Submitted By:Rashi Gambhir

RA1811003010227

Assignment 1- Ancient India, Raj-Ravi Verma, Indian Art Form

Ancient India:
• Why do you think settlements happened in the Indus River Valley?

• to be safe during the draught

• for irrigation, transportation, trade, communication

• to enjoy the nature’s bounty

• Elder members of communities wished to

Answer: (b).

• Identify the two major rivers of Ancient India from the following -

• Tigris & Euphrates

• Nile & Blue Nile

• Indus & Ganges

• Huang He & Yangtze

Answer: (a).

• Why do you think Indians eagerly waited for summer monsoons?

• They brought rain & without them there would be drought

• The cold winds were soothing during harsh summer

• Monsoon helped in travels across the rivers

• Monsoons made the pastures green

Answer: (a).

• After giving up the nomadic lives, what occupations did Aryans adopt for living?

• constructing palaces

• accumulating arms

• farming

• animal husbandry

Answer: (c)

• The Indian literature focused on

• war; brave warriors & their heroic deeds

 • home life

• politics & government

• holy writings & Hindu themes

Answer: (d).

• Identify the written language of the Ancient Indian civilization -

• cuneiform

• Sanskrit

• hieroglyphics

• Hindi

Answer: (b).

• The four classes (varnas) in the Indian caste system are known as:

• Pharaoh, priests, artisans, slaves

• Brahman, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Sudras

• King, queen, princes, lords

• Shogun, samurai, governors, artisans

Answer: (b).

• Which one of the following is a social group in which one is born and cannot change it afterwards -

• religion

• family

• tribe

• caste

Answer: (d).

• Which things were decided based on a person’s caste?

• Job, marriage, friends

• Foods

• Clothes

• Rituals and ceremonies

Answers: (a).

• What were the influences behind building temples, art and sculptures?

• Happiness and devotion

• Religion

• Sacred knowledge and texts

 • Caste

Answer: (b).

• Identify India’s two most notable epics among the following -

• Odyssey &Iliad

• Mahabharata & Ramayana

• Vedas & Upanishads

• Enlightenment & Nirvana

Answer: (b).

• Why do you think Indians never challenged the caste system?

• It became associated with religious beliefs.

• The economy depended on it.

• They were afraid banishment.

• They grew accustomed to the class they were born into.

Answer: (d).

• Reincarnation is...

• a state of spiritual communion with God

• taking another birth for fulfilling a duty

• the payback for previous life

• performing the duties of the caste

Answer: (b).

• Nirvana is...

• a state of attainment of supreme knowledge

• taking a rebirth to be united with Brahman

• the blissful state

• the divine law

Answer: (b).

• Karma is...

• hard work

• Yogic practice

• the consequences of person’s deeds

• the duties of people

Answer: (c).
• Dharma is...

• wisdom

• Salvation

• Devotion

• the divine law

Answer: (d).

• The holy books of Hinduism are

• Torah & the Bible

• Vedas &Upanishads

• Book of the Living & Book of the Dead

• Old Testament New Testament

Answer: (b).

• How do you think Hinduism primarily spread across the Indian subcontinent? Give reasons.

• through cattle

• through rivers

• trade, travel, and war

• through deserts

Answer: (c).

• What did King Ashoka help spread by building roads, hospitals, and shrines? Include your
opinions on his philosophical beliefs.

• Hinduism

• Buddhism

• Christianity

• Islam

Answer: (b)- After Ashoka's successful but devastating conquest of Kalinga early in his rule, he
converted to Buddhism and was inspired by its doctrine of dharma. Thereafter, he ruled his empire
through peace and tolerance and focused on public works and building up the empire rather than
expanding it.

• During the Gupta dynasty, the contributions by Indian mathematicians included

• algebra, addition &multiplication

• 365-day calendar, fractions, hieroglyphics

• algebra, zero, & infinity

• algebra, alphabet, chemistry

 Answer: (c).

• Which geographical feature marks India as a subcontinent of Asia?

• Nilgiris

• Ganges River

• Himalayan Mountains

• Thar Desert

Answer: (c).

• Which of the following is not part of the caste system? Write a brief note on India

caste system.

• Brahmans

• Vaisyas

• Dalits

• Sudras

Answer: (c)- It is referred to frequently in the ancient Indian texts. The four classes were the
Brahmins (priestly people), the Kshatriyas (also called Rajanyas, who were rulers, administrators and
warriors), the Vaishyas (artisans, merchants, tradesmen and farmers), and Shudras (labouring classes).

Write a brief history of Mysore Paintings

The fall of the Vijayanagar Empire in 1565 AD and the sack of Hampi in the Battle of Talikota resulted
initially in distress for scores of families of painters who had been dependent on the patronage of the
empire. As Dr. Charita point out these families of artists called Chitrakaras migrated to various pockets
who were feudatories of Vijayanagara Empire. As scholar A.L.Narasimhan traces some of these
surviving paintings are witnessed at Shravanabelagola, Sira, Keregoodirangapura, Srirangapattana,
Nippani, Sibi, Naragunda, Bettadapura, Hardanahalli, Mudukutore, Mysore, Chitradurga, Kollegala,
Raichur, Hiriyur, Benakanakere, Anegundi, Yalladahalli, Lepakshi and many other places located in
Karnataka. Raja Wodeyar I (1578–1617 A.D) provided a vital service to the cause of painting by
rehabilitating several families of painters of the Vijayanagara School at Srirangapatna.

The successors of Raja Wodeyar continued to

patronize the art of painting by commissioning the temples and palaces to be painted with mythological
scenes. However none of these paintings have survived due to the ravages of war between the British on
the one side and Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan on the other. Hyder and Tippu who bested the Wodeyars
took over the reins of Mysore for a brief period. However, the artists (Chitragars) continued to be
patronised and flourished under the reign of Tipu and Hyder too. The Narasimha swamy temple in Seebi
on the highway between Tumkur and Sira was built by Nallappa who was in the service of both Haidar
Ali and Tipu Sultan, during Tipu's reign and has several wonderful wall frescoes in the Vijayanagar
style which gradually evolved into the Mysore and Tanjore schools of painting. The murals detailing the
Battle of Polilur and other painted work at the Daria Daulat Bagh palace of Tipu Sultan in Ganjam,
Srirangapatna are also prime examples of the Mysore school of painting.

After the death of Tipu Sultan in 1799 AD the state was restored back to the Wodeyars of Mysore and
its ruler Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar III (1799-1868 AD) who was contemporaneous with Serfoji
II of Thanjavur ushered in a new era by reviving the ancient traditions of Mysore and extending
patronage to music, sculpture, painting, dancing and literature.

What is the process involved in making Mysore paintings?

Technique & Characteristic

Mysore Paintings are characterized by delicate lines, intricate brush strokes, graceful delineation of
figures and the discreet use of bright vegetable colours and lustrous gold leaf. More than mere
decorative pieces, the paintings are designed to inspire feelings of devotion and humility in the viewer.
The painter’s individual skill in giving expression to various emotions is therefore of paramount
importance to this style of painting.

The first stage of Mysore Painting was to prepare the ground; paper, wood, cloth or wall grounds
were variously used. The paper board was made of paper pulp or waste paper, which was dried in the
sun and then rubbed smooth with a polished quartz pebble. If the ground was cloth it was pasted on a
wooden board using a paste composed of dry white lead mixed with gum and a small quantity of
gruel.

Making Mysore Paintings

A number of steps are involved in the process of producing a Mysore painting. The first step requires the
artist to make a preliminary sketch of the image on the base, which comprises of a cartridge paper pasted
on a wooden base. Thereafter, he makes a paste of zinc oxide and Arabic gum, known as 'gesso paste'.
This paste is used to give a slightly raised effect of carving to those parts of the painting that require
embellishments and is allowed to dry. Then, gold foil is pasted onto the surface. The rest of the painting
is

prepared with the help of watercolours. After the painting is fully dried, it is covered with a thin paper
and rubbed lightly with a smooth soft stone.

Mysore Paintings centres

Indian Mysore School of paintings exists in Mysore, Bangalore, Tumkur, Sravanabelagola and
Nanjangud.
 Write the unique feature of Tanjore
paintings.
The Most unique feature of Tanjore Paintings is its 3-D property. Let us explain it further. Tanjore
Painting is the only painting to have EMBOSS on it. That is, the painting has areas that are ELEVATED
from the surface.

Photo of a semi completed Durga Devi is shown on the left side for reference. A tanjore painting
has typically 10 processes. Embossing is one of them.

The other feature is the Real Gold Foil used to stick on the EMBOSSED areas - 22 carat gold
foil is used. It is made of real gold and it never fades.

Nowadays, to reduce the overall cost and make more profit, some galleries have started using imitation
gold foils (read fake gold foils). Sometimes the customers are aware of it and sometimes they are not-
they get cheated.

Care has to be taken while evaluating the authenticity of the gold foil. One should look for shops/
artists providing ‘Certificate of Authenticity’ for the gold foils. We at Chola Impressions issue
Authenticity Certificate for each painting we make.

They are the only ISO Certified Tanjore paintings manufacturer using Authentic 22 carat Gold Foil

Explain the procedure of Tanjore paintings.

The original Tanjore paintings were made using powders of lime and tamarind seeds on cloth stretched
over a wooden canvas. These paintings are high-relief and are characterized by flat yet rich and vivid
colours and simple iconic composition. The other materials used to embellish or define the motifs were
gold foil laid on extensive yet intricate gesso work and an inlay of beads made of glass as well as
precious and semi-precious gems.

The broad process of creating a Tanjore painting involves:

• The wooden board is first softened using glue and emery sheets.
• The motifs are then sketched out onto the fabric pinned onto the board and these outlines are
then finalized by sticking precious and semi-precious gems on these lines.
• The spaces around the gems are then filled with a thin layer of lime or tamarind powder
mixed with gum or resin.
• Another thick layer of lime or tamarind powder is then used to create the relief and inlay work.
• The entire painting is then cleaned and refined.
• Next, gold foil is placed onto the stones and the relief work.
• The gold foil is then snipped and tidied to give a finished look to the painting.