NEPALESE PAINTING (CHITRAKALA)
Made by: Shuvam
Neupane

INTRODUCTION
Art and culture are the precious assets of the country. We feel proud of our traditional
art and culture as they reflect our customs, traditions and history. They represent the
overall life style, environment and situation of the contemporary society. Our
traditional arts are related to religious and cultural practices. They are based on the
religious beliefs, gods, goddesses, culture, etc.
We have a long history of art and culture. The authoritative history of Nepalese art is
believed to have started from Lichchhavi rule or quite before it. Nepalese artisans
have been designing the images of gods and goddesses using their excellent skill on
paper, wall, cloths, stone, metal, clay, wood, etc. according to the descriptions
mentioned on religious scriptures. Nepalese art has been divided into three categories:
Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. So, today we are going to discuss about
Nepalese Painting which is also known as Chitrakala.

NEPALESE PAINTING (CHITRAKALA)
Painting is an art of expressing any object or idea in the form of picture. We can
express any idea, feeling, imagination, knowledge, etc. through the art of painting. So,
in simple words the paintings made in Nepal are called Nepalese painting. The
Nepalese paintings are mainly based on religion.
Our traditional paintings also reflect our culture, lifestyle, norms, values and beliefs.
Many sculptures made in the Lichchhavi period are still available whereas the
paintings made at that time are not available at present. But as the evidence of the
artisans making he paintings before they start making the idols was found it is still
believed that the art of painting was developed during that period. Paintings were
generally made on paper, clothes, etc. so they might have been destroyed due to their
less durability. The Nepalese paintings are divided into three types. They are book
painting, scroll paintings and wall painting.

BOOK PAINTING (GRANTHACHITRA)
The paintings found in different books are called book painting. Book paintings is the
oldest painting among the Nepalese paintings. Tadpatra (palm leaf), Bhojpatra (bark
of a tree), Tamrapatra (copper plate), etc. were used for writing the scripts on. The
books used to contain artistic designs and paintings either on the middle or at the edge
and writings on the both sides.
The book painting made in the 10th century called ‘Astasahasrika Pragyaparamita’ is
considered to be the oldest among the Nepalese book paintings. This book paintings
consists paintings of gods and goddesses. Similarly, ‘Niswastantra’ of 11th century,
‘Vishnu Dharmagrantha’ of 12th century, ‘Pancharaksha Grantha’ of 13th century are
some other important book paintings of Nepal. The traditional book paintings
(granthachitra) used to be 12-18 inches long and 3-4 inches wide.

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SCROLL PAINTING (PAUBHA CHITRA)
Scroll painting are drawn on cloth. The paintings made on cloth have a distinct place
in the Nepalese paintings. Scroll Painting is called Paubha Chitra in Kathmandu
valley and Thanka in the Northern region of Nepal. It is further classified into Pata
and Mandala. In Pata painting, the picture of main god is made at center with other
deities surrounding it. In Mandala painting, a symbol of an object like Swastika and
other is made at center and other deities are made around it.
The sixe of the scroll painting is bigger than book painting. A scroll painting is full of
various artistic designs containing natural scenes and things like flowers, vines, rivers,
hills, clouds, trees, animals, etc. Various Nepali scroll paintings have been collected in
the museums of Nepal and abroad. There are also many expert scroll painters in Nepal
who have adopted painting as their profession.

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WALL PAINTING (BHITTECHITRA)
The paintings made on walls of houses, buildings, temples, monasteries, etc. are called
wall painting. It is a general practice of people belonging to different communities in
Nepal to draw pictures or symbols of different gods, goddesses and animals on the
walls. It is believed that having such paintings on the walls forbids the devils and bad
omens to harm us. It is also based on the religious beliefs.
Among the existing wall paintings of Nepal, the painting made on the wall of Taleju
Bhawani temple of Bhaktapur in about 15th century is considered to be the oldest.
The wall paintings of Swoyambhu, Kumarighar, etc. made in the 18th century also
hold great significance. Mithila painting is one of the most refined forms of wall
painting. It is widely practiced in the Terai region. It is also known as Madhuwani
Chitrakala as it is believed to have started from Madhuwani of India.

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