[1] Made on canvases a few inches in length and width, the Indian miniatures are noted for the amount of details that the artist encapsulates within the minute canvas frame; and the characteristic sensitivity with which the human, divine and natural forms are portrayed.
[3] From their origins in cave paintings, to the later Mughal and Pahari schools, the Indian miniatures represent a diversity of styles and themes, varying between the religious and the secular.
[4] However, several of these canvases today survive in museums and private collections, defining India, her lifestyle and the aesthetic idiom of her past, as well as the essence of her soil, her creative imagination, colours, and thought.
Meanwhile, the Bhakti movement increased the demand for votive representations, while simultaneously rulers too began patronising painters to have their artistic styles preserved and reflected on the canvas.
[16] The Indian miniatures are characterised by a direct expressive quality, and remarkable transparency where lines, colours, forms, etc., synthesize to expose all that is depicted in the canvas.
[1] Several Indian texts ranging from the Buddhist Jatakas, Jain Kalpasutras, the two Hindu epics, Bhagavata-Purana, Kalidasa's Shakuntala, Rasamanjari, Gita-Govinda by Jayadeva, Rasikapriya, Bihari-Satsai, and Janamsakhi are frequently portrayed in these miniatures.
[17][18][19][1][20] Persian texts like Shahnama, Tutinama, Hamzanama, Mughal memoirs like Baburnama, Akbarnama, etc., folk legends like Bazbahadur-Roopmati, Dhola-Maru, Laila-Majnun, Nala-Damayanti, Panchatantra, etc., are also the staple content of Indian miniatures.
[21][22][23][24] Abstract emotions of love, pain and grief; beauty and nature; the Ragamalas, Baramasa, Tantra; history of court and village lives, various festivals and scenes of pleasure too are found in these paintings.
Decorated borders, intricate lines, balanced and perfectly executed compositions, unique shades and colour palettes, scenic depictions, and thematic portrayals depart a mysticism and emotive appeal that characterises the essence of Indian miniatures.
[32] The principal centres of Rajasthani miniatures included Mewar, Bundi, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Kishangarh, Jaipur, over fifteen smaller states, and thikanas.
Serialised illustrations of texts and legends, depictions of Durbar scenes, festivals, processions, huntings, and harem life, have precedence over portraiture.
The image of Krishna-Radha gave the Rajasthani painters an eternal source of sensuous delight, an ideal of the shringara rasa, and a way to transcend beyond the material into the spiritual.
[38] The Bikaner miniatures are characterised by their affinity to the Mughal style, their portrayals of the Durbar scenes, delicate female forms and robust male figures.
[42][1] The Malwa miniatures are beautifully composed and emotionally charged,[43] while the Orchha-Datia styles (also, known as the Bundelkhand school) are dominated by episodes from the Ramayana, Bhagavata-Purana, folk narratives, and blue-black shades.
Some of the distinct markers of this school are the exceptional synthesis of colour palette, the comely human figures, rich decorations, and indigenous ornamental patterns, etc.
[48] Pahari paintings derive their timelessness and emotive quality from the compositional details, rich symbolism, sensitive portrayals of humans, and natural landscapes.
[52] Kangra paintings represent the pinnacle of Pahari miniatures, and Himalayan art, characterised by mature technical finesse, and portraitural quality that imparts an almost pulsating softness of music, emotions, and colours.