Traditional Art

            The word "Traditional" signifies transmitting something from one to another through generations, like customs, practice etc. which are long established and are considered heirlooms of past. It is important in the context of cultural continuity or preservation of cultural details of a community. Tradition hence refers to way of living, ways of thinking, ways of interacting etc. Hence traditonal art means ways of decorating oneself and one’s habitat, ways of connecting truth with beauty and utility with aesthetic appreciation, involving ideas and emotions in living at a higher aesthetic plane, removed from the pure mundane existence. Traditional art is the art that is relevant for the entire community. The early painters produced a style for the community and the predecessors to be followed while doing the paintings. The anonymity of Indian artists, with very few exceptions, roots from the concepts of painting as a form of sadhana, ie. to attain the self realization necessary to merge with the divine and thereby attain moksha/nirvana – the liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Hence these styles flourished as a revered heirlooms, in many cases with little or no modification.

           The early extant specimens of what may be described as truly traditional Indian paintings were murals. Here the painting is made to stick to the base of lime plaster [on wall/stone/rock]. According to Chitrasutra [as mentioned in the book “Indian Painting – The Great Mural Tradition”, pg. 390] “The Chitrasutra also lays down the technique of preparing plaster. Three different types of brick powder, mixed with gum resin, beeswax, honey, molasses and safflower soaked in oil must be soaked in a pot of water for a month. It becomes a soft paste and has to then be applied to the wall. ...” Works on such walls are seen in Ajantha and other places.

[Pic: Kapi Jataka portrayed in Ajantha cave]

        Over the period of time this idiom was transferred to other places like Bagh, Badami, Ellora, Talagirswara, Brihadiswara temple, Vrupaksha temple at Hampi, Lepakshi temple etc. The idiom that evolved in these wall paintings was extended to the miniatures and manuscripts.

[Pic: Lepakshi Paintings]

[Source: https://ssubbanna.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/37-lepakshi.jpg]

         There is an undercurrent of folk art in the Deccani paintings of Bidar (around 1347) and in the Vijaynagar paintings of Hampi, Anegondi and Lepakshi. The tableau- like placement of flat figures as distnguished from an elaborately decorative and patterned background in all these paintings is characteristically folk in intent and execution. The Vijayanagar School of Painting (A.D. 1336 to 1665) was very distinct from the earlier styles and has made a great contribution to the Art of India. specialized in drawing war scenes, folk dances, animal hunting, commercial transactions and everyday life of the common people. In many such painting styles the tradition remains, but the nuances differ, They sometimes incorporate transitional changes and evolve into a new tradition which becomes another heirloom as in the case of the Tanjavur and Mysore paintings which are offshoots of the Vijayanagar paintings.

With the passage of time, especially in the modern times these traditional paintings are going through a lot of changes in the way they are implemented by the modern generation, Their exposure about different media, other arts and the need of the hour of bringing these heirlooms from the interiors of the temples, caves, palaces etc. where they were hidden from the ordinary people for centuries etc. has resulted in the modern way of expression of these traditional paintings.

[References: http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/myspaint/intro.htm
Mysore Chitramala - Traditional Paintings by Prof. S.K. Ramachandra Rao.]

[The Pictures are used only for representational purposes]