Indian Painting: The Great Mural Tradition

There are many volumes on the study of Indian classical arts including different schools of miniature painting and some texts on regional and provincial wall paintings. The study of Indian wall paintings as a cohesive tradition is being attempted here for the first time. The author, Mira Seth, discusses the various texts that lay down the canons that govern wall painting – the preparation of colors and brushes, and the proper depiction of the myriad deities in the Hindu pantheon. She examines the characteristics of different schools and their influences on each other. The author has personally visited all the major sites featured in this book, from the temples of South India, the Deccan, where the World-famous Ajanta and Ellora caves are located, to Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir in the north. The book gives an in-depth analysis of the interconnections not only between different schools of painting but also the sister arts of sculpture and architecture. By putting each work in this lavishly illustrated volume in its political and geographical context, Seth creates the ground-breaking panoramic look at Indian wall painting the art world has long needed.