Orchha Paintings

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In, the history of Central Indian Art, the wall-paintings of Orchha occupy a unique position. The artists, under the patronage of kings, adopted long-lasting techniques in the creation of murals, depicting values dear to them based on the Vedas, the Epics - the Ramayana, the 'Mahabharata and the-various Puranas etc. These paintings and murals have not received due exposure, prominence and importance from the viewpoint of cultural study. The present work is an attempt to fill this gap.
The book, attempts to bring out finer background of Art, Culture, Historical background and theme of each painting, Socio-Religious activity and behaviour of the people of Orchha. An attempt has also been made to analyse various techniques and styles used in the making of murals and paintings of Orchha. Detailed themes of paintings and murals have been described in light of historical and cultural prominence.
The book is copiously illustrated with colour plates, and line drawings making it the most comprehensive coverage of the Orchha art and its times.

Dr. (Mrs.) Aruna (b. 1965) obtained her Diploma in Fine Arts from Lalit Kala Sansthan, Jabalpur in 1988. She did her Master's degree in Drawing and Painting in 1987, and obtained her Ph.D. from Rani Durgawati University, Jabalpur in 1993. Dr. Aruna has contributed severalty research papers in reputed research journals.
Dr. Aruna is currently Assistant Professor in Drawing and Painting a Mankunwar Bai Arts and Commerce College for Women, Jabalpur.

In the Medieval Period, Central India developed a rich cultural heritage based on Hindu mythology. During this period Islam had found its way to India and the Islamic rules tried to propagate Islam and Islamic culture on the Hindus all over India and particularly in Northern, Western and Central India. The Hindus who had love and pride for their religion, cultural heritage and values in life, tried to preserve their priceless treasure of cultural heritage and one of the ways to achieve this was to depict these aspects in the form of murals, paintings and architecture in various palaces and temples.
Orchha had a place of pride in the Central India in those days. Here the kings and their artists adopted long lasting and wonderful techniques in the creation of murals, depicting values dear to them from various Hindu scriptures-the Vedas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the various Puranas etc. These beautiful paintings and murals have so far not received appropriate exposure, prominence and importance in the study of Indian culture. As such, this subject has been chosen by me wherein a sincere and honest effort has been made to bring to light the richness of the paintings and murals vis-a-vis their roots in the Indian mythology.
Efforts to study the paintings at Orchha have been few and far between till date. Dr. R.A. Agarwala in his book Wall Paintings from Central India has dwelt, only briefly, on history, technique and style of paintings found in Central India. However, the cultural aspects and the detailed themes behind the paintings had not been covered. Shri K.K. Chakravarty, in his work Art of India: Orchha, has briefly covered history, architecture, literature and paintings of the Orchha region. Dr. A.P. Singh and Shiv Pal Singh in their work Monuments of Orchha have mainly described the various monuments available at Orchha, covering historical sequence of their erection. Construction of the parts of monuments have also been described in detail by them. However, the scope of this work is different, wherein, an attempt has been made to bring out detailed and finer aspects of art, culture, historical background and theme for each of the paintings, social and religious activity and behaviour of the people of Orchha, etc. An attempt has also been made to analyse various techniques and styles used in the making of murals and paintings. Detailed themes of paintings and murals have also been described in the light of historical prominence. All these aspects had not been dealt with by the authors mentioned above.
The present study which constitutes the thesis on which Ph.D. degree has been awarded by R.D. University, Jabalpur, has been conducted on the period starting from 1501 A.D to 1956 A.D.
Chapter I dwells on geographical situation and short history of Orchha from 1501 A.D. to 1956 A.D. beginning with King Rudra Pratap and ending with King Vir Singh Dev II. All the paintings and murals were made in Orchha during this period of approximately four hundred and fifty years.
In chapter II a brief history of Central Indian paintings with special reference to Orchha has been brought out. Those days, Central India comprised small kingdoms of Datia, Tikamgarh, Panna, Chhatarpur, Banpur, Jhansi, Madanpur etc.
In chapter III, the Themes in the Orchha paintings have been analysed in detail. The study of paintings has been related with the Indian scriptures. Headings of murals and paintings have been provided and the theme described indicating its source.
Chapter IV deals in detail, the various techniques and styles adopted by artists while executing paintings and making murals at Orchha.
In chapter V a cultural study of Orchha Paintings has been made. It covers the aspects of dress, coiffure, ornaments, luxury and games - as pastime activities i.e. dance, conversation, hunting, animal fight, wrestling, chaugan, boating etc.
Chapter VI makes a study of the society and its religious beliefs prevailing in medieval Orchha.
The findings have been concluded in the last chapter.
Chronology, bibliography, glossary of terms and adequate number of illustrative sketches and plates are appended at the end of the book.