Indian painting

In a classical way, Indian painting developed from the religious idols and gods of two main Indian religions: Buddhism and Hinduism. So, the painting is mainly concentrated on the depiction of religious scenes and procedures. Historically, there emerged six main art schools that have been developing from the earliest times.
The first one of them is Madhubani painting group that was practiced in the Mithila region of Bihar state.
The second one is Rajput painting tradition that appeared and developed during the 18th century. There were several Rajput kingdoms that had their own Rajput traditions but they mostly depicted the same plots, including epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata, amazing landscapes, etc.
The third and one of the most current painting trends is Mughal painting. This direction concentrated on production of books and miniatures. It existed up to the end of the 19th century.
One more painting school was Tanjore school. It is classical South-Indian Fine Arts tradition that was born in the town of Tanjore. The art goes back to the 9th century being rich in colours and presenting a lot of details. The given themes are Hindu Gods and Idols.
The two last schools are the Madras and Bengal school. The Madras School rose due to the magnificence of the British rule. The Madras School concentrated not only on the painting but also furniture and metal work. This direction created 'new' styles if compared with the Bengal School, for example.
In its turn, the Bengal School emerged as nationalist movement against the British stranglehold. It copied the masterpieces of earlier periods, including Mughal miniatures.
After the 1920s, Indian painting was filled with numerous modernist styles.