Indian miniatures beyond Mughal art

Quite a few of us quickly tend to label Indian miniatures as Mughal art. This is perhaps because some of erstwhile miniature painting schools are for all practical purposes virtually extinct largely owing to the demise of aristocratic patronage and lack of institutional backing.

However, here is an insightful documentation that exposes us to the lesser known schools that did survive, still in the process of evolving through from generation to generation, sans support of the elite. With India fast emerging as one the major economical powers globally, is there a possibility that the so-called nouveau riche will dawn the mantle of the cultural aristocrats of the new millennium and play a proactive role in reviving the magic of ancient miniature painting traditions?

‘Indian Painting: The lesser-known traditions’ (Publisher: Niyogi Books: Pages: 216;
Photographs: 194; Price: Rs 2495) is a laudable effort in this direction. It’s meticulously edited by Anna L. Dallapiccola, who has worked as a professor of Indian Art at the South Asian Institute of Heidelberg University and also as Honorary Professor at Edinburgh University. It has scholarly contributions by several experts including Crispin Branfoot, Mary Beth Heston, Rosemary Crill, Crispin Branfoot, Samiran Boruah, T. Richard Blurton, and Jyotindra Jain among others.

The topics that the experts have covered in depth are all-encompassing and extensive like ‘Minakshi’s Wedding: Painting the Sacred Marriage in Early Modern Madurai’ (by Dr Crispin Branfoot); ‘Crossing Borders: Contemporary Folk and Tribal Artists in India’ (by Jyotindra Jain Jain); ‘Transfixed by the Arrow of Time: Phad Paintings of Rajasthan’ (by Kavita Singh): ‘Oral, Theatrical and Performative Dimensions of a Painted Scroll from Telengana’ (by Kirtana Thangavelu); ‘Reconsidering the Ramayana Murals: Paintings at the Mattancheri Palace’ (by Mary Beth Heston); and ‘The Kavad Phenomenon of Rajasthan:’ (by Nina Sabnani).

Other essays include ‘Aspects of South Indian Manuscript Paintings: Three Paintings in the Victoria & Albert Museum’ (by Rosemary Crill); ‘The Ramayana: Two 19th-century Canopies from Coastal Andhra in the V&A Museum’ (by Anna L. Dallapiccola); ‘Of Gods, Heroes and Kings: Illustrated Manuscripts from Assam’ (by Samiran Boruah); ‘Jamini Roy and the Folk Art Paradigm’ (by Sona Datta); and ‘Painting with intent: History and Variety in an Indian Painting Tradition’ (by T. Richard Blurton).