone recall)
After this, the Buddhist monasteries of Nalanda, Viramshila and Somrupa witnessed
the great phase of Buddhism and Buddhist art of India.
Students and pilgrims from all over South-East Asia gathered there for education
and religious instruction. They took back to their countries examples of Pala
Buddhist art, in the form of bronzes and manuscripts which helped to carry the Pala
style to Nepal, Tibet, Burma, Sri Lanka and Java etc.
A large no of manuscripts on palm leaves related to Buddhist theme were written
and illustrated with images of Buddhist deities under the patronage of the ruling
Pala Kings at these centers
The Pala painting got its name after the Kings Dharmpal and Dev pal whose chief
artists were Dhiman and his son Vittpal
the Pala painting is characterized by sinuous line and subdued tones of colour. It is a
naturalistic style which resembles the ideal forms of contemporary bronze and stone
sculpture, and reflects some feeling of the classical art of Ajanta.
How these paintings are made
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The Palm leaves of good quality were processed for about a month by being kept under
water and then dried up, then made smooth by abrading a conch on them, and cut into
size. After holes were perforated for the binding cord, they were written on and painted.
The scribe wrote five to seven lines of the text following the length of the leaves on each
page, but left out spaces for painting where necessary. In one page usually three paintings
of the dimension of 6 cm x 7 cm were drawn, one placed in the center and two on the
flanks. In some manuscripts only two paintings on the sides have been found.
Since they were Sacred, vermillion and sandal paste was smeared on them resulting in
their damage over the years.
The Pala art came to a sudden end after the destruction of the Buddhist monasteries at the
hands of Muslim invaders in the first half of 13th century.
Jain School of Miniature
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 The Jain School of painting gained prominence in the 11th century A.D
when religious texts like ‘Kalpa Sutra’ and ‘Kalkacharya Katha’ were
portrayed in the form of miniature paintings.
 In the Western India, Jainism was patronized by the Kings of Chalukya
Dynesty who ruled Gujrat, parts of Rajasthan and Malwa.
 Like other schools of miniature paintings, Jain School too, displayed its art
works on palm leaves, but started using paper from the late 12th century.
 Natural colors including gold and silver were used to depict the stories.
 Some of the exclusive features of these paintings include portrayal of
enlarged eyes, square shaped hands and portrayal of stylish figures. Also,
the colors used were often vibrant and most often than not, colors like
green, red, gold and blue were used.
 The paintings often displayed male figures and goddesses of the
Tirthankara. Also, the goddesses shown in the paintings were often heavily
ornamented.
 These paintings began to decline during the late 16th century
Jain Miniature Painting
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Rajasthani Miniature
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 ORIGIN::Rajasthani school of miniature painting flourished
between 16th to early 19th century in the principalities of
Rajasthan. The great scholar of Indian Art History discovered
this school and introduced it as Rajput school. Later this school
was called Rajasthani school.
 Rajasthan is divided in to parts by the aravali parvat, on the
west are the jodhpur ,Bikaner and Jaisalmer to the east Mewar
,Bubdi ,kishan garh and kota .first of all the painting started
from Mewar to Bundi and other parts of state.
 It was inspired and influenced by Jain manuscripts painting of
Gujrat along with Indian traditional art.
 Krishna leela is the most popular theme in the Rajasthani
school. these topic have been derived from the literary work of
Surdas .Tulsidas ,Meera bai.
 DEVELOPMENT::Two major factors contributed greatly
to the development of Rajasthani Paintings.
 First, the commercial community of Rajputana was
economically prosperous.
 Second, the revival of ‘Vaisnavism’ and the growth of
Bhakti cult provided a direction to the development of a
distinct school.
 The influence of poets and seers like Ramanuja
(worshipper of Vishnu) in the 14th century and writers
like Jaydev (worshipper of Krishna) greatly influenced
thinking, spiritual awakening and art of the people of
large parts of India.
 the subjects of the Rajput paintings included the Sri Ram
Charit Manas, Geet-Govinda, the divine love of Radha
and Krishna, ancient tales, lives of saints, Baramasa
(monthly festivities of the year) and Ragamala (RagRaginis) and religious texts such as the Ramayana,
Mahabharata, Bhagvat Purana, Krishna Lila.
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 Characteristics of Rajasthani Miniature painting
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Diverse Subject matter- religious painting, Literary painting, General
subjects
Linear beauty-initially lines were bold but later they become soft,
rhythmic, and graceful
Colour scheme- usage of colours bring out all the emotions for instance
red for anger, passion fury…. Pure hues of colours were used, Gold and
silver were used, backgrounds were mostly flat
Two dimension painting- perspective details are not much used
Symbolism- Radha and Krishna were depicted symbolically in the form of
human soul and god
Human figure- Figure are all identical, they had round face, pointed nose,
elongated eyes, body is smaller in proportion, faces are mostly profile as ek
chasm
Depiction of Nature- usage of different trees, Mountain, water springs,
floral trees, lakes are beautifully depicted also found nature complimented
with clouds birds, creepers etc.
Ornaments and garments-Diamond and pearl studded jewelry design is
commendable, garments are highly decorated, ladies are wearing lehenga,
odni, males are wearing turbans and jhabla
Landscapes and seasons painting- Landscapes are beautifully painted in
different seasons. For example Barah mas shows various season
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