Red… the colour of blood, of life, vitality… red, the colour of the Mother Goddess, the embodiment of power, the nurturer and destroyer… the protector of the weak.
In a great battle between Shiva and the asura (demon), Raktabija, every drop of the asura’s blood that fell to the earth, gave rise to more and [...]
Drawn symbols are probably the oldest way of preservation of information and wisdom, starting with depiction of life scenes in Stone Age caves, to trading seals with undecipherable scripts and to volumes of written text in the form of books. Somewhere in the evolution of writing from stone to paper, came inscriptions on palm leaves. [...]
A grand procession is on its way from the palace. There are soldiers on horses, ministers riding on camels and the king and queen are sitting high atop a beautifully decorated elephant. There are dancers and musicians also going along, a group of women carrying flowers; all surrounded by reverberating drum beats. A scene rare [...]
A work of art, matchless in splendour, which originated as an inspiration for meditation for the monks in the cold mountains of Tibet, shines all over the world in hues of golden and blue. Beautiful manifestations of the divine, the Thangka paintings help Tibetan Buddhist practitioners develop a close relationship with a meditational deity, assisting [...]
Misty daybreak and the first calls of the rooster in a scenic village have the men going to the river for ablutions, preparing themselves for a day filled with enchanting images of colourful deities, materialising from fine brushes and bright stone paints.
Raghurajpur, a small village on the banks of the river Bhargabi near Puri, is [...]
When Indra, the lord of rains, showed his wrath on the people of Vrindavan, with violent rains and thunder, lord Krishna lifted the Govardhan Mountain like an umbrella and saved the inhabitants – the cows and cowherds, from Indra’s fury. Indra was humbled and the people started worshipping Govardhan, the giver of rains and [...]
The Pithora paintings trail back long into history and find their roots in the cave paintings, thousands of years old. This is the most prevalent and characteristic art tradition of the Rathwa community, who live in the region bordering Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh states in India. While the styles vary with every Bhil group, they [...]
A storytelling tradition
“If you can’t go to the temple, the temple will come to you.”
Much before cinema and animations, storytelling was in such forms that would bring the storyteller and listener together in their mesmerising worlds of mythical heroes and gods. The Kaavad was one such method of storytelling, which also had a [...]
(Ajrak / Ajarak / Ajarakh / Ajrakh)
When the world is buzzing with “sustainability” and “environment-friendly” as the newest big trends of the future, for many centuries, innumerable crafts have existed in harmony with nature. Some things so subtle that they do not glare out, yet so vivid that one cannot help but appreciate the aesthetics [...]
History and influence
Paintings in India can be traced back to second century B.C. the pictures were done in varying media- caves, palace walls, leaves, wood, paper, cloth, etc. They are found all over the country from the South to the North and also in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Tibet. The earliest paintings [...]
