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Many high values of human life are incorporated in the Indian National Flag which are expressed through its forms and colors we get great inspiration on seeing our National Flag. IN 1905 a new awakening came in the youth of Bengal with fresh energy due to the ‘Bang – Bhang ‘movement.  From the siccas of this movement   and to express Indianess in 1906 Shachindranath   Bose and Sukumar designed a layout of first national flag ‘TIRANGA’ for our country. 

The flag was consisting of three equal horizontal strips of green yellow and red. in the top green colour strip there were eight white lotuses shown in a row, which represented eight states of that time. on middle yellow strip the word ‘VandeMataram’ was written in dark blue color in Devanagiri script. The lowest red strip had a white sun in the left and a white crescent moon with a star in the right   side. The first national flag of India had been unfurled on august 7,1906 in the green park Calcutta by the Gracious hands of great social reformer and freedom fighter, Shri Sunendranath Banarjee.

Again 1921 second flag was prepared in try colour under the guidance of mahatma Gandhi during the meeting of all India congress party at vijayvada. An enthusiastic youth of Andhra Pradesh, Pingali venkaiyya designed two colored flags and handed over to Gandhi ji which was made in red and green colour that represented two major communities Hindu and Muslims in country. Gandhi ji suggested to add one white strip as a symbol of the rest of Indian communities and put a dark blue charkha in its center as a symbol of progress. it was second national flag of 1921.

On July 22, 1947 finally, a new flag was hoisted which was adopted as a national flag of independent India by constituent Assembly with some corrections in the middle national flag. This tri color flag took the new shape with saffron at the top, white on the middle and green as its lowest band. all the three colors band are of equal size. Dharm chakra popularly known as Ashoka Chakra of Sarnath pillar in navy blue colour has been put instead of charkha. Its length to breadth ratio is 3:2. There are 24 spoks of Dhrm chakra which is the representative of 24 hours of the day. The significance of saffron colour is courage and sacrifice, white symbolizes truth and peace while the green reflects faith and prosperity. Finally circuler motion of dhrm chakra marks continuous cycle progress of nation along the 24 hours of the day.

E.V. Havel was the great European artist who was appointed as the principal of madras (Chennai) art school by britishers. in 1890s the east India company was trying to destroy the rich heritage of Indian art history. After few years E.V. Havel visited all over the country where he met Abanindranath and recognized that Indian art was much better than European art. He motivated and inspired Abanindranath to study the Pahari, Rajasthani, Mughal deccan and Ajanta style and to create a mixture of these.

He wrote  3 books namely ‘THE IDEAL OF INDIAN ART   ,  ‘ THE INDIAN SCULPTURE AND PAINTING AND ‘ THE INDIAN ARCHITECTURE to enhance  the beauty and greatness of Indian art over European art .in a summaries way we can say that E.V. Havel indirectly   protected the Indian art b his constructive ideas, decisions , inspirations and enthusiastic efforts of patriotic Abanindranath that gave rebirth to Indian art and laid the foundation of state of Bengal.

Under the planned propaganda British were trying to destroy whole culture and proof of Indian art history. they told Indian people that India does not have any culture of its own and were compelling them to follow the European culture. at that time all the people were indulged in this struggle for independence whether they were artist, poets, teachers, philosopher and scholars etc. at that time the main aim of Bengal art school was to make people know about their culture and its identity.

Poets were writing poem that influence people for protesting against   Britishers. the artist such as Nandalal Bose, Abanindra Nath Tagore, K. Venkatappa Shailendra Nath   at    that time were trying to influence people by their paintings they made paintings that had motivated for the revolution against Britishers. the famous artist Nandalal Bose, the student of Abanindra Nath copied the paintings of Ajanta and painted his famous ‘line drawing’ Dandi march of Gandhi ji. he also painted the handmade paintings on handmade paper on the request of mahatma Gandhi for Haripur national congress Sammelan these paintings were appreciated for this economy of means, boldness, vigor and decorative quality. Brilliant artist Gaganendra Nath painted caricature on massacre of Jallianwala Bagh which brought hate amongst britishers. The style developed by Abanindra Nath and his students saved us from the slavery which finally laid the seed of foundation of modern trends in the field of art.

we can say that Indian Bengali artist played a great contribution in national freedom movement.

Wash painting is a special technique of painting in which both watercolor and tempera are used to create the desired effect. Watercolors are used in their pure form and opaque white or black are avoided until the last step of the painting (see step 7 below) or are not used at all. The watercolors are applied the same way as in a watercolor painting, but a special technique of fixing colors is used that the painters of pure watercolor do not use.

A relevant painting based on the feature of Bengal school of painting that depicts the use of wash and tempera technique which became the hall mark of the Bengal school of painting is journey’s end made by the artist Abnindra Nath Tagore and its time period was 1937 A.D.

In this painting red brown and a bit of yellow orange color gives the effect of sunset with the help of wash and tempera technique. wash technique had its origin in japan. The painting journey’s end has a relevant theme. wash technique became the hall mark of the Bengal school of painting.

The subject matter of this painting is justified in case of its relevancy. The painting has a deep meaning and Conveys a massage that one should not do any work more than one’s capacity as in the painting, a loaded camel is about to fall and die on stony ground. He is a very exhausted after a long journey. it seems that the camel has worked more than his capacity. A desert has been depicted gracefully and effect of sun set is there. Being a symbolic painting, its appeals to us. The face expressions of the camel are very realistic and the theme is quite evident. So, this painting is really relevant and the use of wash and tempera technique has been applied beautifully in it.

Kamlesh Dutt Pandey is considered as one of the eminent artists of contemporary (modern)Indian period. He has done many art works which have been exhibited at various places. in this painting  he has shown the vulture in a different manner .the vulture here is the symbol of the evil society ,which is encouraging  the ‘dowry system’ which is a type of system when before marriage the money is the form of dowry is demanded  by bridegroom’s parents from the bride’s parents and when bride’s parents didn’t fulfill their demands before marriage then the bridegroom parents break the marriage or either they exploit the bride after marriage by degrading her.

In this painting the vulture has snatched all the jewelry  from the lady bride who is shown hanged along with fire  shown downwards and the vulture has kept all the snatched jewelry in the box which is kept on a table on which the vulture is standing. The vulture is shown snatching only the left jewelry piece the beaded necklace, from the neck of the hanged lady who seems not to be in her senses. She is shown dying due to curse of dowry. human life values and emotions are shown very clearly in this painting. The emotions of the hanged lady are teaching the society a lesson to be aware of dowry and the society should save the brides , the spectator is sympathetic towards the bride. The sympathy creates the feeling of protecting the human life values and emotions among us and which also awakens the feeling of enthusiasm inside our mind.

The theme dowry is justified due to the way presentation of the painting where the lady and vulture long with the presence of jewelry are shown. So, the painting is depicting the presence of dowry in the society.

I like the graphic print ‘Devi’ which has been included in your course of study done by Jyoti Bhatt very much. He is considered as a very famous and efficient graphic artist. This graphic print ‘Devi’ was made in 1965.A.D.  TO 1975.A.D. in the medium etching.

This art work is based on scriptures and power of the female worshiping in the form of Devi. The power of ‘kundalini’ which is hidden in all human beings possessed by all has been   enhanced in his art work. the power of the kundalini rests at the lowest end of the spine surroundings like female serpent which is providing frame to the whole composition.

Tantrism can also be applied to enhance kundalini. Deep etching is done in the serpentine form. an attractive vermilion red bindi is shown on a forehead. the hands are shown in sap green color and the wide-open eyes of Devi are providing the special identity to the art work as ‘Durga’. So, the artist achieves success though this art work to impress spectators.

The graphic print ‘of walls’ done by Anupam sud is aesthetically a very appealing and hematic work. the subject matter depicts a lady in white saree sitting outside a temple on a pavilion. the outside wall of temple is decorated with line drawing in the form of folk art. A man is sleeping near the wall in the foreground who also seems to be poor.so, the main theme is poverty. human life and emotions have been depicted her condition of poverty. our sympathy towards the lady is protecting the human life values and emotions depicted in the painting.

Aesthetically this art works has been qualities. the monochromatic tone in brown and white colors make the color scheme more aesthetically attractive.it is horizontal art work. The lady’s figure has been arranged on the left side according to the rules and regulations of as well balanced and a well composed composition. The art work on the whole provide peace and sympathy to the observer while watching this art work which has all the aesthetically appreciable qualities in it.

The painter has been successful in depicting the subject matter of the painting “Shiva and sati” from Bengal School as the painting depicts that Lord Shiva is sitting and carrying the dead body of goddess Sati in him arms. The scene is related to one of the main episodes of Shiva And Sati.

The story behind this narrative mythology is that sati’s father Daksha hated Shiva. After the marriage of Shiva And Sati, Sati left his Father’s home with Shiva. Once Daksha arranged a great “yagya” (Hawan). he invited everybody by only excluding Shiva and Sati. Sati felt neglected and decide to go there. Shiva tried his best to stop her, but she did not agree. so, Shiva provide her with an escort and requested her to maintain patience there.

When She arrived at her father’s place, he started insulting her husband Shiva. Sati was totally hurt. She spoke this vow to her father, “Since you have given me this body, I no longer wish to be associate with it. “She burst her body in to flames through yogic exercise. Shiva reached there. he was heartbroken. He carefully gathered up the sacred body of sati and walked away carrying the lifeless body of sati wandering to where he did not know.

So, this painting is based bon the above sad story. the effects of clouds in the foreground are very impressive. The background is very impressive. the painting seems to be inspired from Ajanta art. An aureole has been shown around Shiva’s head to show his supremacy. the expressions are very good. lines are thin and rhythmic. white shades of light have been shown on forehead of Shiva and Sati and also on the body of Shiva. the painting has monochromatic effect. The subject matter truly matches the title and is fully justified .so, on the basis of aesthetical parameters also, the painting deserves appreciation.

The famous contemporary (modern) Indian painting ‘Santhal family’ is a very attractive art work. this art work can be appreciated on the basis of following point as follows: –

(1) Name of the artist: the artist of this sculpture is ram kinker baij. He made this work with great dedication. He was the student of Nandalal Bose.

(2) Medium and technique: – the medium and technique used in this sculpture is cement and concrete. The surface is rough.

(3)subject matter:-the matter of this sculpture is about a Santhal family .this group includes three persons (a husband a wife and two children ) a dog is also shown in the side of the husband .the family of these primitive people is moving for shifting to a new destination .They are carrying their   limited belongings with them in their hands and on their heads .so, the subject matter matches the title and it is justified .

(4)composition :-it is a well balanced sculptural composition in which all the figures have been arranged according to the space provided to them as all the figures are arranged on the base .the composition is well composed and well balanced .the hexagonal shaped base is providing a proper space for the figure .so all the properties of a composition rhythm, harmony, balance etc. Are there in this art work.

(1) Chaturmukhi

I like the contemporary modern Indian sculptures and paintings a very much because they have all the qualities being liked by all. I like the sculpture chaturmukhi very much due to following qualities

(a)this sculpture is enhancing the beauty of the modern art gallery where it has been displayed in the lawn.

(b)it has two beautiful rectangular platforms.

(c)two circular forms both on the opposite sides one at the top and another at the bottom are very impressive.

(d) The name chaturmukhi which means four mouths is justified as total four mouths on all the four sides are increasing the appeal of the sculpture.

I like the contemporary modern Indian sculptures mainly because all the sculptures of this period are based on such themes which are related with the reality of man’s miseries. Triumph of labor by D.P.Roy Chaudhary ,Santhal family by Ram Kinker Baij  , cries unheard by Amarnath Sehgal  etc. all these sculptures depict poverty and miseries etc.

Other reasons why I like these sculptures are as follows

(1) These sculptures have been made in different materials like ‘cement and concrete’, ‘bronze and cement’, ‘bronze’, ‘wood’, ‘stone’ etc. and then they also appear equally beautiful in all medium.

(2) When we watch these sculptures, we get familiar to the subject matter of these sculptures.

(3) In some sculptures the proportions are not accurate, then also they looked balanced and beautiful e.g. cries unheard by Amarnath Sehgal (bronze sculpture)

(4) Some sculpture is enhancing the grace of the place where they have been kept e.g. The sculpture triumph of labor has been displayed in front of national gallery of modern art so that every passer can see them. another example is of the sculpture ‘chaturmukhi’ which has been displayed in the lawn of modern art gallery, new Delhi.

(5) The sculpture ‘triumph of labor’ is delivering a very useful message – ‘unity is strength’

a) Depiction of the subject matter

b) Treatment of the medium and technique

c) Compositional arrangement

Ans- I like the sculpture done by Amarnath Sehgal namely – ‘cries unheard’. following are the reasons in detail based on the following points.

Depiction of the subject matter: The subject matter of this art work is that three figures are standing on a platform. Mother and father are raising their hands towards the sky  pleading to god for help and mercy on their condition of poverty .Their sad faces show that they are tired of this life and are crying for help of god and their cried are still unheard .The right hand of the child is also rising up towards the sky and his left hand is downwards . The empty space in their heads is justifying the subject matter as these empty spaces show the cries of suffering of mankind.

b) Treatment of the medium and technique: This sculpture has been casted in bronze metal. this sculpture is showing fine quality done in bronze metal.

c) Compositional arrangement: The composition is well balanced as the raising hands of mother and father are showing rhythm through the one right raised hand of the child. the feet of all figures have been arranged in such a way that they are providing balance and harmony of the composition. so it is a beautiful composition done by artist.

The word miniature is derived from the Latin verb ‘miniera’ or ‘to paint in red’. The word miniature means very small. so, a miniature paintings’ means small painting. if a painting has been depicted in small size in any media and on any surface, it is known as miniature painting.

A miniature painting is always minutely detailed. A miniature painting is generally painted on different kind of surface like palm leaf, cloth, leather ivory etc.  In a miniature painting generally themes like portraits, story illustrations scenes relating to daily life are depicted. Scenes relating to buddha have been depicted in the form of illustrated manuscripts.

 The schools where we find a healthy tradition of miniature painting are – Rajasthani school of painting, Pahari school of painting, decani school of painting, pal school of painting and jain school of painting. Miniature painting was done in large number during the time period 11^th century A.D. to 19^th century A.D.

Central India has been divided into two sub schools ‘Malwa’ and ‘Bundelkhand’. Malwa shows three paintings styles. The first phase consists of  ‘Ramayana’ illustrations of about  1630 in the Kanoria collection  and the national museum , New Delhi , a set of 26 Nayak Nayika  paintings of 1634 in the national museum New Delhi  which seems to be illustrations  of Keshavdasa’s ‘Rasikpriya’ the Amaru sataka illustrations  1652 done at Nasratgarh and another set of 95 ‘Amaru sataka’ paintings  of 1675-80 in the prince of whales  museum , Bombay  the Rasavali  illustrations  painted by Sukhdev  in 1660 and the Bhagavata Purana  illustration were there . this phase is characterized by a preference for architectural setting decorative landscape and use of monochrome colours e.g.: ‘Gauri Ragini’.

The second phase co existing wit the first phase. examples are the Malasri Ragaini of 164 in Lory collection and Malavi Ragini of 1680.

For studying the third phase we have to move to Bundelkhand in case of pictorial traditions Bundelkhand was definitely a part of Malwa. Bundelkhand inscriptions appear on the Ramayana set in the national museum executed in a style which is indistinguishable from Malwa style.

Portraits of shatrujit from the bulk of the production but pictures were also produced from the Radha Krishna theme and the cycle of the seasons. the portraits show Mughal influence.  Bundelkhand is also divided in two parts Orcha and Datia.

In ‘Maddh yana’ Buddhism, Vajrapani is deity and one of the three main protective Bodhisattvas. the word has been derived from Sanskrit, Here, Vajra means thunderbolt and Pani means in the hand. Being the protector of Buddha Vajrapani is mostly depicted dancing among flames and holding a lightning bolt in his right hand. He is considered to be power of Buddhism. He is considered as manifestation of buddha Ashokbhya. he is associated with Indra the god of rain and war. Indra also holds a light bolt always. Other protectors of Buddha are Manjushri and Avalokiteshvara.

Kalpsutra is considered as the most sacred text. Devotee of Jainism worshipped it because the book consists of biography of lord Mahavir and the lives of tirthankaras. The original text was written by Bhadrabahu swami who died 357BCE. Kalpsutra is read by Jain monks during the holy festival of Paryushan. the word kalp means an item which fulfil all the wishes. So many people believe that the person’s wishes are fulfilled on reading this holy book.

Kalkacharya was a famous Jain acharya. Once the king of ujjayani gardbhill kidnapped a female monk from kalkacharya sangh. Kalkacharya met gardbhill and asked him to free her, but the king insulted Kalkacharya. So kalkacharya prepared his army and then attacked ujjayini. Gardbhill was defeated and the mink was freed. kalak and acharya mixed becomes acharya kalka (kalkacharya his discipline followed him to great extent. They followed his path of truth and peace.

“The tradition of simple and straight forward compositions in the Rajasthan miniature painting in which main figure stands out a flat background in dark or bright colours”.

Ans. The feature related to the tradition of simple and straight forward compositions in the Rajasthani miniature painting in which main figure stand out against a flat background in dark or bright colours has been mainly depicted in the relevant paintings Radha Bani Thani which is included in our course of study.

In this painting from kishangarh sub school painted by the artist Nihal Chand the main figure of Radha Bani Thani stands out against the flat background and bright colours. body of Bani Thani is in peach colour. In this painting the face of Bani Thani is elongated with a receding forehead and arched eyebrows, lotus like eyes and pointed nose, swelling out lips and pointed chin which are very appealing. she is wearing a beautiful transparent dupatta and attractive jewellery having the influence of Rajput royalty. lines are very fine and thin. Long black tresses have been depicted beautifully. the left hand is shown holding lotus buds of pink and white colours. The long tapering fingers of her right hand are holding the edge of the transparent odhani.

Bani Thani is shown with a smiling face beautiful colour scheme and curly hair. Golden motifs of white and pearl necklace are very appealing. the medium used in this portrait painting is tempera water colour on paper.it is a world fame painting and its time period is circa 1760A.D. a postal stamp of this painting was issued by Indian government.

‘Raja Anirudh Singh Heera’ painted by artist Utkal Ram from Bundi sub school could have been included in this category but instead of one figure there are two figures the king and the horse. the flat background is deep blue black in colour. but due to the presence of two figures Radha Bani Thani justifies the related and asked statement.

In Basholi style the artist had the tendency to show high horizon. Horizon means the horizontal lines at which earth and sky seem to meet. high horizon means where the background is covering most of the area while the foreground is covering less area. the Pahari school of miniature painting belonging to basholi school of art Krishna with Gopi’s here of an illustration from Geeta Govind series has been shown Krishna is shown in the centre surrounded by Gopi’s in above portion of line. a small portion of foreground has been represented in the presence of Yamuna river trees having same level has been showing in the above portion.

The Mughal art that developed in the Indian subcontinent in the sixteenth century is visible till the middle of the nineteenth century. Which naturally has an impact on Indian miniature paintings as well. The arts had become formal in the Mughal courts as many artists from Iran had started painting in their workshops. As a result of which Iranian art has a clear influence on Indian art. These artists who came from Iran included calligraphers, gilders, binders, painters etc. Who made court pictures, visual pictures, pictures based on events, and according to the interests of the rulers, made pictures according to the relationship of the royal families in their paintings. The pictures that were made mostly became part of manuscripts or albums. Emphasis was laid on bold modelling with subtlety, “varnika” (use of more and more different colours), shapes court, architecture. Scene paintings became prevalent with flora and the paintings were decorated with floral and geometric designs.
In this way, the use of calligraphy, demarcation, multitude of bright colours in Rajasthani miniatures, embroidery of gold and silver and the practice of building buildings in the background and Iranian influence in curtains, etc. can be called Mughal influence in Rajasthani art.
For example-Maru Ragini, Chaugan players Krishna on swing