The origin of Indian art can be traced to prehistoric settlements and consists of a variety of art forms, including painting, sculpture, pottery, and textile arts etc. Indian arts have cultural influences, as well as religious influences such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism etc. Indian artistic styles have historically been followed by Indian religions out of the subcontinent and have a large influence in surrounding regions like Tibet, South East Asia and China. Indian art has itself received influences at times, especially from Central Asia and Iran, and Europe.
Broadly the Indian art has the following dimensions –
- Rock Art – Rock art of India includes rock relief carving, engravings and paintings where some of which are from the South Asian Stone Age. A rock relief or rock-cut relief is a relief sculpture carved on solid or “living rock” such as a cliff, rather than a detached piece of stone. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Bhimbetka rock shelters in Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh is a classic example of Indian rock art.
- Sculptures – So far the oldest sculptures found in the Indian subcontinent are from Indus Valley Civilization. These include the famous small bronze female dancer and many seals and pottery. However, such figures in bronze and stone are rare and greatly outnumbered by pottery figurines and stone seals, where animals or deities are very finely depicted. Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka is another classic example of the same category.
- Wall Painting – The tradition and methods of Indian cliff painting gradually evolved throughout many thousands of years – there are multiple locations found with prehistoric art. The oldest surviving frescoes of the historical period have been preserved in the Ajanta Caves with Cave 10 having some from the 1st century CE, though the larger and more famous groups are from the 5th century.
- Miniature Painting – There are a few miniatures that have survived since 1000 CE and some others from the next few centuries. There seems to be a tradition of miniature paintings. Early miniature paintings were on vulnerable support material of the palm leaf but later miniature paintings are found on papers and textiles.
- Jewellery – The Indian subcontinent has a rich and continuous legacy of jewellery-making, over 5 millennia. Using jewellery as wealth remains a more common tradition in India than in most modern societies, and gold has always been preferred among metals.
