The document discusses several folk painting styles found in India including Warli, Phad, Kalamkari, Patachitra, Patua, Kalighat, Madhubani, Rajasthani, Mysore, and Tanjore paintings. It also summarizes some important cave paintings sites in India such as Ajanta Caves, Bagh Caves, and Jain Caves, describing their key characteristics, themes, and historical context.

1. Folk painting styles of INDIA

2. Warli folk art
 Native to the tribes living in the mountains and
coast of maharashtra
 Their style of painting, dates back to 2500 or 3000
BCE,
 Has similarities to the rock art found in
bhimbetka, madhya pradesh.
 The paintings are traditionally done on mud walls
and use a basic graphic vocabulary – a circle,
triangle and square.
 The image of the goddess is created in white
colour since this colour is considered sacred and
pious. Other figures are drawn in red and yellow,
using natural colours.
 Interestingly, these paintings depict social life and
not characters from epics or mythology as in other
folk art.

3. Phad paintings
 Originated in Rajasthan
 This form of art is around 700 years old.
 An average Phad scroll is about 30 feet long.
Mostly vegetable colours are used
 Painted on cloth in the form of scroll.
 A specific colour scheme is used, each colour
pertains to a specific part of the painting.
 The Phads mostly depict the heroic deeds and
exploits of the local rulers and warriors such
as the gallant Rajput warrior Prithviraj
Chauhan, Amar Singh Rathore in the form of
stories painted on long scrolls.
 the ‘bhopas’ or narrators would explain the
scenes in the paintings.
.

4. Kalamkari
 Alive in the state of andhra pradesh in south india
 Art done on cotton cloth using a pen.
 The word is derived from persian words kalam (pen)
and kari (craftsmanship).
 Traces its origins to 3000 years ago
 Two schools of paintings - masulipatnam and
srikalahasti
 Masulipatnam school reflects the influence of the
muslim rule in golconda,
 The kalahasti school takes inspiration from hindu
mythology, epics and religion.
 The colours are all vegetable dyes.
 Kalamkari is a painstaking and lengthy process, were
sold to persians and egyptians.
 In the 18th and 19th centuries, the english and
french trading organizations bought these paintings
customized with english, french and chinese designs.

5. Patachitra
 Orissa
 drawings on cloth.
 origin: 8th century AD
 linked to the famous Jagannath temple
of Puri in Orissa.
 In earlier days, the ‘chitrakars’ or
painters were temple functionaries who
lived in and around the temple town.
 They mainly painted stories from Hindu
epics, mythology and religious texts.
Krishna Leela and Lord Jagannath are
important motifs.
 The colours are made from stones and
plants.

6. •
Patua
1. 1000-year-old art.
2. From west bengal.
3. It started out as a village tradition with painters
or ‘patuas’ drawing popular stories of gods and
goddesses on scrolls.
4. The ‘pats’ or scrolls are made of sheets of paper
of equal or different sizes which are sown together
and painted with ordinary poster paints.
5. Traditionally, they were painted on cloth.
The idea was to educate the masses along with
entertaining them.

7. Kalighat paintings
 originated in 19th century Bengal.
 From the depiction of Hindu Gods. Goddesses and other mythological characters.
 Kalighat painting were a product of changing urban society of the nineteenth century
Calcutta.

8. Pattachitra
 The Pattachitra painting tradition is
closely linked with the worship of Lord
Jagannath.
 The painters or Chitrakars are found
mainly in the district of Puri, Orissa
 These paintings were traditionally done
only by males
 The tradition of making patachitras is
passed down the generations from
father to son.
 The Pattachitra painting tradition is
closely linked with the worship of Lord
Jagannath, and stories from the
Ramayan, Mahabharath and of Radha
& Krishna

9. Madhubani
 Practiced in the Mithila region of Bihar state
 Painting is done with fingers, twigs, brushes,
nib-pens and matchsticks, using natural dyes
and pigments.
 Traditionally done on freshly plastered mud
walls and floors of huts.
 Madhubani paintings mostly depict nature
and Hindu religious motifs.
 Passed down from generation to generation.
 Mainly women painters

10. Rajastani Painting
 Evolved and flourished during the 18th
century
 Events of epics like the ramayana and the
mahabharata, krishna’s life
 Mainly confined to rajput families
 The colours were extracted from certain
minerals, plant sources, conch shells
 Distinctive styles combining indigenous as
well as foreign influences (persian, mughal,
chinese, european)

11. Mysore Painting
 Originated in the town of Mysore in Karnataka.
 Themes for most of these paintings
are Hindu gods and goddesses and scenes
from Hindu mythology
 Colours: natural sources, vegetable, mineral,
leaves, stones and flowers.
 characterized by delicate lines, intricate brush
strokes, graceful delineation of figures
 gesso work (gold covering) is an important
feature of Mysore painting

12. Tanjore Painting
 Classical south indian painting from the town
of thanjavur (TN)
 Paintings come in three finishes: classic, antique
style and embossed
 Known for their surface richness, vivid colors and
compact composition
 Most paintings are hindu gods, goddesses, and
saints
 Tanjore paintings are static and located in the
center inside beautifully decorated arches or
curtains
 Originally only krishna figures were painted but
now a variety of figures are depicted.
 Backgrounds are combined with high-glitter gold
foil

13. Cave Paintings of INDIA

14. Ajanta Caves
 Situated near Aurangabad(Maharashtra.)
 Inside many of the caves are frescoes.
 Frescoes are paintings which are done on
wet plaster in which colours become
fixed as the plaster dries.
 They are found on the walls and ceilings
at ajanta.
 The paintings reflect different phases of
indian culture from buddha's birth to
his mahaparinirvana in the 8th century
ad.
 Natural colours like white, green, brown,
yellow, black, and a wonderful colour of
blue is found
 They depict themes of court life, feasting,
processions, men and women at work,
festivals, various natural scenes including
animals, birds and flowers.
 The artists used shading to give a threedimensional effect.

15. Bagh Caves
• Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh
• Buddhist in inspiration
• paintings are both secular and religious
• influenced by Ajanta style of paintings
• most
beautiful
one
is
that
of Avalokiteshvara Padmapani
• strong resemblance to the frescoes of
Sigiriya in Sri Lanka.

16. Jain Caves
• Jain
cave
temple
complex
in Pudukottai district of Tamilnadu
(Sittanavaasal)
• Contains remnants of exquisite frescoes
from 7th century
• Severely damaged due to vandalism
•
Detailed pictures of elephants, buffaloes,
fish, geese, jains gathering lotuses from a
pond and dancing girls
• Considered to be some of the best frescoes
of medieval India next to frescoes of Ajanta
Caves and Bagh Caves.

17. Lepakshi Painting
• Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh
• beautiful paintings of Vijayanagar period
• provides glimpses of contemporary dress
like tall headwear (Kulavi), colored and
embroidered sarees of both men and
women in the paintings
• Earth tones and complete absence of blue
color in their painting
• Costumes are outlined in black