Nirmal paintings and wooden handicrafts carry the art and culture of Telangana. Nirmal paintings and wooden handicrafts are named after the town of Nirmal in Adilabad district, which is located in Telangana, the newly formed state of India with the capital Hyderabad for 10 years.
Nirmal paintings and wooden handicrafts combines the rich cultural heritages of South India. Telangana is a land rich in fascinating range of art forms which are unique in style, theme, concept, form and expression. Nirmal painting is also such form of art, which relish the tradition and respective patronage.
There is a big community of craftsmen in Nirmal town known as "Nakkash" whose traditional art is to paint scenes from the Indian epics such as Mahabharata and Ramayana.
In medieval period, the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal rulers were enchanted by the beauty and colourfulness of Nirmal paintings. From that time, they extended the patronage towards this art form. In the colonial period, Lady Hydri brought the craftsmen to Hyderabad and promoted this art for more growth and development.
In Nirmal Paintings and Wooden Handicrafts, the colours used are produced indigenously from minerals, gums and herbs. The familiar gold colour of Nirmal Paintings is extracted from the herbal juices. Over the years, Nirmal Paintings and Wooden Handicrafts work has grown to meet new and growing needs. There moving further away from being mere painters of Indian epics, the artisans" paint motif featuring the style of the old Indian Schools.
The concept and themes of Nirmal Paintings and Wooden Handicrafts suggest the influences from Indian Art schools of Nirmal Paintings and Wooden Handicrafts like Kangra, Ajanta and from Mughal miniatures. The artisans reproduce Mughal miniatures beautifully on soft white wood. This soft white wood is called “Ponniki†and is strengthened with coatings of tamarind seed paste, fine muslin and pipe clay, before being painted. The Nirmal painting was developed in Hyderabad, now the capital of both the states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in last few decades seasoned with teak, duco-paint and varnish.
The art of Nirmal paintings and wooden handicrafts has been growing ever since its inception in 1951 at Hyderabad, which developed Nirmal paintings, and handicrafts command the international market. Nirmal paintings and wooden handicrafts gain popularity in Europe, South East Asia and United States of America.
