lent longings denied expression by the Rajput moral code. Such
pictures have a lyrical splendour, a certain wild elation quite distinct
from previous Indian painting and we can only explain these new stylistic
qualities by reference to the cult of Krishna himself. The realization
that Krishna was adorable, that his practice of romantic love was a
sublime revelation of Godhead and that in his worship lay release is the
motive force behind these pictures and the result is a new style
transcending in its rhythmical assurance and glowing ardour all previous
achievements.

Such an outburst of painting could hardly leave other areas unaffected and
in the closing quarter of the seventeenth century, not only Bundi, the
Rajput State immediately adjoining Udaipur to the east, but Malwa, the
wild hilly area farther south east, witnessed a renaissance of painting.
At Bundi, the style was obviously a direct development from that of
Udaipur itself--the idioms for human figures and faces as well as the
glowing colours being clearly based on Udaipur originals. At the same
time, a kind of sumptuous luxuriance, a predilection for greens and
oranges in brilliant juxtaposition, a delight in natural profusion and the
use of recessions, shading and round volumes give each picture a
distinctive aura.[81] In Malwa, on the other hand, the earlier tradition
seems to have undergone a new resuscitation. Following various wars in
Middle India, the former Muslim kingdom had been divided into fiefs--some
being awarded to Rajput nobles of loyalty and valour. The result was yet
another style of painting--comparable in certain ways to that of Bundi and
Udaipur yet markedly original in its total effect. In place of tightly
geometrical compositions, Malwa artists preferred a more fluid grouping,
their straining luxuriant trees blending with swaying creepers to create a
soft meandering rhythm and only the human figures, with their sharply cut
veils and taut intense faces, expressing the prevailing cult of frenzied
passion.[82] Such schools of painting reflected the Rajput need for
passionate romance rather than any specially strong adhesion to Krishna,
the divine lover. Although one copy of the _Rasika Priya_ and one of the
_Bhagavata Purana_ were executed at both these centres, their chief
subjects were the _ragas_ and _raginis_ (the thirty-six modes of Indian
music) _nayakas_ and _nayikas_ (the ideal lovers) and _barahmasas_ (the
twelve months) while in t