Nepalese Painting II Painting of Nepal

 Paintings of Nepal 

Art and culture are the precious assets of the country. We feel proud of our traditional art and culture as they reflect our customs, traditions and history. They represent the overall lifestyle, environment and situation of the contemporary society. Our traditional arts are related to religious and cultural practices. They are  based on the religious beliefs, gods, goddesses, culture, etc. 

We have a long history of art and culture. The authoritative history of Nepalese art is believed to have started from Lichchhavi rule or quite before it. Nepalese artisans have been designing the images of gods and goddesses using their excellent skill on paper, wall, clothes, stones metal, clay, wood, etc. according to the descriptions mentioned on religious scriptures. Nepalese art has been divided in three categories: Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

Painting (CHITRAKALA)

Painting is an art of expressing object or idea in the form of picture. One can express any idea, feeling, imagination, knowledge, etc. through the art of painting. Pictorial expression is considered more excellent since it is said that a picture can speak thousand words.

Nepalese paintings are mainly based on religion. Our traditional paintings also reflect our culture, lifestyle, norms, values and beliefs. The sorcery has taken an important place in the Nepali paintings. It shows that the Nepalese traditional paintings were not for the open expression of the artisans but were to achieve religious objectives. 

Many excellent sculptures made during the Lichchhavi period are still available whereas the paintings made then are not available at present. But it is still  believed that the painting as an art developed even during then because the evidence of the artisans making the paintings before they start making idols was found. Paintings may have less durability than the sculptures and were destroyed since they were generally made on paper, clothes, wall, palm leaf, etc. 

Nepalese paintings are divided into three types: Book painting, Scroll painting and Wall painting.

a. Book Painting (GRANTHACHITRA) 

The paintings found in different book are called  book painting. Book painting is the oldest painting among the Nepalese paintings. According to the various sources of history, there was an act of writing sacred scripts and copying them in Bouddha monasteries during ancient period. 'Astasahasrika' ,'Pragyaparamita' and 'Pancharaksha' are the most copied  scripts. The book paintings older than 11th century are not available. Tadpatra (palm leaf), bhojpatra(bark of tree), Tamrapatra (copper plate) , etc. were used for writing the scripts on. The books used to contain artistic designs and paintings either on the middle or at the edge and writings on the both sides.

The book painting made in the 10th century called ' Astasahasrika Pragyaparamita' is considered the oldest book painting in Nepal. This book has the paintings of goddesses Panchabuddha, Chatustara, Pragyaparmita, Bajrasatwa, etc. ' Niswastantra' of 11th century , 'Vishnu Dharmagrantha' of 12th century. 'Pancharaksha Grantha' of 13th century are the important book painting among the traditional book paintings of Nepal. Pancharaksha are the paintings of 'Panchabuddha' and 'Panchatara' in this book. Such books were 12 to 18 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide.

b. Scroll Painting (PAUBACHITRA)

Scroll paintings are drawn on paper or clothes. The scroll painting made on clothes has a distinct place in the Nepalese paintings. It is called Paubhachitra or Patachitra in Kathmandu valley and Thanka in the Northern region of Nepal.

It is the further classified into Pata and Mandala. In a Pata painting, the picture of main god is at its centre with other deities surrounding him/her. In a Mandala painting, there is a sign of an object, like Swastika and other at the centre and the other deities surrounded it.

The size of scroll painting is  bigger than book painting. A scroll painting is full of various artistic designs of natural scenes and things like flowers, rivers, hills, clouds, trees, animals, etc. 

There is a trend of making scroll painting in the Mahayan community of Buddhism while performing some kind of religious performance. Similarly, in the Newar community of Kathmandu valley, there is a tradition of performing Bhim Rathaarohan, when somebody reaches 77 years old and on the occasion of the Bhim Rathaarohan , there is a tradition of making scroll painting containing the figures of family members performing Bhim Rathaarohan , there is a tradition of making scroll painting containing the figures of family members performing Bhim Rathaarohan below the figures of deities. On the painting, a scene of pulling the chariot, one queue of the males and another queue of the female can be seen. Likewise in the Buddhist community, when somebody demises, a scroll painting is prepared wishing the departed soul heavenly peace by mentioning the name, address, date of birth and death. There is a tradition of performing a religious function and offering such painting to the priests. 

There is a tradition of exhibiting paintings and pictures once in a year in different Bahaals of kathmandu valley from the day of Gaijatra to Krishnajanmasthami .  Various Nepali scroll paintings have been collected in the museum of Nepal and abroad. There are many expert painters in Nepal who have adopted painting as their profession. 

c. Wall Painting (BHITTECHITRA) 

The paintings made on walls of houses, buildings, temples, monasteries, etc. are called wall painting. It is a general practice of people belonging to different communities in Nepal to draw pictures or symbols of different gods, goddesses and animals on the walls or to hang such painting on the walls. It is believed that having such paintings on the walls forbids the devils and bad omens to harm us. Wall painting is also based on religion. Paintings or picture of a Naag is pasted every year on the door during Naag panchami according to the Hindu culture. According to the rule of wall painting, it is drawn on the walls of the temples or Bahaals. Generally, the paintings of Yaksha, Buddha, Bodhisatwa, etc. are drawn above the windows of the temples or Bahaals. Likewise, the picture of Bodhibriksha is drawn on the main place of worship. On the left and right side of this, a painting of Barun is made.  A picture of King riding a horse is made inside of the door. 

Among the available wall paintings of Nepal, the painting made on the wall of Taleju Bhawani temple of Bhaktapur in about 15th century is considered the oldest one. The wall paintings of Shantipur of Swoyambhu, Basantapur Durbar, Kumarighar of Kathmandu are most significant. These paintings were made in the 18th century.

Every wall painting could not be protected for various reasons. Frequent renovation and repair works on temples, monasteries and palaces certainly led to the loss of the original paintings there. King jitamitra Malla and Bhupatindra Malla kept many wall painting in their decorative chowks. King Jaya prakash Malla of Kantipur did the same. Huge wall painting is still found in Pashupati and Jaya Bageshwari. Stories of Ramayan, Mahabharat, Jatak, etc. are commonly portrayed there. 

Mithila painting is one of the most refined form of wall painting. It is widely practiced in the Terai region among the Maithili community. There is a tradition of making Mithila painting containing religious stories, animals, birds, flowers, etc. It is popular in Tharu community also. Mithila Chitrakala is also called the Madhuwani Chitrakala as it is believed to have started from Madhuwani of India. Straight lines and composition of bright colors are the main features of Mithila Chitrakala.  It is also being commercialized nowadays. Our art is our identity and it must be preserved and promoted. 

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