Medieval Period : Rajasthani Paintings An 18th-century Rajput painting by the artist Nihâl Chand . Inspired by the bhakti movement of Medieval India and Hinduism, the Prakrit style developed in the form of Rajasthani paintings. The beginning of Rajasthani paintings started in 16th century where the scenes of Karishna-Lila, Nayika-Bheda and Ragmala are famous. The Rajasthani artist is inspired by his own imagination. The paintings of this school mostly flourished into the royal palaces due to which the following local traditions evolved. Mewar Style Mewar school of Rajput paintings are concentrated on its conservation style, trying to avoid the dominance of the Mughals. The earlist example of the Mewar school is that of Chawand Ragmala, dating back to 1605. Towards the end of the 17th and 18th centurty, Mewar style saw revival and late 18th century again witnessed its decline. From mid 19th century to mid 20th century, it continued as a court art. The Radha-Kar...
Paintings of Historic Era : Classical Age The paintings of this period are dominated by the tradition of wall paintings. The paintings of this era are present at Ajanta, Ellora, Bagh, Jogimara, Badami, Sittanavasal, Elephanta caves etc. Ajanta The World Heritage Site of Ajanta caves are located about 107 km from the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, in the basin of river Bagheera. The Chinese traveller HuanTsang gives an interesting description of these caves. In modern times James Ferguson in his monograph Rock-Cut Temples of India which 4 are Chaitya and 25 are Viharas. These rock-cut caves were made from 200 BC to 7th century under the patronage of Shunga, Kushana, Gupta, Vakataka and Chalukya dynasties. The oldest caves are 10, 9 and 12. Cave no 1 belongs to 7th century AD, while 16 and 17 belong to Gupta period. Wide View Of A Late Chaitya Hall With A Stupa Ellora Paintings ...