“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
The entanglement of time is quite arduous to resolve. What has passed will never come back and what is about to come can never pass now. Nothing is able to beat time as time is the most powerful of all. But, there are few elements that somehow span past and has successfully ride out to the present times.
Art is a part of such elements. We can simply get lost in the beauty and simplicity of lifestyle of people living in the 17th century by seeing the work of European painters. A lot of western history is filled with exquisite paintings by some eminent artists of that time. It mesmerises me seeing how a painting so old can cross all the odds and can still be sitting in front of us in 2018.
India, the largest democracy in the world, is also known for its ecstatic and stunning art pieces. Today, you can witness a number of high-profile Indian artists who are selling their work at good bucks in the global market. Illustrious art brand like Christie started its operation in India because this place has millions of art aficionados.
And this passion for art is not a new born emotion. We have a rich and quite extensive history of art since the time people used to live in caves. Indian frescos and wall art of Ajanta and Ellora caves are some of the examples that art in this nation is thousands year old.
The Traditional Indian Paintings
In this blog, we are going to talk about some of the wondrous Indian artworks that were originated thousands of years back and are still in trend. Indian people love to pass on the artistry to next generations and so the legacy continues. Maybe that’s why sometimes artists are considered as the “storytellers who pass the tales and talents from one aeon to another.
Here are some of the finest Indian traditional paintings that are still raising the spirits of artists of today:
1. Pattachitra Art
Patta means leaf and Chitra is a picture. So, Pattachitra refers to drawing a picture on the leaf. Probably this is how the artists used to create scintillating artworks. The makers of Pattachitra paintings were called ‘Chitrakaras”.
This form of art is around 1500 years old. Originated around 5 BC in the eastern state of Odisha, Pattachitra style of paintings can be mostly located in the religious facilities near Puri, Konark, and Bhubaneshwar region.
The astounding aspects of these paintings are their captivating backgrounds that are stupefied with flowers and greenery and can be mostly seen in red colour. Like most of the Indian traditional paintings, Pattachitra works were also focused on the tales and lives of Hindu deities.
2. Kalamkari
Some of the art forms were born here, while others were brought here by the foreigners during their trade visits or rule. One such style of paintings is Kalamkari.
This form of paintings is derived from the great lands of Persia and was first introduced by the Mughals when they step their foot in India. In the Persian language, Kalam is a pen, and Kari is to draw.
The very first Indian state to shelter this art form was Andhra Pradesh under the reign of Golconda Sultanate.
Typically, two kinds of Kalamkari paintings exist; the Srikalahasti style and the Machilipatnam style.
The Srikalahasti is a pure hand-worked art form. Here, the artists use their hands freely drawing the patterns and filling the colours to craft an exquisite piece of artwork. The typical subject matter of such Indian traditional paintings revolves around the religious epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata.
The other form, the Machlipatnam, is a block-printed painting style. This form is still quite prominent where artists use a variety of clothing to draw mesmerising patterns.
3. Gond Art
This art form belongs to India’s largest tribal civilisation that still resides in Madhya Pradesh and its neighbouring region. Artists from the traditional times use dots to create this particular piece of painting style. The colours are made from natural materials such as charcoal, cow dung, coloured soil, leaves, etc.
Today, artists use acrylic paints to recreate the spirit of Gond art on a canvas.
4. Warli
This Maharashtra born tribal art is still practiced in few parts of India. Dated back to the 2500 BCE, Warli paintings draw attention owing to their sizzling geometric patterns like triangle, circles, and squares. A compelling factor is that these geometric designs have specific meanings and interpretations and hold much significance rather than just being there.
Some of the highlights are:
- The circle denotes sun and moon
- Triangles signify mountains and pointed trees
- Square is human inventions
- Warli paintings are done on a red ochre or a darker background
Final words
Other Indian traditional paintings such as Madhubani and Phad are also quite famed among the art lovers. Especially, the blissful backstory of Madhubani paintings that relate them to the religious epic of Ramayana makes these artworks of higher importance.
Similarly, Phad is the origination of scroll paintings and got its origination in the state of Rajasthan. The usual themes of these paintings are religious tales and tales of deities.
So, would you still get excited only if you see modern art for sale or will you now seek traditional work from Indian artists? What are you going to do? Tell us in the comments. Thanks!
