Surpur miniature paintings- extinct art of Karnataka

I was aware of Rajasthan miniature paintings and Mysore miniature painting. Recently in an exhibition I came to know about another finest art of Karnataka - Surpur miniature paintings. I met an artist, who is practising painting forms , influenced by Surpur miniature.

No doubt, Surpur miniature is one of the finest art contribution from Karnataka, but it is disappearing. The artists who have learnt Surpur miniature art are shifting to other forms.Government arts academy are not supporting enough to keep the art form alive.

Here are some paintings which are influenced by Surpur miniature paintings. I could not collect enough information from the artist, as he was busy in attending the customers. 

The above paintings are by Artist Krishna Vasant. You can view his works here:

https://www.facebook.com/Krishnaprakashvasant/

Surpur miniature art was practised in Yadgir district of Karnataka.The artists have migrated from Andhra Pradesh. It flourished during the period of ruler Raja Venkatappa Naik. I don't have any pictures of original Surpur miniature painting :( . It is really sad that nothing is made to support this art form.

Original Surpur miniature is found in Salarjung Museum of Hyderabad. Hope this art form will  flourish again.

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Kinnala Dolls- looks like dolls with life

Kranataka is always known for its handicraft. Different kinds of crafts are practiced in different parts of the state. Karnataka being always has its own heritage of wooden crafts. The wooden craft practiced in coastal part of Karnataka  is unique. Similarly the wooden toys, Channapattana dolls  are world famous for its cuteness and attractive colors.
Here are  the colorful Channapatna dolls:

Channapattana dolls

 Another kind of dolls made in a small village Koppala of Karnataka, Kinnala dolls. These are also made of wood, but entirely different from Channpatana dolls. Channapatna dolls are cute and looks like dolls, but Kinnala dolls are dolls with life.At first sight you feel these are small human beings:

Kinnala dolls

Kinnala is a small village in Koppala district of Karnataka. Once this place was flourishing centre for crafts.The Kinnala craft dates back to 13th century, during rule of Vijayanagar empire, the craft flourished a lot. Kinnala art was started with painting the wooden plates and murals on the temples. Then craftsmen started making cradles , dolls etc and painting it with beautiful colors.
Very light weight wood is used to make the dolls and after making the parts, the parts are joined using paste made of tamarind seed powder and saw dust. And these are painted with natural colors. Earlier the craftsmen were making human figures:

Human figures - Kinnala dolls

Here are the dolls depicting pooja of a deity:

Now the craftsmen make animal figures too, in the below figures you can see those:

Garuda( Vehicle of Vishnu) and Kamadhenu (An animal in Hindu mythology) are very popular among Kinnala toys:

Doll making art has always fascinated human beings.In Karnataka many celebrate Gombe habba exhibiting the collection of dolls. There are different kinds dolls made of different materials like cloth, wire, sponge , wood etc. 

Recently learnt to make doll from clay. Will share about that in the coming post.

Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Horizontal arrays of sculptures- Beauty of Hoysala Architecture

The sculptures in horizontal arrays at the base of the temple is another unique feature of Hoysala temple architecture .
When I had been to Keshva temple at Somanathpura, I captured the sculptural beauty. The base is star shaped , and on top of the different sculptures in arrays:

The top row has beautiful sculptures of peacocks,

The second row is a imaginary animal. The guide told its combination of pig and rhino:

The third row is warriors on chariot :

And finely carved vine and floral designs:

The guide told us , if its observed carefully, no two sculptures are same in design. That shows the skill of the artists. I could observe some more interesting features in this architecture. Will share about in coming posts.
About another unique feature , beautiful carvings on ceilings  , you can read in my previous post. 

 

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Carvings on ceiling -unique feature in Hoysala temples

Hoysala dynasty is one of the powerful dynasties ruled Karnataka. History says , they were brave as well as patrons of arts. There are  many temples  in Karanataka built by Hoysalas which witness their love for arts and architecture.

The Hosysala temple architecture shows many unique features, like intricate carvings, star shaped platform , carving of ornaments on the idols , arrays of stone sculptures and two towers. I had the opportunity to visit two Hoysala temples, Somanathpura and Amrutheshwara temples. I have captured the these features and sharing with you.

Some of the features like star shaped platform, two towers and intricate carvings can be seen in this image:

 

I have shared about the ornamentation on idols ( Somanathpura Temple-Carved ornaments in Hoysala Architecture) and carvings on the walls (Amruteshwara Temple-Rich heritage of Karnataka(India)) Another  feature of Hoysala architecture is symmetrical carvings in circular shape on the ceilings. 

These are the carvings on ceilings of Somanathpura temple:

 Closer view of the carvings :

   The symmetrical designs are carved in circular shape and in the center the bud shape is carved:

 

The patterns are different in each circular carving:

 Does it not look like lotus flower? The craftsmanship is really amazing.

Same kind of circular carvings are on ceilings of Amrutheshwari temple, another temple built by Hoysalas:

Another unique feature of Hoysala architecture is wall panel with  horizontal arrays of sculptures. I will share about that in the next post.

Until then, 

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana