Indian miniature paintings have a rich and variegated tradition that ranges from the earliest known examples painted on slender palm leaf folios in Buddhist monasteries to Company paintings. Glimpses of Paintings from Kala Mandapa features miniature paintings from the Neotia Collection, Kolkata on display at the Kala Mandapa of Jnana Pravaha, Centre for Cultural Studies at Varanasi, that include some remarkable examples representing prominent painting schools and styles of India: the palm leaves and wooden manuscript covers of the Pala style (ad 800-1200), 16th century Tibetan Buddhist thangkas, paintings of the major Rajasthani schools, and Ramayana paintings and portraits of the Pahari style. It presents excellent reproductions of art masterpieces of great historical value such as a dated sketchbook of a Nevari thangka painting (15th century), beautifully-illustrated folios of the Devasano Pado Bhandara Kalpasutra and the Samgrahani-Sutra, and the Ragamala and Amaru Sataka illustrations of the Malwa School. The introduction of the portfolio is by Dr. Anjan Chakraverty, of Visual Art Faculty, Banaras Hindu University. The publication throws light on the rare fare that the Kala Mandapa paintings offer: their insight into the literary and cultural sources and influences of miniature painting in India, thematic preoccupations of such paintings, their use of space, colour patterns and symbols, and their overall effect.
