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The origin of Indian painting goes back to 8000 years and an account of its development is inextricably meshed with the development of Indian civilization.
In the Hindu rock – cut caves called Kailash, artists painted scenes from the Hindu epic, the Ramayana. The third phase, which dates to the 13th to 16th centuries is considered a period of slow decadence, since creativity in art was replaced by excellence of craftsmanship. It was during this period that the earliest book illustrations developed. Buddhist scriptures such as the Pranjaparamita preserved on palm – leaf manuscripts were now illustrated for the first time with miniatures in flat, bright hues of red and blue, outlined in black.
Rajput painting, on the other hand, illustrates every phase of medieval Hindi literature, and indeed, its themes cannot be understood without a thorough knowledge of the Indian epics, the Krishna Lila literature, music and erotics. One of the oldest Rajput paintings has probably the Krishna Lila theme, which, in style, lyrical theme and the presentation, and in the language of superscription shows a relation to the Gujarati painting of the fifteenth century.
