Rajasthani Paintings on Select Wooden Artifacts from the Collection of the National Museum, New Delhi

The artistic zeal and passion of Rajasthani artisans have always shown great respect to 'God' and 'Nature', which had inspired them to convert the harsh environmental conditions of the region into the world of colours. The painting canvas of the Rajasthani painters is very vast extending from havelis, palaces, forts to temples. These paintings are the real reflection of Rajasthani culture. Several subjects from the religious to secular and scenes from court life to hunting seens have been painted by the miniature painting artists, who have worked in various courts of Rajasthan. There are many prominent courts such as Mewar, Bundi, Kota. Bikaner, Marwar, Kishangarh and Jaipur where the tradition of painting was encouraged and patronized. Each of these centers has the distinct characteristics, reflected in their miniatures painting schools. These have been studied by several scholars.' The painting tradition in Rajasthan is not restricted to the miniature paintings on paper only, rather it has been practiced extensively on diverse mediums i.e. wall, cloth, wood, leather, marble etc.' Rajasthani paintings on wood, like any other medium, also illustrates an interesting and fascinating aspect of their indigenous styles. This has been less studied and published so far in comparison to miniature painting. These artefacts are from architectural panels to everyday objects of utility. The main thrust of the paper is to discuss some of the beautiful paintings on various wooden artefacts preserved in the collection of National Museum, New Delhi. Before going in detail, a br...