Rajasthani Paintings

Rajasthani paintings are characterized by bold lines, fine detailing, use of fine brush strokes, and use of bright colours which attracts the attention of every on looker successfully look these up. These paintings are adorned worldwide. Rajasthani paintings became famous in medieval period and had support of kings of different regions of Rajasthan, which made them famous by the name of Rajputana Paintings as land of Rajasthan was known as Rajputana.

The most common themes of Rajasthani paintings were sacred. The favourite themes of the artists were the excerpts from the story of Radha and Krishna and Mahabharata, Ramayana. All the figures in the painting were seen wearing hindu attires and were depicted as more humble creatures. Even the landscape Rajasthani paintings depicts desserts and glimpse of the land of Rajasthan.

The paintings were made of natural colours and no synthetic colour was used in the making of these paintings. The colour was usually extracted from minerals, plant body parts, valuable stones and shavings of gold and silver. The brush used for painting was made of hair from squirrel’s tail or plant twigs.

The famous and fine Rajasthani paintings were not limited to paper and canvas. Their beauty made its way to the walls and ceilings of many palaces and forts constructed in that era. These beautiful art pieces can still be seen on the walls of City Palace in Udaipur. However, the most significant form of Rajasthani paintings are miniature paintings which were done on silk, paper, wood and sometimes on marble and ivory.

The Rajasthani art of painting didn’t restrict itself to marwar only and developed itself in the same era. This divided art schools for artists in Rajasthan in 7 different art schools : Jodhpur (marwar), Kotah, Kishangarh, Jaipur, Udaipur (mewar), Bikaner and Bundi.

These paintings successfully depicts the religious beliefs of the people of that time as well as it portrays the insights of the social life of the people at the time of medieval period. Therefore, reflecting the deep insights of the life of commoners and royals.

Even today, Rajasthani paintings are loved worldwide. These mesmerising pieces of art can be found in Indian art gallery or can be found on many online art galleries.