Kangra painting (Hindi: कांगड़ा चित्रकारी) is the pictorial art of Kangra, named after the Kangra State, a former princely state of Himachal Pradesh, which patronized the art. It became prevalent with the fading of Basohli school of painting in mid-18th century,[1][2] and soon produced such a magnitude in paintings both in content as well as volume, that the Pahari painting school, came to be known as Kangra paintings.[3]
Pahari paintings, as the name suggests, were paintings executed in the hilly regions of India, in the sub-Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh.[5] It is in the development and modification of Pahari paintings, that the Kangra School features. Under the patronage of Maharaja Sansar Chand (c.1765–1823), it became the most important center of Pahari painting.
To see some of these masterpieces one can visit the Maharaja Sansar Chand Museum, adjoining the Kangra Fort in Kangra Himachal, founded by the erstwhile Royal Family of Kangra.
This great art originated in Guler State, a small hill state in the Lower Himalayas in the first half of the 18th century when a family of Kashmiri painters trained in Mughal painting Style sought shelter at the court of Raja Dalip Singh (r. 1695–1741) of Guler. The rise of Guler Paintings started in what is known as the Early phase of Kangra Kalam. The new arrivals mingled with the local artists and were greatly influenced by the atmosphere of the hills. Instead of painting flattering portraits of their masters and love scenes, the artistes adopted themes of eternal love between Radha and Krishna. The paintings were naturalistic and employed cool, fresh colors. The colors were extracted from minerals, vegetables, and possessed enamel-like luster. Verdant greenery of the landscape, brooks, springs were the recurrent images on the miniatures.
Nainsukh (1710–1778), succeeded by two generations of his family workshop, introduced a distinctive style that combined Mughal elements with personal innovations.
This style reached its zenith during the reign of Maharaja Sansar Chand Katoch (r.1776–1824) who was a great patron of Kangra art. Being a liberal patron, the painters working at his atelier received large commissions while others accepted a permanent settlement in the form of lands. Maharaja Sansar Chand was an ardent devotee of Krishna and used to commission artists to paint subjects based on the loves and life of Krishna.
The Guler-Kangra art is the art of drawing and the drawing is precise and fluid, lyrical, and naturalistic. In these styles, the faces are well modeled and shaded so judiciously that they possess almost porcelain-like delicacy.
Themes
Rama and Sita in the forest. Kangra, c. 1780. Kronos Collections
The focal theme of Kangra painting is Shringara rasa. The subjects are seen in Kangra painting exhibit the taste and the traits of the lifestyle of the society of that period. Bhakti cult was the driving force and the love story of Radha and Krishna was the main source of spiritual experience, which was also the base for the visual expression. Bhagavata Purana and the love poems Gita Govinda by Jayadeva were the most popular subjects dealing with the legends and the amorous plays of Radha and Krishna symbolizing the soul’s devotion to God. In some miniatures, the blue-god Krishna is seen dancing in the lush woodlands and every maiden’s eye is drawn to him. Krishna subjects, known commonly as Krishna-Lila predominate, while the themes of love, inspired by the Nayaks and nayikas and baramasa enjoyed great favor. The sentiment of love remained the inspiration and the central theme of Pahari painting. The Sat Sai depictions of the legendary lovers, on the other hand, were set against an architectural background with walls, balconies, and windows. Kangra paintings influenced by the Bhagavad Purana portrayed incidents from the life of the young Krishna, against the Brindavan forest or river Yamuna. The other popular themes were the stories of Nala and Damayanti, and those from Keshavdas's Baramasa.
One striking feature of Kangra paintings is the verdant greenery it depicts. The style is naturalistic, and great attention is paid to detail. The foliage depicted is vast and varied. This is made noticeable by using multiple shades of green. The Kangra paintings feature flowering plants and creepers, leafless trees, rivulets, and brooks.
The Kangra artists adopted various shades of the primary colors and used delicate and fresher hues. For instance, they used a light pink on the upper hills to indicate distance.
Kangra paintings depict the feminine charm in a very graceful manner. Facial features are soft and refined. The female figures are exceptionally beautiful.
Later Kangra paintings also depicted nocturnal scenes, and storms, and lightning. The paintings were often large and had complex compositions of many figures and elaborate landscapes. Towns and house clusters were often depicted in the distance.
The Kangra painters used colors made of vegetable and mineral extracts. They employed cool and fresh colors. Kangra paintings are known for the lyrical blending of form and color.
The Kangra Arts Promotion Society ([1]) an NGO at Dharamshala Himachal Pradesh is working for the promotion of this art which is on the verge of extinction today. This NGO is running a school to train young boys and girls in this art. It also runs a workshop where genuine Kangra Paintings are made on traditional handmade paper using only mineral and vegetable colors.
^Pahari centres Arts of India: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Music, Dance and Handicraft, by Krishna Chaitanya. Published by Abhinav Publications, 1987. ISBN81-7017-209-8. Page 62.
^. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
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Kangra painting Hindi क गड च त रक र is the pictorial art of Kangra named after the Kangra State a former princely state of Himachal Pradesh which patronized the art It became prevalent with the fading of Basohli school of painting in mid 18th century 1 2 and soon produced such a magnitude in paintings both in content as well as volume that the Pahari painting school came to be known as Kangra paintings 3 The Gods Sing and Dance for Shiva and Parvati attributed to Khushala son of Manaku Kangra c 1780 1790 Philadelphia Museum of Art Though the main centres of Kangra paintings are Guler Basohli Chamba Nurpur Bilaspur and Kangra Later on this style also reached Mandi Suket Kullu Arki Nalagarh and Tehri Garhwal represented by Mola Ram and now are collectively known as Pahari painting covering the style that was patronized by Rajput rulers between the 17th and 19th centuries 4 Pahari paintings as the name suggests were paintings executed in the hilly regions of India in the sub Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh 5 It is in the development and modification of Pahari paintings that the Kangra School features Under the patronage of Maharaja Sansar Chand c 1765 1823 it became the most important center of Pahari painting To see some of these masterpieces one can visit the Maharaja Sansar Chand Museum adjoining the Kangra Fort in Kangra Himachal founded by the erstwhile Royal Family of Kangra Contents 1 History 2 Themes 3 Features of Kangra painting 4 See also 5 Further reading 6 References 7 External linksHistory Edit Raja Balwant Singh s Vision of Krishna and Radha by Nainsukh Jasrota c 1745 1750 Metropolitan Museum of Art This great art originated in Guler State a small hill state in the Lower Himalayas in the first half of the 18th century when a family of Kashmiri painters trained in Mughal painting Style sought shelter at the court of Raja Dalip Singh r 1695 1741 of Guler The rise of Guler Paintings started in what is known as the Early phase of Kangra Kalam The new arrivals mingled with the local artists and were greatly influenced by the atmosphere of the hills Instead of painting flattering portraits of their masters and love scenes the artistes adopted themes of eternal love between Radha and Krishna The paintings were naturalistic and employed cool fresh colors The colors were extracted from minerals vegetables and possessed enamel like luster Verdant greenery of the landscape brooks springs were the recurrent images on the miniatures Nainsukh 1710 1778 succeeded by two generations of his family workshop introduced a distinctive style that combined Mughal elements with personal innovations This style reached its zenith during the reign of Maharaja Sansar Chand Katoch r 1776 1824 who was a great patron of Kangra art Being a liberal patron the painters working at his atelier received large commissions while others accepted a permanent settlement in the form of lands Maharaja Sansar Chand was an ardent devotee of Krishna and used to commission artists to paint subjects based on the loves and life of Krishna The Guler Kangra art is the art of drawing and the drawing is precise and fluid lyrical and naturalistic In these styles the faces are well modeled and shaded so judiciously that they possess almost porcelain like delicacy Themes Edit Rama and Sita in the forest Kangra c 1780 Kronos Collections The focal theme of Kangra painting is Shringara rasa The subjects are seen in Kangra painting exhibit the taste and the traits of the lifestyle of the society of that period Bhakti cult was the driving force and the love story of Radha and Krishna was the main source of spiritual experience which was also the base for the visual expression Bhagavata Purana and the love poems Gita Govinda by Jayadeva were the most popular subjects dealing with the legends and the amorous plays of Radha and Krishna symbolizing the soul s devotion to God In some miniatures the blue god Krishna is seen dancing in the lush woodlands and every maiden s eye is drawn to him Krishna subjects known commonly as Krishna Lila predominate while the themes of love inspired by the Nayaks and nayikas and baramasa enjoyed great favor The sentiment of love remained the inspiration and the central theme of Pahari painting The Sat Sai depictions of the legendary lovers on the other hand were set against an architectural background with walls balconies and windows Kangra paintings influenced by the Bhagavad Purana portrayed incidents from the life of the young Krishna against the Brindavan forest or river Yamuna The other popular themes were the stories of Nala and Damayanti and those from Keshavdas s Baramasa Features of Kangra painting Edit A woman preparing a meal Kangra c 1810 Chester Beatty Library One striking feature of Kangra paintings is the verdant greenery it depicts The style is naturalistic and great attention is paid to detail The foliage depicted is vast and varied This is made noticeable by using multiple shades of green The Kangra paintings feature flowering plants and creepers leafless trees rivulets and brooks The Kangra artists adopted various shades of the primary colors and used delicate and fresher hues For instance they used a light pink on the upper hills to indicate distance Kangra paintings depict the feminine charm in a very graceful manner Facial features are soft and refined The female figures are exceptionally beautiful Later Kangra paintings also depicted nocturnal scenes and storms and lightning The paintings were often large and had complex compositions of many figures and elaborate landscapes Towns and house clusters were often depicted in the distance The Kangra painters used colors made of vegetable and mineral extracts They employed cool and fresh colors Kangra paintings are known for the lyrical blending of form and color The Kangra Arts Promotion Society 1 an NGO at Dharamshala Himachal Pradesh is working for the promotion of this art which is on the verge of extinction today This NGO is running a school to train young boys and girls in this art It also runs a workshop where genuine Kangra Paintings are made on traditional handmade paper using only mineral and vegetable colors See also EditRajput Painting Basohli Painting Indian painting Madhubani painting Mughal painting Sikh art and cultureFurther reading EditKangra Painting by William George Archer Published by Faber and Faber 1956 Kossak Steven 1997 Indian court painting 16th 19th century New York The Metropolitan Museum of Art ISBN 0870997831 see index p 148 152 Centres of Pahari Painting by Chandramani Singh Published by Abhinav Publications 1982 ISBN 0 391 02412 4 Kangra Paintings on Love by M S Randhawa Publications Division 1994 ISBN 81 230 0050 2 Welch Stuart Cary 1985 India art and culture 1300 1900 New York The Metropolitan Museum of Art ISBN 9780944142134 References Edit Bradnock Robert W Bradnock Roma 2004 Footprint India Footprint Travel Guides p 512 ISBN 1 904777 00 7 Kangra painting Britannica com Pahari centres Arts of India Architecture Sculpture Painting Music Dance and Handicraft by Krishna Chaitanya Published by Abhinav Publications 1987 ISBN 81 7017 209 8 Page 62 Chandigarh Museum Kangra paintings Archived from the original on 15 June 2006 Retrieved 12 March 2009 Kangra Painting https www auchitya com kangra painting delicate and lyrical style External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kangra painting Kangra Arts Promotion Society Geometry of Kangra Paintings Classical Kangra Jayadeva Goswami s Gita Govinda Kangra painting history Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kangra painting amp oldid 1135876731, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
