Folk paintings are pictorial expressions of village painters which are marked by the subjects chosen from epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata, Hindu `Purana`s as well as daily village life, birds and animals and natural objects like sun, moon, plants and trees. The color used expands vast range of vivid vibrant colors to subdued low hues, but mainly derived from the natural material, while papers, clothes, leaves, earthen pots, stone and mud walls are used as canvas.

Folk paintings did not emerge in chronological order but evolved in various region of India depending mainly upon the rural cultures, mythological stories and everyday rituals. The different types of Folk arts are `Pata`s of Bengal and Orissa, `Talpatrachitra` of Orissa, Madhubani or Mithila style, Rajasthani Painting, Pahari painting, Jain art at Gujrat, Warli paintings of Maharastra, Thakga, Monpa and different South Indian Folk arts.

Folk paintings are so variable from region to region because of the availability of material in different area. Whereas in arid Rajasthan the colors in the folk painting are vibrant and lustrous, painters in colorful Bengal seem to search relief in sober subdued tones. Artists in Orissa pick out palm leaves for painting. While the woman of north India found the whitewashed walls for colorful paintings, Oriya artists choose red-clayed wall for white and black paintings.

Bengal seems to be always far away of court life and the convention of temple art in the paintings. Here the most powerful medium of painting is `Pata painting` which emerged in the Kalighat area of Calcutta by the `Patuas`, who used simple bold lines and flat colors to describe the Hindu gods and goddesses like Siva, Durga, Kali, Krishna, Lakshmi, Ganesha as well as daily rural life.

They used to sell the pats in the local market to the pilgrims of Kalighat temple for their earnings. In the nineteenth century when European art became popular and the sell of patas reduced, the patuas selected the same medium to mock westernized civilization. `Manasamangal` (the story of snake-goddesses) has always been a very popular subject and the pats are used during the song of Manasa in the rural areas. The charms of Manasamangal pats are that they are made on piths. Even today we can see many patuas in the districts of 24 Parganas, Bankura, Birbhum, Midnapur. They use the basic colors like red, yellow, blue,black and sometimes green and brown. They paint usually on cheapest variety of papers and even on old newspapers, called `Jarano Pats` which are average twelve to fifteen feet in length and one to two feet wide.

In Orissa two types of folk paintings are popular. The first one is `Patas`. When the pilgrims of Jagannath Temple wanted to buy some memento, Jagannatha pat was their obvious choice. The painters of this are hereditary `Chitrakaras` (artists), known as Maharajas, who live close to the temple premises. The other one is palm leaf etching, locally called `Talapatrachitra`, one of the most ancient forms of art. The idea came while during writing manuscripts some artists felt to decorate it. The palm leaves are cut into standard size and supported by two wooden planks stringed through a hole in the center. The artists who practice this art live in Puri and Cuttak.

Madhubani or Mithila art is persistent in some areas of Bihar and UP, mainly in the districts of Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur, parts of Mongher, Bhagalpur and Saharsa. It is told that the painting evolved when king of Mithila, Janak asked the painters to draw the marital ceremony of his daughter `Sita` with king of Ayodhya, `Rama`. The village women paint the pictures of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Krishnalila and other Hindu mythologies as well as birds,animals and other natural objects on the mud walls of their hut. Nowadays it is done on paper and clothes.

The Santal paintings are simple and rich in color.

The Pahari paintings evolved in sub-Himalayan areas like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab during the dynasty of Rajput kings. It uses beautiful scenes of mount Himalaya as a backdrop and describes epics and mythological stories in a soothing, powdery color.

In Rajasthan, the folk paintings are usually done on some specific occasions like marriage, birth ceremony and festivals. This tradition of folk paintings is found in villages and rural areas practiced by various tribes. They are very original, fresh and done with raw-hand. The paintings of the Bhills involve bridal chamber, Goddess of clan, Lord Siva, dancing men and women and different birds and animals. These pictures are made with colorful delight and fine expression on the wall at the entrance of the houses. Sanjhya is another form of Rajasthani folk art, which is ritual wall painting. Young girls, especially the newly wed in Mewar and Malwa regions paint the walls for forteen to fifteen days during the `Pitrapaksha`, the period when ancestors are remembered and offered ritual oblation by Hindus.

In Gujrat, the Jain community played a very important role in development of art including painting. The Jains employ artists to produce illuminated versions of the jain sacred texts in the libraries called `Jain Gyan Bharati`, established by noble and affluent class.

Warli painting of Maharastra is a gift from a small tribe of the same name living in the state and is one of the most intriguing forms of Indian folk paintings. These paintings are executed in white on austere mud wall with the spontaneous expressions of folk life, customs and beliefs.

`Paithan` in the Godavari plateau in Deccan is also the home of peculiar folk style, which is remarkable for its originality, and boldness of brushwork. The art in rest of South India though does not come under the folk section, the paintings of gods and goddesses on the small shrines of Tamilnadu and on the temple floors in Kerala done actually with colored powders, have some of the vitality of folk paintings.

Dragon painted on wood is typical example of Monpa art of Sikkim, Arunachal and other places in the Northeastern states of India. The theme in the Monpa painting has traditional Buddhist influence. Another form of Buddhist art is Thangka, which are paintings done on flat surface and are painted or embroidered Buddhist banners.

Thankas are hanged from monasteries or are carried by `Lama`s in ceremonial procession. When they are not required to display, they can be rolled up and thus also known as scroll painting. The most common form of Thangka is upright rectangular form.