Chandigarh/Rohtak: An extensive painting and textile exhibition on the ancient cave paintings of Haryana and the derived motifs has been on display at the Indian Habitat Centre by Dr. Aradhna Chaudhary from Rohtak.
As per her research, earliest reference to Haryana is found in Manusmriti where the land between Sarasvati and Drishadvati rivers has been called as Brahmavarta. Cave paintings which are about 20,000 to 40,000 years old have been found in Mangarbani hills in Haryana. The painting traditions starting from these caves continued with changes till 18th century. The motifs depicted on the traditional costumes and jewellery worn in Haryana like daaman, chunder, odhani, petticoat, Kathla, hansli, nath etc. have travelled down from Mangarbani caves.
Similar paintings and carvings are also found on very old doors, idols, temple walls and wooden sandooks.
Dr. Aradhna Chaudhry from Rohtak has tried to trace this journey of Haryana painting traditions from Mangarbani forests to the present day Haryana. Despite being a Medical Officer in Haryana Govt, she conducted her own research and dug out old costumes that were consigned to old sandooks in our villages. She has depicted these traditions in her 50 paintings which are on exhibition at Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi from 17th Feb 2023 to 21st Feb 2023. The exhibition was inaugurated by Sh. Jawahar Yadav, OSD to CM, Haryana and renowned artist Sh. Naresh Kapooria.
Through her paintings she has displayed to the present generation the rich art tradition prevalent in the Haryana region throughout the past millenniums.