ART AND

ARCHITECTURE

OF RAJPUTS.

THE RAJPUT RULERS HAD A KEEN SENSE OF BEAUTY IN ART AND ARCHITECTURE WHICH IS SEEN IN THE ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE OF

THEIR TEMPLES, FORTS AND PALACES. THE INDO-ARYAN STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE

DEVELOPED IN NORTH INDIA AND UPPER DECCAN AND THE DRAVIDIAN STYLE IN

SOUTH INDIA DURING THE RAJPUT PERIOD. BOTH SCULPTURE AND ARCHITECTURE

ATTAINED A HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE.

Some of the important temples built during this period were the rock temples at Ellora, Elephanta, the

temples of Tanjore and Madurai. In Northern India, the

Khajuraho temples in Central India are a class apart.

Then the famous temples of Orissa, the Jagannath temple at

Puri and the remains of the temple of the Sun at Konark are illustrious examples of exquisite temple architecture during that period.

Ellora temple

Elephanta temple

Khajuraho temple

SOME OF THE FORTS, PALACES

AND TEMPLES BUILT BY THE

RAJPUTS.

Gwalior fort.

jodhpur fort.

JAISALMER FORT

Rambagh palace

CITY PALACE ,UDAIPUR

Dilawar jain temple.

Kandariya temple

JUNAGARH FORT, BIKANER

ART OF THE RAJPUTS.

RAJPUT PAINTINGS RAJPUT PAINTING, ALSO KNOWN AS RAJASTHANI PAINTING, IS A

STYLE OF INDIAN PAINTING, EVOLVED AND FLOURISHED IN THE ROYAL COURTS OF RAJPUTANA, INDIA. EACH RAJPUT KINGDOM EVOLVED A DISTINCT STYLE, BUT WITH CERTAIN COMMON FEATURES. RAJPUT PAINTINGS DEPICT A NUMBER OF THEMES, EVENTS OF EPICS LIKE THE RAMAYANA AND THE MAHABHARATA, KRISHNA’S LIFE, BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES, AND HUMANS. MINIATURES IN MANUSCRIPTS OR SINGLE SHEETS TO BE KEPT IN ALBUMS WERE THE PREFERRED MEDIUM OF RAJPUT PAINTING, BUT MANY PAINTINGS WERE DONE ON THE WALLS OF PALACES, INNER CHAMBERS OF THE FORTS, HAVELIS, PARTICULARLY, THE HAVELIS OF SHEKHAWATI, THE FORTS AND PALACES BUILT BY SHEKHAWAT RAJPUTS.

THE COLOURS WERE EXTRACTED FROM CERTAIN MINERALS, PLANT SOURCES, CONCH SHELLS, AND WERE EVEN DERIVED BY PROCESSING PRECIOUS STONES. GOLD AND SILVER WERE USED. THE PREPARATION OF DESIRED COLOURS WAS A LENGTHY PROCESS, SOMETIMES TAKING WEEKS. BRUSHES USED WERE VERY FINE.

MEWAR PAINTINGS. MEWAR one of the most important schools of

Indian miniature painting of the 17th and 18th centuries. It is a school in the Rājasthanī style and was developed in the Hindu principality of Mewār (in Rājasthān state). The works of the school are characterized by simple bright colour and direct emotional appeal. The comparatively large number of paintings to which dates and places of origin can be ascribed make possible a more comprehensive picture of the development of painting in Mewār than in any other Rājasthanī school. The earliest-dated examples come from a rāgamālā (musical modes) series painted in 1605 at Chawand, an early capital of the state.

Mewar style of painting

Bani thani painting

THE PAHARI SCHOOL DEVELOPED AND FLOURISHED DURING 17TH-19TH CENTURIES STRETCHING FROM

JAMMU TO ALMORA AND GARHWAL, IN THE SUB-HIMALAYAN INDIA, THROUGH

HIMACHAL PRADESH, AND EACH CREATING STARK VARIATIONS WITHIN THE GENRE, RANGING FROM BOLD INTENSE

BASOHLI PAINTING, ORIGINATING FROM BASOHLI IN

JAMMU AND KASHMIR, TO THE DELICATE AND LYRICAL KANGRA PAINTINGS, WHICH BECAME SYNONYMOUS TO THE STYLE BEFORE OTHER SCHOOLS OF PAINTINGS DEVELOPED, WHICH REACHED ITS PINNACLE WITH PAINTINGS OF

RADHA AND KRISHNA, INSPIRED BY JAYADEV'S GITA GOVINDA.[3]

IT GAVE BIRTH TO A NEW IDIOM IN INDIAN PAINTING, AND GREW OUT OF THE

MUGHAL PAINTING, THOUGH THIS WAS PATRONIZED MOSTLY BY THE RAJPUT KINGS WHO RULED MANY PARTS OF THE REGION.

[4]

Nala damyanti.

“sudama bows”