A History of Indian Painting: Pahari Traditions

Abhinav's History of Indian Painting has been specially designed as a project with the maximum clarity and reach of communication, so that the layman may fully benefit from a legacy which has for too long been monopolized by the formidably erudite.

The mural tradition was covered in the first volume and manuscript painting - Pala, Western Indian, Moghul and Deccani in the second. The third volume covered the output of the various centres of Rajput miniature painting in the plains, in the various principalities of Rajasthan. In this volume we travel to the greener landscape and fresher air of the Himalayan valleys where intrepid Rajputs from the plains had set up numerous principalities, small in size but rich in output and still richer in quality.

Apart from the study of the schools, a study from the perspective of the major inspiring motifs and themes is also necessary if the story of Rajput painting is to be complete. This was not attempted in the third volume since it could be taken up only after an account of the Pahari schools also had been presented. Therefore, in this volume, in addition to the detailed account of the various Pahari schools, there is extended discussion of the major themes of Rajput paintings as a whole. This will bring out the fact that Rajput painting, after the elitish Moghul interlude, became the art of the people and will have abiding appeal because it is anchored deep in the perennial founts of poetry and poetic myth that have nourished and moulded the Indian sensibility through all the epochs.

About the Author:

Described by national periodicals as "one of the most original and stimulating minds writing in the subcontinent today" and as "our nearest approximation to the Renaissance man, versatile in interests and depth of learning", Krishna Chaitanya is the author of over thirty books whose multidisciplinary range got him the "Critic of Ideas" award of the Institute of Interspecial award from the Kerala Sahitya Academy. The major categories are: a five-volume philosophy of freedom for which he got a Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship and which has been compared by critics to the work of Thomas Aquinas, the French Encyclopedists, Herbert Spencer, Bergson, Whitehead and Teilhard de Chardin; and ten-volume history of world literature in English and several Indian languages several books on Indian culture; books for children, one of which got the Federation of Indian Publishers' award for the best children's book.

He was for over a decade Chairman of the All India Fine arts and Crafts Society and Editor of Roopa-Lekha, India's oldest extant art journal, and has been member of the Publication committees of the National Museum, the National Gallery of Modern Art, National Book Trust, Sangeet Natak Akademi and Indian Council for Cultural Relations. He is Art Critic of the Hindustan Times and Western Music Critic of Times of India.

The Reviews:

"The author infects the reader with his own enthusiasm. Where others have been busy counting the trees, he concentrates on the beauty of the woods. A significant contribution." - The Times of India

"A Remarkable book, furnishing out only technical details but affording a fresh appreciation of our art treasures. Delightful reading." - The Deccan Herald

"A history suitable for laymen which, while keeping to historical materials, will assist in the discovery and enjoyment of art. Warmly recommended." - The Hindustan Times

"Comprehensive chronicle, lucid narrative, perhaps the first of its kind directed to the common reader… a remarkable success." - The Mail

"Commendable project…Gives a good introduction to the art of the different schools of Indian painting." - Indian Express