Miniature art of Arpana Caur, Devajyoti Ray,

Miniature paintings are small art-pieces, made on cloth, paper, clay tiles, and even grains and seeds. Some of the miniature paintings are so small that the details cannot be seen with naked eyes. Miniature art in India had started way back in the 6th century, but gained prominence in the 11th century in Bengal under the Pala dynasty. Pala miniatures were painted on palm leaves which depicted the life of Buddha and the Jataka tales.

Other important schools of miniature art were the Pahadi, the Rajasthani and the Mughal . Mughal miniatures show the grandeur of court scenes and hunting scenes. With the beginning of modern art schools in India under the British Government, miniature took a back seat. After independence miniature art is again gaining in importance.

Pala Miniature

Miniature Art however continued to be practiced as a folk art all through India's history, and there had been entire communities who had devoted their time on Miniature works like a section of the Nepalis. Today one can see miniature works among Madhubani paintings, Orissa Patachitras, Kota and Bundi works and Kashmiri paper machete paintings.

Mughal Miniature

In 21st century India, with the increase in popularity of miniature works, and with international exposure coming its way, many artists like Gulam Muhammad Sheikh, Arpana Caur, Manjit Bawa, Devajyoti Ray, Manisha Gera Baswani and Deepak Soni are taking up Miniature Art in modern styles.

Kota Miniature