Pahari Paintings of the Nala Damayanti Theme

Ever since the dawn of civilization India has been a major focus of artistic creativity and down through the ages we have produced some of the greatest works of art known to man. A special feature has been that each region of India at one time or the other, and in one or other of the plastic or performing arts, has made contributions that have enriched the total fabric of Indian art.

This fascinating, even bewildering, diversity has been a major feature throughout Indian history, and has greatly enriched the contribution that India has made to world culture. Not only has our artistic expression varied from period to period along the time scale, but within the same historical period different regions have excelled in one or other process puts India in the first rank of nations who have evoked and concretized the innate human urge for artistic expression in a sustained manner.

The Paintings reproduced in this beautiful volume were created in the second half of the 18th century in the Dogra Pahari region of North India, mainly in what is now Himachal Pradesh. Apart from their martial qualities and rich folklore, the several schools of Pahari art have been a major contribution of the Dogra-Pahari people art to the grand mosaic of Indian culture. Professor B.N. Goswamy has with great competence traced the historical and geographical back ground in which these paintings were produced. IO would only add that they combine the beauty and freshness of the mountains with the rare delicacy and grace of the people living in the area.