To what extent revival of vaishnavism and Bhakti movement led to development of various painting schools in India. Examine.

Two major factors have contributed greatly to the development of Rajasthani Paintings. First, the commercial community of Rajputana was economically prosperous. Second, the revival of Vaisnavism’ and the growth of Bhakti cult provided a direction to the development of a distinct school.
The influence of poets and seers like Ramanuja (worshipper of Vishnu) in the 14th century and writers like Jaydev (worshipper of Krishna) greatly influenced thinking, spiritual awakening and art of the people of large parts of India. The Rajasthani School, akin to many others, was influenced greatly by the advent of Ramananda, Tulsidas, Kabir, Raidasa etc. This is how the subjects of the Rajput paintings included the Sri Ram Charit Manas, Geet-Govinda, the divine love of Radha andKrishna, ancient tales, lives of saints, Baramasa (monthly festivities of the year) and Ragamala (Rag-Raginis) and religious texts such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagvat Purana, Krishna Lila andDevi Mahatmyam.
Four principal schools under the Rajasthani paintings developed due to this viz. Mewar, Marwar, Hadoti and Dhundar.

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