Arts - - Posted on March, 22 at 7:58 pm
Nature has always had tantalising effect on mankind. There has always been an effort to express the fascination, awe, excitement and fear evoked by natural phenomenon. The expression could be a hymn of Rigveda or a cave painting depicting a hunting experience. Unfortunately the hymns remain but the material used for paintings being perishable little has survived.
Earliest examples of prehistoric paintings are the cave or rock shelter paintings which generally depict a hunting scene. The material used for the paintings is invariably red pigment. Examples of such paintings are found at Mirzapur and Banda in Uttar Pradesh, rock shelters in Mahadev hills in Bundelkhand, in Singapur in Central India and Bellary. The paintings use a crude technique but are lively. One painting in Singanpur depicts a barking dog rushing in extraordinary speed. The speed is shown superbly by stretched out tail and legs. A seen in Ghormangar cave depicts the hunt of a rhino. A group of six men are shown attacking on the animal with spears and barbs. Though hunting scenes are common some of the caves in Pachmarhi and Hoshangabad hills portray pastoral scenes. Most interesting of all is the painting of a monkey playing flute in upper Dorothy Deep shelter at Pachmarhi.
Earliest historic paintings are of the Satavahana period. The dynasty was influential in the Deccan from second century BCE to second century CE. One of the best specimens of paintings can be found in this period from Buddhist site of Ajanata. The paintings decorate the walls, pillars and ceiling. Subjects of the paintings are mainly based on Jatakas coupled with floral and animal motifs used for decoration. Based on the Inscriptions the paintings are dated in second century BCE. The style and motifs used in the paintings are similar to the earlier sculptures of Bharhut and Amaravati. This unity of art forms suggests the development of art all over the subcontinent for some centuries resulting in a stylised form identified with the Satavahanas.
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