The Manuscript Painting Tradition 1

T he third Khanda of the Vishnudharmottara Purana,

a fifth century text has a chapter Chitrasutra, which
should be considered as a source book of Indian art in
general and painting specifically. It talks about the art of
image making called pratima lakshana, which are canons
of painting. The Khanda also deals with the techniques,
tools, material(s), surface (wall), perception, perspective
and three-dimentionality of human figures. Different limbs
of painting, such as roopbheda or looks and appearance;
pramana or measurments, proportion and structure; bhava
or expressions; lavanya yojana or aesthetic composition;
sadrishya or resemblance; and varnikabhanga or use of
brush and colours have been explained at length with
examples. Each of these have many sub-sections. These
canons were read and understood by artists and followed
through centuries, thus, becoming the basis of all styles and
schools of painting in India.
Paintings from the medieval period have earned a
generic name, for example miniature paintings, owing to
their relatively smaller size. These miniature paintings
were hand-held and observed from a closer distance due to
their minutiae. The walls of a patron’s mansions were often
decorated with mural paintings. Hence, these miniatures
were never intended to be put up on the walls.
A large section of paintings are appropriately referred to
as manuscript illustrations as they are pictorial translations
of poetic verses from epics and various canonical, literary,
bardic or music texts (manuscripts), with verses handwritten
on the topmost portion of the painting in clearly demarcated
box–like space. Sometimes, one finds the text not in the front
but behind the work of art.
Manuscript illustrations were methodically conceived in
thematic sets (each set comprising several loose paintings
or folios). Each folio of painting has its corresponding text

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inscribed either in the demarcated space on the upper portion

of the painting or on its reverse. Accordingly, one would have
sets of the Ramayana paintings, or Bhagavata Purana, or
Mahabharata, or Gita Govinda, Ragamala, etc. Each set was
wrapped up in a piece of cloth and stored as a bundle in the
library of the king or patron.

Sravakapratikramasutra-curni
of Vijayasimha
Mewar, written by
Kamalchandra,1260
Collection: Boston

The most important folio-page of the set would be the

colophon page, which would furnish information regarding
the names of the patron, artist or scribe, date and place
of commission or completion of the work, and other such
important details.
However, due to ravages of time, the colophon pages
have often gone missing, compelling scholars to attribute
missing particulars on the basis of their expertise. Being
fragile pieces of artworks, paintings are susceptible to
mishandling, fire, humidity, and other such calamities and
disasters. Considered as precious and valuable artifacts and
also being portable, paintings were often gifted to princesses
as part of their dowries when they got married. They were
also exchanged as gifts between kings and courtiers as acts
of gratitude and traded to distant places. Paintings also
travelled to remote regions with moving pilgrims, monks,
adventurers, traders and professional narrators. Thus, for
instance, one would find a Mewar painting with the Bundi
king and vice versa.
Reconstructing the history of paintings is a phenomenal
task. There are fewer dated sets compared to undated ones.
When arranged chronologically, there are vacuous spells in
between, where one can only speculate the kind of painting
activity that could have thrived. To make matters worse, the
loose folios are no longer part of their original sets and are
dispersed in various museums and private collections, which

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The Manuscript Painting Tradition 3

keep surfacing time and again, challenging the constituted

timeline and compelling scholars to modify and redefine the
chronology in history. In this light, undated sets of paintings
are ascribed a hypothetical timeframe on the basis of style
and other circumstantial evidence.

Western Indian School of Painting

Painting activity that thrived largely in western parts of
India constitutes the Western Indian School of Painting with
Gujarat as its most prominent centre, and southern parts
of Rajasthan and western parts of Central India as other
centres. With the presence of some significant ports in
Gujarat, there was a network of trade routes passing
through these areas, especially, making merchants, traders
and local chieftains powerful patrons of art due to the wealth
and prosperity that trading brought in. The merchant class,
largely represented by the Jain community, led to become
significant patrons of themes related to Jainism. Hence, part
of the Western Indian School that depicts Jain themes and
manuscripts is known as the Jain School of Painting.
Jain painting also received impetus because the concept
of shaastradaan (donation of books) gained favour amidst the
community, where the act of donating illustrated paintings to
the monastery’s libraries called bhandars (repositories) was
glorified as a gesture of charity, righteousness and gratitude.

Birth of Mahavir, Kalpasutra,

fifteenth century,
Jain Bhandar, Rajasthan

Among the most widely illustrated canonical text in

the Jain tradition is Kalpasutra. It has a section, reciting
events from the lives of the 24 Tirthankaras — from their
births to salvation — that provides a biographical narrative
for artists to paint. The five key incidents roughly elaborated
as — conception, birth, renunciation, enlightenment and first
sermon, and salvation from the lives of Tirthankaras and

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4 An Introduction to Indian Art —Part II

events leading to and around these — comprise most part of

Mahavir’s mother
Trishala dreams
the Kalpasutra.
about 14 objects
when she conceives
Mahavir. They are —
an elephant, a bull, a
tiger, goddess Shri, a
kalash, a palanquin,
a pond, a rivulet, fire,
banners, garlands,
heap of jewels, the Sun
and the moon.
She consults an
astrologer to interpret
her dream and was
told that she will give
birth to a son, who
will either become
a sovereign king or
a great saint and
teacher.

Trishala’s fourteen dreams,

Kalpasutra, Western India

Other popularly painted texts are Kalakacharyakatha

and Sangrahini Sutra, among others. Kalakacharyakatha
narrates the story of Acharya Kalaka, who is on a mission
to rescue his abducted sister (a Jain nun) from an evil king.
It recounts various thrilling episodes and adventures of
Kalaka, such as him scouring the land to locate his missing
sister, demonstrating his magical powers, forging alliances
with other kings, and lastly, battling the evil king.
Uttaradhyana Sutra contains the teachings of Mahavir
that prescribe the code of conduct that monks should follow
and Sangrahini Sutra is a cosmological text composed in the
twelfth century that comprises concepts about the structure
of the universe and mapping of space.
Jains got these texts written in numerous copies. They
were either sparsely or profusely illustrated with paintings.
Hence, one typical folio or painting would be divided into
sections with allocated spaces for writing the text and painting

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The Manuscript Painting Tradition 5

Kalaka is seen on
the lower right and
his captive sister is
depicted towards the
top left. The donkey
with magical powers
is spewing arrows at
Kalaka’s army of kings.
The evil king presides
from the inside the
circular fort.

Kalakacharyakatha
1497, N. C. Mehta Collection,
Ahmedabad, Gujarat

what is written. A small hole in the centre was created for a

string to pass through to fasten the pages together that were
in turn protected with wooden covers called patlis, placed on
top and bottom of the manuscript.
Early Jain paintings were traditionally done on palm leaves
before paper was introduced in the fourteenth century and
the earliest surviving palm leaf manuscript from the western
part of India dates back to the eleventh century. The palm
leaves were adequately treated before painting and the writing
was etched upon the leaves with a sharp calligraphic device.

Planetary bodies and

the distance between
them, Sangrahini Sutra,
seventeenth centrury,
N. C. Mehta Collection,
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Owing to the narrow and small space on palm leaves,
painting, initially, was largely confined to patlis that were
liberally painted in bright colours with images of gods and
goddesses, and incidents from the lives of Jain acharyas.

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Jain paintings developed a schematic and simplified

language for painting, often dividing the space into sections
to accommodate different incidents. One observes a penchant
for bright colours and deep interest in depiction of textile
patterns. Thin, wiry lines predominate the composition
and three-dimensionality of the face is attempted with an
addition of a further eye. Architectural elements, revealing
the Sultanate domes and pointed arches, indicate the
political presence of Sultans in the regions of Gujarat, Mandu,
Jaunpur and Patan, among others, where these paintings
were done. Several indigenous features and local cultural
lifestyle is visible through textile canopies and wall hangings,
furniture, costumes, utilitarian things, etc. Features of the
landscape are only suggestive, and usually, not detailed.
A period of roughly hundred years from about 1350–1450
appears to be the most creative phase for Jain paintings.
One observes a shift from severely iconic representations to
inclusion of attractively depicted aspects of landscape, figures
in dance poses, musicians playing instruments, which are
painted in the margins of the folio around the main episode.

Indra praising
Devasano Pado, Kalpasutra,
Gujarat, about 1475.
Collection: Boston

These paintings were lavishly painted with profuse use of

gold and lapis lazuli, indicating the wealth and social status
of their patrons.
Over and above these canonical texts, Tirthipatas,
Mandalas and secular, non-canonical stories were also
painted for the Jain community.
Besides Jain paintings that were patronised by rich
merchants and dedicated devotees, a parallel tradition of
painting existed amongst feudal lords, wealthy citizens and
other such people during the late fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries that encompassed illustrations of secular, religious
and literary themes. This style represents the indigenous

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tradition of painting before the formulation of court styles of

Rajasthan and intermingling of Mughal influences.
A large group of works of the same period, portraying
Hindu and Jain subjects, such as the Mahapurana,
Chaurpanchashika, Aranyaka Parvan of the Mahabharata,
Bhagvata Purana, Gita Govinda, and few others are
representative of this indigenous style of painting. This phase
and style is also casually referred to as pre-Mughal or
pre-Rajasthani, which is largely synonymous with the term
‘indigenous style’.

Chaurpanchasika,
Gujarat,
fifteenth century,
N. C. Mehta Collection,
Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Distinctive stylistic features evolved during this phase and

with this group of paintings. A particular figure type evolved
with an interest in depicting transparency of fabrics — odhnis
Mitharam,
‘ballooned’ over the head of heroines and draped with stiff and Bhagvata Purana, 1550
standing edges. Architecture was contextual but
suggestive. Different kind of hatchings evolved
for depiction of water bodies and particular
ways of representing the horizon, flora, fauna,
etc., got formalised. All these formal elements
make their way in the seventeenth century early
Rajasthani paintings.
With several regions in the north, east and
west coming under the rule of the Sultanate
dynasties from Central Asia after the late
twelfth century, another strain of influence —

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Persian, Turkic and Afghan — percolated into

the mainland and appeared in the paintings
patronised by the Sultans of Malwa, Gujarat,
Jaunpur and such other centres. With few
Central Asian artists in these courts working
with local artists, an intermingling of Persian
features and indigenous styles led to the
emergence of another style that is referred to
as the Sultanate School of Painting.
This represents more of a ‘style’ than a
‘school’ that has a hybrid Persian influence —
indigenous pictorial style, which is an interesting
coming together of indigenous features as
described earlier and Persian elements, such
as colour palette, physiognomy, simplified
landscape with decorative details, etc.
Nimatnama (Book of Delicacies) the most
representative example of this school was
painted at Mandu during the reign of Nasir
Shah Khalji (1500–1510 CE). It is a book of
recipes with a section on hunting, and also has
Nimatnama, Mandu,1550,
British Library, London methods for preparation of medicines, cosmetics, perfumes
and directions on their use.
Stories with undertones of Sufi ideas were also gaining
favour and Laurchanda paintings are example of this genre.

Pala School of Painting

Like the Jain texts and paintings, the illustrated manuscripts
of the Palas of eastern India also form the earliest examples
of paintings from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Pala
period (750 CE to the mid–twelfth century) saw the last great
phase of Buddhist art in India. Monasteries, such as Nalanda
and Vikramsila were great centres of Buddhist learning, and
art and numerous manuscripts were illustrated here with
Buddhist themes and images of Vajrayana Buddhist deities
on palm leaves.
These centres also had workshops for casting of bronze
images. Students and pilgrims from all over South East
Asia came to these monasteries for education and religious
instruction, and took back specimens of Pala Buddhist
art in the form of bronze and illustrated manuscripts.

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Lokeshvar, Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita,

Pala, 1050, National Museum, New Delhi

This practice enabled the dispersal of Pala art to places, such

as Nepal, Tibet, Burma, Sri Lanka and Java.
Unlike the terse lines of Jain painting, a flowing and
sinuous line in subdued colour tones characterises Pala
paintings. Like at Ajanta, the sculptural styles of Pala at
monasteries and the painterly images have a similar language.
A fine example of a Pala Buddhist palm leaf manuscript is
Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita (Bodleian Library, Oxford) or
the ‘Perfection of Wisdom’ written in eight thousand lines.
Painted at the monastery of Nalanda in the fifteenth year
of the reign of the Pala King, Ramapala, in the last quarter
of the eleventh century, it has six pages of illustrations and
wooden covers painted on both sides.
Pala dynasty weakened with the coming of Muslim
invaders. Pala art came to an end in the first half of the
thirteenth century when the Muslim invaders attacked and
caused destruction to the monasteries.

Exercise
1. What are manuscript paintings? Name two places, where
the tradition of manuscript painting was prevalent?
2. Take a chapter from any one of our language textbooks and
make an illustrated folio with selected text (in minimum
five pages).

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