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Nityanand Shastri Kashmir Research Institute (NSKRI)

Kashmir School of Miniature Painting

The story of art in Kashmir opens with a pre-historic rock drawing discovered at the Neolithic site of Burzahom depicting a hunting scene. A subsequent stage of development is represented by masterpieces of art in the shape of Harwan tiles and Ushkar (Wushkar) stucco figures. The Nilamata Purana makes clear reference to the existence of painting in ancient Kashmir. From 7th-8th century onwards the school of Kashmir art acquired distinct features, even as it was absorbing Gandharan and Gupta influences, reaching its pinnacle of glory in the times of Lalitaditya. The movement sustained till the 10th-11th century when its fame spread throughout the Himalayan region.

Although no direct example of Kashmir painting of this period has survived, the characteristic features of the Kashmiri style can be clearly seen in the Gilgit manuscript paintings assigned to the 9th century. The murals of the Buddhist monasteries of Alchi in Ladakh, Mang Nang in Western Tibet and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh present a successive stage of the development of the tradition of painting in Kashmir. These mural paintings appear to be a pictorial translation of the exquisite Kashmir bronzes dated to 9th to 11th century.

The Kashmir artistic tradition faced decay during the political and religious

Despite large scale vandalism and destruction in the subsequent centuries, the traditional artistic propensities of the Kashmiris could not be entirely stiffed though. The Kashmir school of miniature painting survived taking a new avtara during the late 18th century, continuing through the l9th century to the early decades of the twentieth. The Puja room (thokur kuth) of the Kashmiri Brahmins became a virtual museum of religious art which found expression in the illuminations of Sharada manuscripts, horoscopes, folk-art works like the krula pacch, nechipatra (almanac) etc. besides individual paintings. The themes were essentially religious with forms of Hindu deities and local gods and goddesses dominating.

In fact miniature paintings became a family tradition, passing from generation to

Unfortunately, this rich treasure of miniature paintings has gone virtually unnoticed by art historians, making it difficult to reconstruct a chronological history of the Kashmir school. Unmeelan is an attempt to invite the attention and appreciation of art lovers and connoisseurs to this very important but neglected school of art.