Page 122 - Eye of the beholder

INDIAN MINIATURES: A TRYST WITH THE EYE
“Though the canvas of traditional Indian painting is fairly large and magnificent over-flowing with flavours of diverse traditions, cultures, philosophies and ethos, yet in the potpourri of vibrant styles and techniques, a style that outshines and emerges as a brilliant and classic benchmark seeped in a deep understanding of aesthetics and poetic parlance is undoubtedly the art of ‘Miniature Painting” Dr. Kavita Singh.
INTRODUCTION
The discourse on Indian pictorial tradition with particular reference to Indian miniatures, namely the Rajput tradition, clearly establishes that it was a unique one, which developed from the mural tradition at Ajanta going far back and as early as 200 B.C. Cave paintings from Ajanta and Bagh including South Indian murals at Kanchipuram, Sittanavasal and Thanjavur bear testimony to a love of naturalism both in the depiction of the human form as well as that of nature. But more importantly it was the tendency of drawing out abstractions from nature in a manner that was both aesthetically pleasing and effective resulted in enhancing the decorative visual effects.
The Indian mind is extremely fecund and there has been no dearth in the number of legends, myths, fables and epics that have been written to validate or establish different aspects of life as the lineage of dynasties, heroics of a monarch including the origins of arts itself. The origin of art is attributed to an interesting myth. It is told that Brahma created painting. The story behind the legend is that Brahma taught a king how to bring back to life a dead son of one of his subjects. Brahma made a portrait of the young boy and put life into his picture bringing the youth alive. This narrative about infusing prana or life breathe into a picture was invented to teach Indian artists that only when they infuse the life breathe into their works, can they be considered skillful. It also established Brahma as the highest and most revered God of the Hindu religion, the creator himself. Yet there is another myth, which makes a woman the first painter of the world. According to the myth a princess named Usha saw a beautiful youth in her dreams. She felt that he even walked with her frequently in the garden. She confessed this to her maid Chitralakshan who was an amateur painter who recreated the likeness of the prince Anirudha, the grandson of Krishna. She immediately recognized him, eventually leading to her marriage with him. Since then the word Chitra has meant something wonderful, suggesting the variation of forms which produce wonder, mystery and delight. Another myth attributes the origins f art the sage Narayana who created Urvashi, the beautiful celestial nymph, by drawing a beautiful figure on his thigh. This explains the origin of drawing. Narayana taught this to Visvakarma, who successfully interpreted the entire theme of the universe by imitating it.
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