ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html><head><title>The Sampradaya Sun - Independent Vaisnava News - Feature Stories - February 2012 </title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EmulateIE7"> </head> <body bgcolor="white" width=800 link="#990000" alink="#990000" vlink="#000088"> <table width=750 border=1 bordercolor="#CC9933" bordercolordark="990000" bordercolorlight="CC9933" cellpadding=10 cellspacing=0 bgcolor="white"> <tr> <td valign=top><font face="verdana"><font size=2><P> <center><img src="../head1.gif" width=605 height=99 border=0 usemap="#nav1"></center> <center><table width=700 border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 bgcolor="white"> <tr> <td valign=top colspan=2><font face="verdana"><font size=2> <MAP NAME="nav1"> <AREA COORDS="23,17,110,82" SHAPE="rect" HREF="../../index.htm"> <AREA COORDS="1,87,46,98" SHAPE="rect" HREF="../../../media/mantra.wav" target="_blank"> <AREA COORDS="76,86,111,97" SHAPE="rect" HREF="../../news/news.htm"> <AREA COORDS="121,86,189,97" SHAPE="rect" HREF="../../editorials/editorials.htm"> <AREA COORDS="199,86,256,97" SHAPE="rect" HREF="../../features/features.htm"> <AREA COORDS="266,86,329,97" SHAPE="rect" HREF="../../sunblogs/sunblogs.htm"> <AREA COORDS="339,86,412,97" SHAPE="rect" HREF="../../classifieds/classifieds.htm"> <AREA COORDS="421,86,466,97" SHAPE="rect" HREF="../../events/events.htm"> <AREA COORDS="476,86,539,97" SHAPE="rect" HREF="../../recipes/recipes.htm"> <AREA COORDS="549,86,796,604" SHAPE="rect" HREF="../../podcasts/podcasts.htm"> </MAP> <BR> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width=800> <font face="verdana"><font size=2> <P> <P><BR><p> <blockquote> </center> <FONT SIZE=+2><p style='text-align:justify'> Vedic Art: Indian Miniature Painting, Part 30 </font></font> <P> <font face="verdana"><font size=2><p style='text-align:justify'> BY: SUN STAFF </font></font> <br><br> <center><img src="miniatures145.jpg" width=500 height=364 border=1> <P> <font face="verdana"><font size=-2><B> Vasudeva Carrying Krishna over the Yamuna River <BR> Mandi, mid-18th c. </b></font></font></center> <P><BR><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2><B>Feb 02, 2012 &#151; CANADA (SUN) &#151; The last in a serial presentation of India's artistic legacy in the field of Miniature Paintings. </b> </font></font><p><BR><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=+1>THE PAHARI SCHOOLS<BR> 17th to 19th Centuries<BR><BR> KANGRA SCHOOL </font></font><p><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2>Today we complete our series on Indian Miniatures with a brief survey of the last of the Pahari schools  the Kullu-Mandi School. Kullu, once known as <I>kul-anti-peetha</i>, or "the end of the habitable world", is located on the banks of the Beas River in the Kullu Valley, Himachal Pradesh. </font></font><p><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2>Kullu has long been a centre of Vaishnavism. In the 17th century, Raja Jagat Singh installed a Deity here of Lord Raghunath (Rama), which he brought from Ayodhya. To demonstrate his devotion, he placed the Deity on his own throne, as the presiding Deity of the Kullu Valley. </font></font><p><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2>Mandi, also in Himachal Pradesh, was previously known as Mandav Nagar. Located north of Shimla in the northwest Himalayas, Mandi produced a unique folk art style of painting. The style is marked by a bold, naturalist style of drawing and the use of dark, somewhat dull colors. The flat slate blue background of the Shiva painting below is typical of Mandi paintings of the period. <P><BR><center><img src="miniatures146.jpg" width=436 height=617 border=1> <P> <font face="verdana"><font size=-2><B> Shiva and Devi<BR> Mandi, c. 1750 </b></font></font></center> </font></font><p><BR><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2>Although the Kangra influence can be seen in Mandi paintings, the latter school is more influenced by indigenous style than the Kullu School is. Kullu paintings tend to be more finely drawn, with a palate of colors and styles reminiscent of Basohli and Guler paintings. </font></font><p><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2>The early Mandi School paintings have a decidedly Mughal style, but rendered in more of a local folk style. When Emperor Aurangzeb withdrew his patronage from the arts some of the scattered artists ended up in Himachal Pradesh, where they brought the Mughal style to local artists. </font></font><p><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2>The Mandi painters produced many illustrations for Vaishnava texts like Bhagavata Purana, Mahabharata and Ramayana. They were also fond of painting the pastimes of Sri Krishna, who is known in Mandi as Madho Rai. <P><BR><center><img src="miniatures147.jpg" width=680 height=449 border=0> <P> <font face="verdana"><font size=-2><B> Vali and Sugriva Fighting<BR> Folio from Dispersed Shangri Ramayana, c. 1710 </b></font></font></center> </font></font><p><BR><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2>The style of paintings produced at Kullu are much like the landscape itself  clean of line and lit by cool, supernatural Himalayan colors. The refined style, which leans towards the decorative, is similar to the Basohli miniatures. In fact, Basohli artists are thought to have been sent to Kullu to help depict the pastimes of Lard Rama Raghunatha in Ramayana folio collections. Lord Rama was the family Deity who many Kullu rajas had invested their royal powers in. </font></font><p><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2>A world-famous collection of miniatures was produced at Kullu, illustrating the Ramayana. Known today as the Shangari (Shangri) Ramayana, the dispersed leaves from these extensive folios are now found in collections around the world. Shangri was the place where one of the ruling families of Kullu took refuge after the state fell to intruders, and it was under their patronage that the artworks were produced. </font></font><p><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2>One of these famous Kullu Ramayana folios is comprised of a set of 270 paintings that illustrate Lord Rama's pastimes. They are in the collection of Raja Raghbir Singh of Shangari. While the collection is comprised of paintings by various artists, the majority appear to have been artists working out of Sultanpur, the capital of Kullu. <P><BR><center><img src="miniatures148.jpg" width=680 height=470 border=0> <P> <font face="verdana"><font size=-2><B> Folio from Dispersed Shangri Ramayana, c. 1710 </b></font></font></center> </font></font><p><BR><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2>These remarkable albums of Kullu Ramayana paintings provide a wonderful contrast to the folk style of miniatures produced in neighboring Mandi. In many ways, the Kullu-Mandi School is a reflection of the diversity found in nearly all the art schools discussed in this series. On one hand, we find that each regional school has its own indigenous naturalist style, but was also influenced by outside stylistic and cultural influences which resulted in the production of miniatures done in a more sophisticated, and often more decorative style. Both ends of this spectrum are manifest in Vaishnava themed works produced by essentially all the Indian schools of miniature paintings. All of them provide a nectarian record of the transcendental pastimes of Sri Sri Radha Krsna and the Lord's various incarnations, associates and lilas. </font></font><p><BR><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2><B>REFERENCES:</b> </font></font><p><p style='text-align:justify'><font face="verdana"><font size=2> Ministry of Culture, Government of India <BR> <I>Social, Cultural, and Economic History of Himachal Pradesh</I> by Manjit Singh Ahluwalia <B> <BR><P><BR> <center><a href="../../index.htm"><img src="../../leftarrow.gif" width=20 height=15 border=0 alt="Homepage"></a> <P><BR> <!-- ========================FEATURE STORY===================== --> <BLOCKQUOTE></I> <font face="verdana"><font size=-2><center> <a href="../../index.htm">The Sun</a> <a href="../../news/news.htm">News</a> <a href="../../editorials/editorials.htm">Editorials</a> <a href="../../features/features.htm">Features</a> <a href="../../sunblogs/sunblogs.htm">Sun Blogs</a> <a href="../../classifieds/classifieds.htm">Classifieds</a> <a href="../../events/events.htm">Events</a> <a href="../../recipes/recipes.htm">Recipes</a> <a href="../../podcasts/podcasts.htm">PodCasts</a> <P> <a href="../../about.htm">About</a> <a href="../../submit.htm">Submit an Article</a> <a href="mailto:sun@harekrsna.com">Contact Us</a> <a href="../../ads/advertise.htm">Advertise</a> <a href="../../../index.htm">HareKrsna.com</a> </blockquote> <P> <center><b>Copyright 2005, 2012, HareKrsna.com. 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