Page 123 - Eye of the beholder

ORIGINS OF MINIATURE PAINTING TRADITION
Miniature painting is a traditional style of art that is very detailed, often referred to as painting or working “in miniature”. Miniatures were profoundly influenced by Indian literature and poetry and were executed as illustrations to texts or as individual paintings. They were small in scale, highly detailed pictorial compositions, often providing a true record of the social and cultural life of the time.
There is literary evidence to suggest that besides murals; other forms of paintings also existed in India from early times, but since it was done on perishable materials like cloth or wood nothing has survived. The tradition of Indian miniature painting can be traced from the 9th-10th century in the Buddhist Pala period palm leaf manuscript of Eastern India; and in Western India in the Jaina palm leaf manuscript. Before the introduction of paper, palm leaf was the main raw material used for writing and painting for several centuries. There are large collections of palm-leaf manuscripts in several museums and libraries in South and South- East Asia, as well as in western countries. Hundreds of thousands of palm leaf documents exist in the form of India’s ancient episteme or knowledge and has become an important and useful heritage. The religious manuscripts were treated as objects of worship and not simply as texts. With the introduction of paper in 12th century in India, illustrations on paper with larger format than the narrow palm leaf began to come into vogue. But apart from such manuscripts still there were no schools of Miniature Paintings in India. During the Lodi period (1451-1526 AD) however there came into existence a Sultanate school of manuscript, which in its visualization represented the courtly themes.
Definite proof of illustrated manuscript is obtained from 11th century A.D. After this period Jaina and Buddhist texts were written on palm leaves and covered with painted wooden boards known as patlis. Jaina religious texts were prepared in different parts of southwest and central Rajasthan. From these beginnings Indian miniature painting developed. Under the Pala kings in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, Buddhist manuscripts were illustrated in a style reminiscent of Ajanta murals but on a much reduced scale. The somber hues, firm lines, simplicity of composition and graceful attitude of the figures have a stamp of its own. Painted on palm leaves, they usually represent Buddhist deities and scenes from life of Buddha. The 11th century Pala miniatures are considered the earliest. Their most important contribution was the symbolic use of colour taken from tantric rituals.
The Buddhist text most popularly chosen for illustration was the Prajna Paramita Sutra, according to which everything in the universe is Maya or illusion. The Prajna or wisdom was personified as a female deity and the manuscript itself was considered sacred and worshipped. In Gujarat numerous illustrated manuscripts of Jaina texts were produced around the same period. They usually deal with canonical subjects as Kalpasutra and Kalakacharyakatha. The illustrations resonate to the style in the Jaina caves at Ellora. But the floral, bird and other decorative motifs on the outer wooden covers or patlis were fascinating and interesting, perhaps an inheritance of the style by Ajanta artists. By the middle of the 12th century the production ceased with introduction of paper.
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