1. Department of Fine Arts, Post Graduate Govt. College for Girls,
Indian Painting B.A. II
Dr. O. P. Parameswaran,
Assistant Professor,
Department of Fine Arts,
Post Graduate Govt. College for Girls,
Sector-11, Chandigarh.

2. 'Manuscript paintings of Chaurapanchasika'

4. Introduction:
The term Chaurapanchasika is generally used to a particular style of painting, which emerged in the 15th and 16th century.
The dynamic brushwork and the vigorous symbolism of this idiom found widespread expression, with subtle regional variations in the 16th century.

5. It was centered mainly in the Delhi- Jaunpur belt but possibly extented to other regions, viz. Rajasthan, Malwa and the Punjab hills.
It is to be noted here that there was also a poem named as Churapanchasika.

6. The Chaurapanchasika (Fifty stanzas of the Thief) by the Kashmir poet Bilhana (late 11 or early 12 century), was a favorite theme of Rajput painters.
It deals with a thief's nostalgic reminiscences of his secret love for a princess whom he is eventually allowed to marry

7. The miniature depicting "the meeting of the poet (thief) with his beloved" (N.C. Mehta Collection, Bombay) contains many elements of the central Indian style which resulted from the fusion of western lndian Jaina manuscript style with Persian influences.

8. The colour of the painting remain bold, the features angular and the proportion seems to be awkward.
But the 'protruding further eye' an important feature of the Western Indian painting did not show here to the profile figures

9. The paintings are still in a single plane, with backgrounds in brilliant primary colours and the page is often compartmented into squares and rectangles but the expressiveness of the Chaurapanchasika style, its elegance and often its impassioned lyricism, far exceed the achievements of the old western Indian manner.

10. The figures stand out distinctly from the background.
Champavati the heroine wears a diaphanous odhani (veil fringed with tassels) over a tight choli and skirt.
Her hair is plated long -and the jewellery is profuse.

11. She presents a picture of coquetry advancing with her feet but turning her held away in coy retreat.
The man wears a Kulah (conical cap), a long four- pointed muslin coat, churidar pyjamas and pointed shoes, and his stance bespeaks sheer vanity.

12. The same type of cap and coat appear in several other medieval paintings-but it has not been definitely established whether Mughals set the fashion or whether they adopted it from a pre-Mughal culture.
The faces are all standardized profiles with prominent wide-open eyes.

13. Emotions are conveyed through the movement of limbs and lively hand gestures.

14. This Chaurapanchasika style are adopted in many other illustrated manuscripts with slight variation in its usage. The best example for the above mentioned are, Bhagavat Purana Ms. Mewar C. 1500, Mirgavat C Gita Govinda Ms. C. 1570; Laurchandhya Ms. C The same style can also be seen in the earliest Ragamala series made in Chawand (earlier capital of Mewar in 1605) by Nasiradi or Nasiruddin.