Articles > A Trail of Mountain Paintings

The Indian tradition of painting goes back to the dark caves of Ajanta on the west coast. Here, in the early centuries AD, fresco-secco murals were created on the rock face with the colours of minerals and plants. With interludes or artistic progressions or phases of complete stasis, these annals culminated in the sophisticated lyricism of the Pahari miniature paintings.

A great impetus to Indian art came when India was exposed to the vigour of Islamic civilisation. In the splendid court of the Mughal kings, were born the catalysts that were to overhaul the art of India. The introduction of Persian miniatures was one such influence. The creations were clearly two dimensional with a few artifices and were as varied as ‘album’ miniatures, portraits, court scenes, battles and hunting expeditions.

It is regarded that it was under the great emperor, Akbar ( 1556 - 1600 ), that the Indian tradition and the Persian technique were fused into a style that we recognise as ‘Mughal’. In turn, this style percolated to the court of every vassal and influenced the tastes of every courtier. For example, during the seventeenth century, the barren wastes of Rajasthan saw the creation of a distinct school that was more Hindu than Islamic in its themes and inspiration, while much of the technique was that of the Mughal miniatures.

By the middle of the eighteenth century - and despite its territorial expansion - the powerful Mughal empire was advancing slowly towards its final decline. Compelled by hard economics and growing fissures within his vast empire , the emperor Aurangzeb ( 1659 - 1707 ) had garbed the imperial court with austerity. This made artists, among others, look further afield for a livelihood. As twilight lengthened its shadows over the glory of the Mughals, Aurangzeb’s successors stood helpless before a fresh tide of history. Invasions from the north rocked the court of Delhi and the growth of regional powers sawed at the legs of a once unshakeable throne.

The Pahari - literally, ‘of the hills’ - miniature paintings are regarded to have emerged as a distinct school as the life-blood of this mighty empire drained away and artists sought fresh patronage. Other scholars differ and consider the style to be quite indigenous. Be that as it may, but a tract that was some five hundred kilometres in length and a mere hundred and fifty in breadth, became the home for the school. This geographical confine held the kingdoms of Jammu, Kangra, Basohli, Guler, Kullu, Nurpur, Chamba, Mandi, Bilaspur - and extended to the Garhwal hills. And as the snows of the Dhauladhar mountains, a sub-system of the Himalaya gazed down, the art bloomed into glory with grace, rhythm and beauty.

It was in the closing decades of the seventeenth century that the paintings began emerging in a steady stream, though isolated pieces can be dated a little earlier. The Rasamanjari, an erotic fifteenth century poem was painted in Basohli during this period. Under the ruler, Kirpal Pal ( 1678-93 ), the Basohli paintings became the forerunners of the Pahari school and the colophons mention the artist, date and provenance.

Local idiom entered the style and led to a dominance of primary colours with all their vigour and vitality. These controlled the execution of figures which were stretched like evening shadows cast by a winter sun. The Mughal influence was marked in the clothes - even if rulers liked to have their portraits done in unembellished white garments. Jewels have been used to decorate the paintings - though the emeralds were the luminescent dark green wings of beetles.

The setting of the figures was also stylised. The landscapes had a sombre splendour and the delineation of trees was placed within rigid perimeters that did not allow a solitary leaf seeking adventure, to escape the outer lines. As the genre spread, and went through its own honing-down of style, Basholi also diluted the intensity of its precocious creations and by the close of the eighteenth century, this osmotic centre had begun conforming with the creations of the adjoining states.

Leaving the confines of Basholi, the art soon appeared in neighbouring Guler and in Jammu, in state of Jammu and Kashmir. The themes for the Pahari genre, apart from the portraits of members of various ruling houses, began including episodes from the life of the Hindu deity, Lord Krishna - his heroism, amorous dalliances and the nayak-nayika , literally hero-heroine, series. The baramasa , twelve month set with courtship modes appropriate for the year’s months, illustrations from the love poetry of the famous Indian poets, Jaidev, Bihari and Keshav Das and images of various deities of the Hindu pantheon were painted. But love, with all its joys and pains is the main theme of most Pahari images. A. K. Coomaraswamy, the man who discovered this treasure for the world observed, “What Chinese art achieved for landscape is here accomplished for human love“.

It was left to the artists of Kangra’s sylvan landscape with its terraced fields and streams to create the koine of the Pahari miniature. Precious metals like gold and silver were used for ornamentation. Sartorial trappings, furniture, carpets and utensils were often executed in these metals. The palette had primary colours with shades of yellow, blue and red and later, and especially in Kangra, soft pastels. The refinement and technical skill that made the paintings of Kangra act as the touchstone for the forty odd sub-schools, was greatly due to the interest of the ruler, Sansar Chand who came to the throne in 1775. Cumulative events forced Sansar Chand to spend his final years in the shade of his past glory. But the art which he, along with some of his forefathers had fostered, grew from strength to strength. In fact, the term ’Kangra paintings’ is often used interchangeably - though wrongly - with ‘Pahari’.

Quite unlike the early Basohli paintings, Kangra’s creations were more akin to nature. As for their borders, whole studies may be done on just these. They range from simple lines to intricately laid out flowers and creepers. And where the pictures are oval and have allowed for greater space in the corners, these have been filled with complex spandrels or a whole series of birds or deities or cattle - and even domestic scenes. In the state of Guler, Raja Goverdhan Chand ( 1745-73 ) became the first true patron of painting. Right up to the twentieth century, in Kullu, Mandi, Chamba and Bilaspur miniatures were created with elegance or clumsiness, with flamboyance or austerity - and with their special nuances and palettes.

In art forms, as in the rise and fall of civilisations, there seems to be a steady climb towards an apogee, which once touched, is followed by a decline towards the nadir. For the paintings of Kangra, there was a cataclysmic ending when a devastating earthquake in 1905, killed most of the artists. As the star of the miniatures went into eclipse, so did most of the other schools. But fortunately, recent years have seen a revival of the style.

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