The first manifestations of man’s artistic creativity in Rajasthan are found on the walls and ceilings of rock shelters which are adorned with superb linear drawings and paintings.
Ornamentation on Houses, Forts and Palaces in Rajasthan
Ornamentation in Villages of Rajasthan
Ornamentation on men – made structures followed much later. Today village homes continue to be ornamented in possibly the same way as the earliest dwellings: low mud walls are bordered in white bands, occasionally incorporating a geometric design.
The entrance door is always more elaborately decorated with a stone or wooden lintel and flanking niches outlined in white or ocher. Simple geometric motifs, hand impressions and flowers are painted at random.
The most interesting ornamentation is around the storage shelves where the art of paper mach is dexterously employed to make a series of ache plain or foliate – or a series of hanging pendants
Ornamentation of Forts and Palaces in Rajasthan
The interiors of the royal forts and palaces were ornamented in a variety of ways and materials to achieve different results. In Amer’s Jai Mandir Palace for example, the virtue of white in a warm climate are emphasized.
Rajasthan have palaces with mirror work called Sheesh Mahal. Some even use mica or stained glass. Others more quaint used blue and white Chinese willow plates as those set into an alcove of the Juna mahal at Dungarpur.
Jodhpur’s Mehrangarh Fort has a grand gilded Durbal Hall with a gadi and another austere where a golden wooden throne lies. The ornamentation of Bikaner’s palaces surpasses that of all the other states in craftsmanship and wealth of color. The Junagarh Fort possibly has the widest verity, each palace chamber evoking a different mood.The blue and white Badal Mahal , Cloud palace, curling with clouds yearns for the rain.
In Bundi, the clear green of its hillside shurbs and the blue of its waters and skies blend wondrously in the chitra shala of the Chhattat Mahal. Karauli’s palaces are richly ornamented with very elaborate plaster and stucco details. Devaliya, the old palace of Pratapgarh had miniatures fixed in the walls with the fine designs made on its ceilings with simple red lines.