Paintings are the reflections of various aspects of human life. It is the artistic manifestation of his social, cultural, religious and economic life. Through various paintings we can dig into the past societies. The ancient men generally drew paintings about the various event of his daily life. He uses to draw pictures of natural phenomena, trees, animals, birds, rivers, his religious beliefs and economic activities. Like other art and craft India has been the home to paintings since primitive times. Indians knew the art of painting since prehistoric times. Earliest cave paintings depicting various scenes are the ample testimony of this fact. Caves of Bhimbetka and Ajanta are the milestones which Indian Painting's heritage. Painting in India has come a long way since then, and today represents the influences it drew from a blend of tradition and styles like Greeco-Roman style, Persian style, Mughal style and British style. Thus we have varieties of painting such as Ajanta painting, Miniature Painting, Madhubani Painting, Rajput Painting, Mughal Painting, Mysore Painting, Tanjore Painting, and the Bengal school of painting, each has its own identity.
As Bihar was the cradle of many ancient civilizations it has rich heritage and antiquities of paintings. It seems that Bihar's own style of painting was developed during Gupta era. During the Palas a new method of painting on manuscripts was evolved commonly known as illustrated manuscripts. This new from of painting is different from Ajanta paintings but was a continuation of Gupta era’s paintings. It is quite evident from the archeological excavation site of Nalanda.
In the modern times Bihar is known for several styles of world class paintings like Patna Kalam, Madhuabani Painting and Traditional Wall Paintings. These paintings are a combination of ancient style of paintings with modern theme, technologies and colours. Artists of Bihar use deep fast colors for these paintings, such as deep red, green, blue, black, etc. Besides these other colours like yellow, pink, lemon are also used in these paintings.
