The second goal is to develop a more comprehensive methodology for the study of textual illustrations in India. The primary goal is to understand the genesis of Rasikapriya paintings. This thesis focuses on the earliest known Rasikapriya paintings and has two distinct, but interrelated goals. of its visual images has not, however, received from scholars the attention it deserves. 1591, Rasikapriya is one of the finest poetic works in the r(')iti tradition, and one of the most frequently illustrated texts in Rajput painting.
The Rasikapriya, (Connoisseur's Delights), is one of the first vernacular texts dealing with hero-heroine classification in which Krsna and Radha are seen as the archetypal lovers. Phad in the Rajasthani dialect also means ‘a fold’.
The word phad is possibly derived from the Sanskrit word patt, a flat surface for painting. Itinerant storytellers, known as Bhopas, use the Phad, pigment painted large rectangular cloth scroll, in,Rajasthan, western India. Narrators in the Indian States of Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra use painted paper scrolls and those of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, pigment painted cloths. “The tradition of narrating legends with the visual aid of painted panels is found in early literature - in Bhagavatisutra (third century), Visakhadatta’s Mudraraksasa (fourth century), Bana’s Harshcharitra (seventh century), and Vaddaradhane (10th century). I quote “The transmission media of the folk epics are large paintings, instrumental music, dances, songs, riddles, jokes, costumes and other equipments.” Decorative cloth has been used in India to portray folk epics as a means of entertainment and as a substitute for theater and other types of performing arts.