This volume, a visual journey, through its meticulous deliberations on the wall paintings and miniature paintings of Bundelkhand makes us reminisce the footfalls of valiant Bundella kings, ankle bells of elegant court-dancers, evocative poetry of mahakavi Kesvadas and the brilliant artistic skills of mural painters and many other historical events. These find their excellent expressions beyond the palaces of Orchha and Datia, and in many jagirs and thikanas such as Rehali, Madanpur, Chhatarpur, Narsinghgarh, Ajayagarh, Todi Fatehpur, Samthar, Jhansi and Rannod as well. A glimpse of Malwa painting is a value-add.
The murals, a living art, more democratic and decidedly popular, were the artistic idiom of Bundelkhand. It was art for the raja and the praja, depicting not only Puranic stories, but also the regal affairs and the day-to-day life of ordinary people.
Despite the fact that time, the vicissitudes of weather and vandalism have taken their toll on the murals, a cultivated aesthete can restore life in them. The book candidly reminds us a truth: The paintings of Bundelkhand are half remembered, half forgotten and many yet to be discovered.
Thus, this book should inspire art connoisseurs, art historians, art students, and laymen alike, paving the way for further researches and studies on the forgotten legacies of Bundelkhand.
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