Art & Culture of Rajasthan
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Rajasthan is among
the richest states in the country as far as the field
of arts and crafts is concerned. May be it was a result
of the war like lifestyle of the people of Rajasthan
which sharpened the creative senses, artistic skills
and inspired them to create the most opulent and richest
of treasures. Stone, clay, leather, wood, ivory, lac,
glass, brass, silver, gold and textiles were given the
most brilliant forms. For women their was infinite variety
-- tie and dye fabrics, embroidered garments, enamel
jewellery inlayed with precious and semi-precious stones,
leather jootis etc. |
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Declines of patronage
in the Mugal court at Delhi artists moved to a more
congenial environment and were welcomed by the rulers
of Rajasthan. Rajasthani school (1550-1900 AD) of paintings,
murals, miniatures came into existance. Frescoe paintings
was done on the walls of palaces at Jaipur, Udaipur,
Bikaner and Jodhpur. Another branch of Rajasthani school
was at orcha and Datia Bundelkhand. Most of these paintings
have the themes of the Krishna stories, Raslila and
Hindu religious subjects. |
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Each period of history
saw its own contribution to the thriving art scene.
The history of Rajasthan reveals that the kings and
their nobles were patrons of art and crafts and they
encouraged their craftsmen in activities ranging from
wood and marble carving to weaving, pottery and painting.
And art seems to have been an obsession with the inhabitants
of this parched landscape. |
The inhabitants were not too far behind when it came
to adorning themselves and it was
not only the women that beautified themselves -- the
heroic warriors extended equal attention to their
clothing and armour -- they went into battles with
meticulously ornamented swords and shields. The horses
and elephants that took the warriors to battles received
the same care -- jeweled saddles and intricate silver
howdas were just some of the ornaments that were used
to adorn them.
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Influenced by the surroundings, rajasthani
medieval paintings have their own unique styles - the
hills and valleys, deserts, places and forts, gardens,
court scenes, religious processions; and the highlighting
scenes from the life of Lord Krishna were the recurrent
themes of these paintings. The Raagamala paintings and
paintings based on Goeta Govinda are treasures of Rajasthani
style of art and painting. The miniature artists of Rajasthan
were practising their art since 16th century and were
later employed by the Mughal courts including the emperor
Akbar.
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Arts
n Crafts Directory
Handicrafts
of Rajasthan
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