Page 125 - Eye of the beholder

Rajasthani painting owes its existence to two major factors: economic prosperity enjoyed by the commercial community of Rajasthan and the growth of Vaishnavism. During the Mughal period Rajasthan lay on the trade route connecting its headquarters, with Ahmedabad and Surat on the west coast. Rajput chiefs could levy tax on the goods passing through their cities resulting in an inflow of wealth that was conducive to the patronage of literature art and music. The revival of Vaishnavism and the growth of Bhakti cult also played a dominant role in the cultural milieu of medieval Rajasthan. As champions of Hindu faith and culture and as guardians of their country, the Rajputs had to lead a life of courage and hardship. Women were called upon for the self-sacrifice of jauhar in order to preserve their chastity. They sought relief from this stern and puritanical life by resorting to a religion of intense devotion to a personal deity either Rama or Krishna. The latter appealed with his romantic temperament. This predilection for romance and fantasy was reflected in the choice of subject matter for painting.
Hence based on the geography, Rajasthani miniatures were classified into four broad groups- Mewar, Marwar, Hadoti and Dhundar region. Among these Mewar was the most prolific region of artistic activity. Mewar art originated in the Aravalli hills of South Eastern Rajasthan in the kingdom of Mewar and its associated states. Its characteristics were defined by qualities of emotions and bright colour appeal. The rulers of Mewar patronized art across the centuries starting with Mharana Kumbha, Pratap and later Jagat Singh I. Early paintings of Mewar resonated to the influence of Jain miniatures. But later in the 17th century when it signed a treatise with Mughals, elements from the latter began manifesting.
AESTHETICS OF RASA THEORY
Within the Indian context, art forms like music, dance, drama, architecture, painting, sculpture etc., are mentioned in the earliest available works like the Vedas, Puranas, and Itihasas among many others. Indian aesthetics is a unique philosophical point of view on art, architecture and literature embodying an important element known as rasa (lit. ‘Juice’ or ‘essence’) denoting an essential mental state and hence the concept of rasa has become fundamental to many forms of Indian art including dance, music, theatre, and literature. Rasa is the aesthetic principle of Indian art, representing the essence or the essentials of human emotions that forms the basis of human sentiments. Paintings representing emotions, feelings or bhava were considered as bhavachitras. The first enunciation of the theory as a definable aesthetic principle was made in the NatyaShastra, a text concerned with Natya or the art of the stage. Besides the Natya Shastra there are other texts or the Chitrasutras that mention rasa. These are the Vishnudharmottara Purana and Samarangana Sutradhara.
The theory of rasa is attributed to Bharata in his epic corpus the Natya Shastra, an ancient Sanskrit text on dramaturgy. He perhaps lived sometime between the 5th century BCE and the 3rd century CE. In later development of the theory, most of the writers on rasa such as Anandavardhana belonging to 8thh century shifted the focus to poetry. Rasa theory was further developed by the rhetorician and philosopher Abhinavagupta (1000 C.E.), who applied it to all varieties of theatre and poetry. He revolutionized Sanskrit literary theory by proposing that the main goal of good poetry is the evocation of a mood or "flavor" or rasa and that this process can be explained only by the power of suggestion. Rasa, hence as applied to art and aesthetics experiences signifies a state of heightened delight or Ananda or a bliss experienced only by the
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