THE ART OF CAPTURING IMAGINATION IN CONTEMPORARY PAHARI MINIATURES

Abstract

The idea and concept of Pahari miniature paintings ideally revolve around the narration of a historical story from a native region in Indian traditions. These paintings are a blend of Bhasholi and Kangra miniature paintings. The artists belonging to this field painted historical subjects of their local areas such Radha-Krishnaji, Saraswatiji etc. These Pahari miniatures flourished from the second half of the seventeenth to mid-nineteenth century in the Himalayan foothills. It was the simplicity of Basholi in poetic lyricism and refinement of Kangra in the ingenuity of the artist’s style that made these paintings so popular. In Pahari paintings, the manifestations are mostly figure based and illustrations are used for narration. Pahari miniature artists constructed paintings using traditional and stylistic methods but in the contemporary era, the subject-matters of their paintings are changed as per the contemporary times and techniques.This paper demonstrates the thematic narration of the artists on contemporary subjects in contemporary Pahari miniature paintings. This research is an attempt to bring a logical clarification on account of imagination in the Pahari miniatures.