JAMMU, Mar 22: The Basohli Painting is a traditional art form finding its origin in the Basohli area of Jammu region. This art form is known for its rich cultural heritage. It is a distinct style of miniature painting that has a unique blend of Hindu mythology, folk art, and Persian influences.
Basohli Painting, a distinct school of Pahari miniature painting, is renowned for its bold colors, vibrant lines, and distinctive facial features, flourishing during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Miniature Paintings, which depict a cosmos shrunk by many scales, all in infinitesimal details, have been an integral part of the Basholi Paintings.
The first mention of Basohli School of Painting is in a report of Archaeological Survey of India 1918-19, which states that Archaeological Section of the Central Museum, Lahore has acquired a few Basohli Miniature Paintings (called ‘Tibeti’ by the curio dealers around Punjab) and their curator has concluded from his study that the School is possibly of Pre-Mughal origin.
Basohli, formerly known as Vishwasthali, birthed a unique style of Indian Miniature Painting, and arguably the greatest of all, the traits of which are widespread in the adjoining hill states, mainly Mankot, Nurpur, Kulu, Mandi, Suket, Bilaspur, Nalagarh, Jammu, Chamba, Guler and Kangra.
This perplexed connoisseurs all over the world and they began delving into its history.
Since the subjects of these paintings are Nayakas and Tantrik Devis such as Durga, and use fragments of beetles’ wings for ornamentation, amongst other considerations, they are found to be the later works of the Basohli School and most likely from the period 1660-70 AD.
Ajit Ghose, India’s foremost art collector and critic, revealed that he began collecting specimens of Basohli Miniature Paintings more than a decade before the report, some of which are clearly older than those in Lahore Museum, and represent a much older tradition.
The antiquity of Basohli School of Painting as such, is clear.
Describing his collection of ‘Basohli Primitives’ as he terms them, Ghose has written, “The miracle of the descent of Ganga has the outstanding qualities of imagination and expressiveness.”
The traders and art scholars classified Basohli Paintings under or with the Pahari, Jammu, Tibeti, Nepalese, Rajput, Rajasthani, Gujarati, and Mughal Schools of Miniature Painting.
Such is the distinctive style of these paintings and their historical importance in the Indian Painting tradition, that re-classification of the Indian Schools of Miniature Painting was strongly sought so as to establish a different pedestal of respect and recognition for these paintings.
Balauria Rajputs bearing the surname Pal, are learned to have founded the state of Basohli around 8th century with Balaur or Vallapura as their original capital, mentioned first in the Rajatarangini. The history prior to Pals is still obscure.
Some historians say that Raja Bhupat Pal was put into prison by his contemporary Raja of Nurpur, with help from Jahangir.
He managed to escape from the prison after 14 years, defeated the Nurpur army and recovered his state in 1627.
In 1635, he founded the present town of Basohli, and went to Delhi to pay his respects to Shah Jahan where he was assassinated, allegedly by the same Raja of Nurpur with the connivance of Mughals. Interestingly, few paintings of him in Basohli style are available.
In the existing knowledge of Basohli School, the reign of Bhupat’s son, Raja Sangram Pal (1635-73) stands out in the country for art patronage, bountiful creations and rejection of mughal influence.
It is well-known that the 17th century was a period of revival of Vaishnavism in Western Himalayas. Basohli, more so, was a sanctuary for Hindu culture and art.
Painting from India’s Rajput Courts – The Kronos Collections’, Steven Kossak, an art curator, sings praises of ‘this brilliant school of painting that emerged as a beacon of traditional Indian aesthetics.
Some artworks, out and out masterpieces of Basholi Paintings, have come to light from the collections of prestigious museums, art galleries, palaces, workshops, and houses, in the hill states, rest of the country and across the world. There are many more waiting to be discovered.
The Basohli style of paintings which has no parallel anywhere, was gradually mutated by Schools of nearby hill states and even the Mughal. The chief proponents of this new idiom were two brothers, Manaku and Nainsukh, the greatest Pahari artists of the 18th century.
