Basohli Painting

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Basohli, a town of Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir state of India, is widely known for its paintings called Basohli Paintings.

Immortalised by their artistic eminences and their connoisseur patrons, Basohli today is a metaphor for a vigorous, bold and imaginative artistic style, rich, stylish and unconventional. A style of painting characterized by vigorous use of primary colours and a peculiar facial formula prevailed in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in the foothills of the Western Himalayas in the Jammu and Punjab States. The earliest paintings in this style have been dated to the time of Raja Kirpal Pal (1678-93) ^[1].

Originating in Basohli, the style spread to the Hill States of Mankot, Nurpur, Kulu, Mandi, Suket, Bilaspur, Nalagarh, Chamba, Guler and Kangra. The first mention of Basohli painting is in the annual report of the Archaeological Survey of India for the year published in 1921. Referring to the acquisitions of the Archaeological Section of the Central Museum, Lahore, the report states that "a series of old paintings of the Basohli School were purchased, and the Curator concludes that the Basohli Schools is possibly of pre-Moghul origin, and so called Tibeti pictures are nothing but late productions of this school".

Radha and Krishna in Discussion, (An illustration from Gita Govinda) Gouache on paper (ca.1730).	Goddess Bhadrakali, Gouache on paper (ca. 1660-70).	Maharaja Sital Dev of Mankot in Devotion, Ink, opaque watercolor, and silver on paper (ca. 1690).	Radha Talking to Cowherd with Krishna Seated (ca. 1685).
Ragaputra Velavala of Bhairava.jpg, opaque watercolour with gold on paper (ca. 1710).	Ganesha (ca. 1730).^[2]

[edit] Notes

^ A Review of Basohli Style in Indian Painting, Chandramani Singh, Kailash - Journal of Himalayan Studies vol 2, Number 1&2, 1974 [1]
^ National Museum, New Delhi. For description of the work see: Martin-Dubost (1997), p. 73, which says: "Ganesha getting ready to throw his lotus. Basohli miniature, circa 1730. National Museum, New Delhi. Attired in an orange dhoti, his body is enitirely red. On the three points of his tiny crown, budding lotuses have been fixed. Gaṇeśa holds in his two right hands the rosary and a cup filled with three modakas (a fourth substituted by the curving trunk is just about to be tasted). In his two left hands, Gaṇeśa holds a large lotus above and an axe below, with its handle leaning against his shoulder. In the Mudgalapurāṇa (VII, 70), in order to kill the demon of egotism (Mamāsura) who had attacked him, Gaṇeśa Vighnarāja throws his lotus at him. Unable to bear the fragrance of the divine flower, the demon surrenders to Gaṇeśa."