RURAL PAINTINGS
INTRODUCTION
Rural painting generally depicts the daily life of ordinary people back then. These rural paintings depict the way of life of the people back then and how they lived efficiently with nature, whereas the ancient paintings depict the strength of the king's army, the king's administration, and the significance of the empire. The people enjoyed painting these by themselves. These rural paintings also depict the livestock, the people, and local deities. These paintings can be found in and out of the villagers' homes. We can capture their emotions through the wide band of colours they use. They decorated their huts in celebration and on special occasions with these beautiful paintings. In today's modern world, we can still find the influence of these rural paintings in wall designs and on clothing. They can also be used as a beautifying element in the form of paintings. Back then, the villagers painted their entire walls but, due to the course of time, the wall paintings shrunk to frames. This serves as a fine example that art can never be destroyed; rather, it increases its standard.
MANDALA ART
The first examples of Mandala art were found in Buddhist works created in India in the first century B.C.E. . These can also be observed in Indian homes' Rangoli patterns.
A time-microcosm of the universe, the mandala is a diagram, chart, or geometric pattern that is associated with the New Age. Originally intended to represent wholeness and serve as a model for the structure of life itself, the mandala is a cosmic diagram that illustrates the relationship between the infinite and the world that encompasses all minds and bodies.
A mandala is a geometric arrangement of symbols that forms a "circle." Mandalas are used in a variety of spiritual traditions to focus practitioners' and adepts' attention, provide spiritual guidance, create a sacred environment, and facilitate meditation and trance induction. It is employed as a map symbolising deities, or particularly in the case of Shintoism, paradises, kami, or actual shrines, in the Eastern faiths of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Shintoism. A mandala typically depicts the spiritual journey from the outermost point to the innermost point through layers.
A fundamental Hindu mandala, also known as a yantra, is composed of a square with four gates that surrounds a circle with a centre point. Each gate has a general Mandala shape and frequently has radial balance.
Sandpaintings of mandalas have also been developed in Vajrayana Buddhism. They play a significant role in Anuttarayoga Tantra meditation techniques as well. Tantric Buddhists frequently employ mandalas as tools for meditation.
The mandala is "a support for the meditating person," something that should be repeatedly thought about until it becomes saturated so that the image of the mandala becomes fully internalised in even the smallest detail and can then be called upon and contemplated at will as a clear and vivid visualised image. Every mandala has what Tucci refers to as "its accompanying liturgy, contained in literature known as tantras," which outlines for practitioners how to create, construct, and visualise the mandala as well as the mantras to be chanted when using it in ritual.
Sandpaintings of mandalas have also been developed in Vajrayana Buddhism. They play a significant role in Anuttarayoga Tantra meditation techniques as well. Tantric Buddhists frequently employ mandalas as tools for meditation.
Sand mandalas are vibrant mandalas created from sand and demolished ritualistically. They were created in India between the eighth and the twelfth centuries, but are presently used in Tibetan Buddhism. Each mandala honours a different deity. The Buddhist The mandala serves as a representation of the deity's palace, which also serves as a representation of the deity's states of thought as they are to be attained on the path to enlightenment. Every mandala is a representation of tantra in pictures.
PATTACHITRA
Pattachitra alludes to the traditional paintings of West Bengal and Odisha in India's east. Sanskrit terms "Patta" and "Chitra" both refer to clothes or "Vastra," respectively. The West Bengali painting is referred to as the Bengal Patachitra. It is part of West Bengal's traditional and mythological legacy. There are other divisions within the Bengal Patachitra, including Durga Pat, Chalchitra, Tribal Patachitra, Medinipur Patachitra, Kalighat Patachitra, etc. Bengal Patachitra's themes are mostly mythical, religious, folkloric, and social in nature. Jamini Roy created the Kalighat Patachitra, the final Bengal Patachitra tradition. Patua is the name of the Bengal Patachitra's artist.
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| ORIYA PATTACHITRA |
The worship of Lord Jagannath is strongly related to the Orisha Pattachitra tradition. The Pattachitra paintings created by the Chitrakars are the earliest indigenous paintings from Odisha, predating the scant evidence of paintings on the caves of Khandagiri, Udayagiri, and Sitabhinji murals from the Sixth Century A.D. (the painters are called Chitrakars). The Vaishnava sect is central to the Oriya painting's subject matter. Lord Jagannath, a manifestation of Lord Krishna, served as the primary inspiration for Pattachitra culture from its inception. The majority of Patta Chitra's subject matter is mythological, religious, and folkloric. The primary themes centre on Lord Jagannath and Radha-Krishna, several Jagannath "Vesas," Balabhadra and Subhadra, and temple activities.
Instead of using commercially produced poster colours, the painters employ natural and vegetable pigments. Their own colours are prepared. Conch shells are powdered, boiled, and then filtered to produce white colour, which is a very risky operation. A lot of patience is needed. However, this technique lends colour persistence and brilliance. Red is represented by the mineral hue "hingula". For yellow, "Haritala," the king of stones' components, and "Ramaraja," a type of indigo, are utilised. There are two types of black: pure lamp-black and black made by burning coconut shells. These "Chitrakaras" also have their own native brushes that they use, and they are made of domestic animal hair. The brush is made from a bundle of hair fastened to the end of a bamboo stick.
MADHUBANI PAINTINGS
Madhubani Art, also known as Mithila painting, is a form of Indian and Nepalese painting that is popular in both countries' Mithila regions. It was given the Madhubani District of Bihar, India, as its namesake. This painting was created using natural dyes and pigments and a variety of materials, including fingers, twigs, brushes, nib pens, and matchsticks. It is distinguished by the striking geometric patterns that cover it. For certain events, like birth or marriage, and festivals, like Holi, Surya Shasti, Kali Puja, Upanayana, and Durga Puja, there is ritual material.
The paintings are now being done on cloth, handmade paper, and canvas fabric in addition to the traditional hut walls and flooring of newly plastered mud. Rice powder paste is used to create the paintings known as Madhubani. The practice of Madhubani painting has only ever been practised in a small geographic area, and although the techniques have been passed down through the ages, the content and style have mostly not changed. Madhubani painting has been given GI (Geographical Indication) designation as a result. The colours used in Madhubani paintings are taken from plants and feature two-dimensional imagery. For reddish-brown and black, respectively, Ochre, Lampblack, and Red are utilised.
The majority of the subjects in Madhubani paintings are individuals, often in relation to natural settings, scenes from old epics, and gods. Along with depictions of the royal court and public occasions like weddings, natural phenomena like the sun, moon, and religious plants like tulsi are also frequently painted. Generally speaking, there is never a blank spot in these paintings; instead, the spaces are filled with depictions of flowers, animals, birds, and even geometric patterns. The painting was traditionally one of the trades that was passed down through families in the Mithila Region, primarily by women.
The five distinct styles of Madhubani art are Bharni, Katchni, Tantrik, Godna, and Kohbar. In the 1960s, Brahman women, considered to be of the "higher caste" in India and Nepal, dominated the Bharni and Tantrik styles. They portrayed paintings of Gods and Goddesses and had primarily religious themes. The stories of Raja Shailesh (the village guard), symbols from their culture, and much more were depicted in artworks by people of lower castes. Nowadays, Madhubani art is a globalised art form, thus there are no caste-based differences in the works. Each of the five styles suits them. Madhubani art has drawn interest from all across the world.
MANDANA ART
Indian states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are known for their Mandana wall and floor paintings. Mandana is attracted to defend the house and the hearth, welcome the gods into the home and celebrate special occasions. Meena women of Rajasthan's Hadoti region are skilled at creating designs with exact symmetry and accuracy. The practice of the art is done on floors and walls, and it is frequently handed down from mother to daughter. The Meena community in the Hadoti area is considerably more clearly represented by the art and tied to it. Red ochre, rati, a regional clay, and cow dung are mixed together to prepare the ground. For the motif, lime or chalk powder is utilised.
A piece of cotton, a tuft of hair, or a crude brush formed from a date stalk are the tools used. Ganesha, peacocks, working ladies, tigers, floral patterns, etc. might all be included in the design. In the majority of Nepal, these artworks are also referred to as Mandala.
KOLAM
Traditional decorative art known as kolam is created with rice flour in accordance with long-standing customs. White stone powder, chalk, or chalk powder are also used to draw it, frequently in conjunction with synthetic or natural colour powders. The other southern Indian states of Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala have adopted it since its origins in the prehistoric Tamil Nadu known as Tamilakam. Some areas of Goa and Maharashtra contain it.
Since there is a large Tamil diaspora around the world, kolam is practised there as well as in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and a few other Asian nations. A kolam, also known as a muggu, is a geometrical line drawing that is made up of straight, curved, and looped lines that are arranged around a grid of dots. It is commonly practised by female family members in front of their home entry in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. There are several names for the related regional varieties of kolam in India, including rangoli in Maharashtra, aripan in Mithila, hase and rangoli in Kannada in Karnataka. During festival days, holiday times, and special events, more intricate kolams are frequently drawn and more colours are frequently added.
Kolams, also known as muggulu, are believed to bring wealth to families. Every day at first light, women in the millions of houses in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh draw kolams in front of their front doors. Kolams are traditionally drawn using white rice flour on a level surface of the ground. Every morning before sunrise, a flat surface is created by sweeping clean and sprinkling water on the front door of the house or wherever the kolam may be drawn. In addition to using cow dung to wax the floors, the white stone powder is occasionally used to create Kolam. Cow dung is used as a literal protective barrier for homes in various cultures because it is thought to have antibacterial effects.
A kolam's primary purpose is not decoration. In the past, kolams or muggulu were painted in coarse rice flour so that the ants wouldn't have to travel far or for an extended period of time to eat. Inviting birds and other tiny animals to consume the rice powder also welcomes other beings into one's home and daily life, serving as a daily monument to peaceful coexistence. Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and wealth, is not the least of those who should be invited into the home as it is a gesture of invitation to all. The designs span from free-form art work and closed shapes to geometric and mathematical line drawings centred on a dot matrix. Being able to draw vast, complex designs without picking up the hand or standing up in between used to be a source of pride. Young women anxiously anticipated the month of Margazhi/Margasira so they could display their talent by painting a single large kolam across the entire width of the road.
The ritual kolam designs made for important events like weddings frequently line the pavement. Many of these invented designs have been handed down from moms to daughters, from one generation to the next.
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