Paintings of Indian Women

A red dot and a sari…for centuries Indian women have been epitomized by these two aspects of their appearance …Paintings of Indian Women sometimes contribute to the stereotype and sometimes deconstruct them. There has been a conscious attempt to project Indian women, as a beautiful blend of contradictions.

The red dot and the sari

An understanding of these two iconic aspects of Indian dressing is essential before any study of Paintings of Indian women.

The dot- Traditionally the dot (known as bindi, kum-kum) was the symbol of an auspicious privilege enjoyed by married Hindu women in India. The practice has now evolved to cover young girls and women of other faiths as well and has become part of the make-up.

The sari- the sari is the most common attire of Indian women. The sari is long strip of unstitched cloth, ranging from five to nine yards in length, which can be draped in various styles. The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end then draped over the shoulder.

Early depictions

One of the earliest depictions of Indian Women can be seen in the Ajanta murals.Graceful and proprtionatte figures in various poses adorn the walls of the caves. The tendency was to depict Indian women as embodiement of fertility and these figutres too were painted accordingly (voluptuous and child bearing hipped).

Medieval Art

Medieval India didn’t see much change in the depiction of women. Ornate figures of well endowed women dot Rajasthani Miniature and Radha Krishna Paintings. They were represented mainly as lovers and consorts. They never were seen as independat figures and were more often than not ,objectified. An occasional Meera Bai (A Bhakti Cult Poetess) was somewhat differently projected but such depictions were very rare indeed.

Raja Ravi Verma

Raja Ravi Varma single handedly revolutionized they way India perceived its women. His proportionate, life like figures was closer to the western realistic schools of art than the indigenous schools. Therefore he found admirers in the Western Art circles.

His paintings of beautiful sari clad women, who were portrayed as very shapely and graceful has indeed colored our psyche.

Whether it’s the “Milkmaid” or “Saraswati” Verma tried to consciously depict Indian women as a distant object of veneration. They were beautiful and attractive but never aprroachable. Since most of his subjects were mythological figures they were expected to be dietified.

Yet many critics feel that Vermas aprroach towards female subjects was problematic, for he projected them as stereotypes rather than individuals. His obsession with the fair skin has also been harshly criticized.