Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c9.s4.2

c9.s4.2

*Indigo.*—The medieval texts on painting acclaim with one voice as indigo being the chief blue of the painters in the middle ages. The *Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa*²⁹ mentions *nīla* or indigo as one of the colouring materials, and, in the *Mānasollāsa*, the shade of indigo (*nīlī*) is compared to blue lotus, and its admixture with various colours to obtain various shades is described. Though indigo has not been used in the wall-paintings of Ajaṇṭā or Ellura, its use is apparent in the illustrated palm-leaf manuscripts from Bengal, Nepāl³¹ and Western India.