Radha being persuaded by her handmaiden, & the conversing with Krishna

Radha being persuaded by her handmaiden, & the conversing with Krishna

Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, late 18th century

Water colour on paper

Kangra was an important location from the hills of Himachal while most of the Indian subcontinent was under the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. The power of Kangra was due to its appropriate locations and the fort which was ruled by Sansar Chand. This great Hindu ruler was a connoisseur of art from a very early stage in his life with keen interest in painting the scenic beauty of the hills camouflaged with the stories of Krishna from the epics of Mahabharata. The subject matter of Kangra miniatures shows the cult of Krishna which is understandable in context to the Rajput society where arranged marriages were the norms and the vibrantly romanticized character of Krishna with gopis, especially with Radha a married women was fascinating.

Late periods of 18th century have seen mature stages of Kangra painting, which were closer to Raja Sansar Chand’s death. This painting is at its peak in defining the beauty of nature along with Radha, the female who is always the important feature of attention. The canvas is divided in two haves with abundant greenery of trees with flowers which have curled up to create the two diagonal spheres in the canvas to portray the story of Radha anxiously waiting for her lover Krishna while being persuaded by her handmaid and the other half shows how she is pleased to be in company with Krishna.


The elegant portrayal of Radha’s body in the first space is complimentary to the flowering tree next to which she sits on a bed of leafs. The contrast in colours highlights the main focal point of the painting. The viewer to browses through his/her eyes from the left scene to the right one as if they are meant to be read as a story which the artist has taken efforts to emphasize along with the natural beauty of the hills of Kangra. The natural beauty and scenery has always affected the paintings in the hills, whether it is from Kullu, Kangra or Basholi (closer locations). The curves of the female body and the orientation of the trees express the sensuality of an ideal embodiment. The style has a unique sense of freedom and is closely connected with its local surrounding.


Kangra style of paintings had considerable influence on the art of other states of Garhwal. The beautiful cascading colours with all the vitality and sentimental appeal having compelling animated love scenes, transparent body curvatures and the charm of the slender figures are a few features of kangra miniatures which were followed over the generations before the artists finally had to shift from hills to the Mughal courts.


Reference Reading

1.Centres of Pahari Painting by Chandramani Singh

2.Indian Miniature Paintings by Anjan Chakraverty

3.Love of Krishna in Indian Painting and Poetry by W G Archer

4.Indian Art – A Concise History by Roy C Craven

Portrait of Radha

Portrait of Radha


Kishan Gargh Darbar, Rajasthan

Early Circa 1760 AD



Late 17th - 18th century has seen the rise of miniature paintings in India, wherein Rajasthan is one such location which produced variety of them. Under the Marwar School of paintings Kishangarh style evolved and flourished under the patronage of Raja Man Singh in late 17th Century. Kishangarh was founded by the 8th son of Raja Udai Singh of the Rathore dynasty of Jodhpur state in 1609 which was very close to Ajmer. The rulers were closely connected with the Mughal Court and adopted similar style of sophisticated living with rich taste in art, poetry and culture. While Mughal Courts were encouraging miniature paintings under the auspice of talented Persian artists, local rulers continued to practice in traditional style of miniature paintings which evolved from Rajput paintings.

Generations after generations the family adopted the cult of Krishna as a way of life which in the later years greatly impacted the life and mind of Raja Savant Singh. He was very much influenced by his father’s dedication towards art & eventually followed the path of cultivating a great taste for poetry early in his life. He contributed significantly in expanding the volume of poetry dedicated to Krishna bhakti.

Around 1750, new trends evolved for depicting the love and affection of Radha & Krishna in the new form and the credit for revolutionizing this traditional cult goes to royal coutier & artist Mordhavaj Nihal Chand. It is being commonly said that his paintings of Radha and Krishna were synonymous representation for the love life of Vanithani and Nagri Dass during 1735 to 1738. It is also said that she was a singer and poetess herself so maybe she influenced him by her impact.
These paintings definitely have a distinct style of their own because of which they can be categories under Kishangarh style. This portrait painting of Vanithani represents and defines clearly the unique style, pattern and order of these paintings. Similar to miniature paintings tradition, there is no lack of emphasis in portraying all the necessary details required to describe the beauty of gorgeous Vanithani. Features like sharp eyebrows, pointed eyes like a deer, transparent odhni or the veil behind which the black hair can be see properly, the kundan jewellary, the bangles, the heena in her palm and the tip of the fingers and finally the two flowers in her hand just provide enough evident signs to define the charm and elegance of a beautiful women. The painting is more of an idealized state of appearance of a woman, but we can be sure enough to associate these resemblances with poetess Vanithani.

This painting from Kishnagarh although distinctly differs in style from Mughal court paintings, but both of them share a common element of thought. The artist practically assembles all the idealistic entities from human life to nature to define ‘beauty’ or to define beautiful painting but lack in providing any depth to the scene. The overall composition and representation just limits itself within the set parametric guidelines which does not include and three dimensional depths to the composition. The viewer is not attracted towards the realism of the painting but towards the finesse in sharp features, like eyes, eyebrows, kajal, etc. The interest is generated purely for attention provide by the artist in delivering the factual information along with a brilliant choice of pastel colours.

Reference Reading
1. Splendour of Rajasthani Painting by Jai Singh Neeraj
2. A History of Indian Painting – The Modern Period by Krishna Chaitanya