Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c28.s2.3

v1.c28.s2.3

The fourth-fifth century AD text Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa (Shah, 1958: 115-16) provided the earliest textual recipes for the paints and the plasters which had to be prepared and applied before painting. The text recommended the use of lime in the plaster along with organic binders such as guggula (Boswellia Serrata gum), madhucchista (beeswax), guḍ (molasses etc.). Often lime used to be mixed with clay or sand. Abhilāṣitārtha Cintāmaṇi (of king Someśvara 12th century AD) recommended vajra-lepa or binding paste containing lime, white clay, moonshine white mineral nāga from the Nilgiris (most probably kaolin) smeared with oil or plant-exudation gums etc. as the plaster before painting.