The early painters
Painters of Jaipur
The generations who first carried the craft in the family, and handed it on.
Jaipur School of Miniature Painting
The Marotia Familyमारोतिया परिवार
6th generation · Jaipur School of Miniature Painting · Rajasthan
Six generations of miniature painters from Jaipur. Since 1997 the family has painted, and taught, at the City Palace Museum in Jaipur, and its work has travelled to more than fifteen countries.
Ask about a workshop or commission
Speaks Hindi, English
- generations of painters
- 6
- generations of painters
- at the City Palace Museum, Jaipur, since
- 1997
- at the City Palace Museum, Jaipur, since
- countries where the work has been shown
- 15+
- countries where the work has been shown
- National Awardees in the family
- 3
- National Awardees in the family
A six-generation legacy
A painting the size of a palm, and six generations behind every line.
The Marotia family paints in the Jaipur School of miniature painting: intricate detail, delicate brushwork, colours ground from stone, and ornament laid in gold — royal, historical and devotional subjects, painted the way the court painters of Jaipur painted them.
The craft has passed through six generations of the family, and through its women as well as its men. Today Vinit Kumar Marotia, the sixth generation, is teaching his son, so that what his father and grandfather taught him does not stop with him.
Since 1997 the family has painted in front of visitors at the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum in the City Palace, Jaipur, by invitation — showing visitors from India and around the world how a miniature is made, one layer of stone colour at a time.
The lineage
The hands that carry it
Nathu Lal Marotia
स्व. श्री नाथू लाल मारोतिया
Master painter
Painted for royal families, and was the first teacher of his sons. His wife, the grandmother of the present generation, was herself a skilled miniature painter.
Babu Lal Marotia
बाबूलाल मारोतिया
Shilp Guru · b. 1961
Trained by his father and by Padma Shri Kripal Singh Shekhawat; paints in the Jaipur, Kota, Bundi, Jodhpur, Alwar and Mughal styles.
- Shilp Guru Award 2016
- UNESCO Seal of Excellence 2005
- National Award 1997
Hari Narain Marotia
हरि नारायण मारोतिया
Miniature painter · b. 1968
Some forty years at the brush; natural colours and very fine brushwork on religious, cultural and natural themes. Shown at the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2025.
- National Award 1998
- State Award 1993–94
- Kala Nidhi Award, Surajkund
Badri Narain Marotia
बद्री नारायण मारोटिया
Glass-studded painting
Painting set with fragments of glass and ornament — work of great patience. Listed among the National Awardees of Rajasthan.
- National Awardee
Vinit Kumar Marotia
विनीत कुमार मारोतिया
Miniature painter · 30 years
Trained by his father; paints animals, birds, flowers and nature in the Jaipur School, and teaches students every summer.
- State Merit Award
The next hands
In training
Vinit's son, learning at his father's side.
Moments
From the family's albums
Clarence House · 12 April 2006
A watercolour for The Prince of Wales
When The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, as they then were, visited India in 2006, Vinit Kumar Marotia gave them a watercolour. Their Deputy Private Secretary wrote from Clarence House to thank him.
This will serve as a very happy and personal souvenir of an inspiring visit to your wonderful country.
Honours
Awards to the family
2016
Shilp Guru Award, Government of India
Babu Lal Marotia
2005
UNESCO Seal of Excellence
Babu Lal Marotia
1998
National Award, Government of India
Hari Narain Marotia
1997
National Award, Government of India
Babu Lal Marotia
1995
National Merit Certificate
Babu Lal Marotia
1993–94
State Award, Government of Rajasthan
Hari Narain Marotia
1992–93
State and District Level Award
Babu Lal Marotia
—
Kala Nidhi Award, Government of Haryana, Surajkund
Hari Narain Marotia
—
State Merit Award
Vinit Kumar Marotia
Certificates of honour
Honoured by
- 2017Vasundhara Raje, then Chief Minister of Rajasthan
- 2013Tina Anil Ambani, Harmony Art Foundation
- 2010Consul General of India, Chicago
- 2008Embassy of India, Argentina
- 2006Embassy of India, Berlin
- 2005Embassy of India, Paris
The craft
What a miniature is made of
The family paints the way the court painters did: with colours ground from natural stone, bound and laid on handmade paper, and lit with gold and silver.
Natural stone colours
Pigments prepared from natural stone, the colours of the old court painters.
Red gold leaf
Beaten gold, for jewels, borders and the haloes of Jaipur portraits.
Natural babul gond
Gum from the babul tree: the binder that holds the colour to the paper.
Handmade paper
The ground the whole painting is built up on, layer by layer.
The schools they paint in
Two courts, two ways of seeing
The Jaipur style
जयपुर शैली
- Men in turbans crested with kalangi and turra, in flared jamas tied with a sash; one hand often holds a lotus bud.
- Women with kohl-dark eyes, radiant faces, pearl-studded ghagras and heavy ornament.
- Black borders with a fine silver-coloured edge; green the favoured colour; blue clouds or a clear white sky.
- Ragas and raginis, the life of Krishna and the twelve months; the peepal, the banyan, the horse and the peacock.
The Kishangarh style
किशनगढ़ शैली
- Elongated figures: arched brows, long wagtail-shaped eyes, a high nose and a pointed chin.
- Men tall and slender under high turbans hung with pearls; women veiled in fine cloth, strung with pearls.
- Pink and green borders; white and pink the favoured colours; pale skies with gold lines at the horizon.
- Krishna's play and the moods of love; banana trees and bees.
Exhibitions
Shown in more than fifteen countries
The family's paintings, demonstrations and workshops have travelled across four continents.
Abroad
Santiago, 2018
China, 2016 & 2017
Italy, 2017
Paris, 2015 & 2017
Peru, 2016
Switzerland, 2014
New York, 2013
Hong Kong
Argentina, 2008
In India
City Palace Museum, Jaipur — since 1997
Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai — Treasures of India, 2025
Crafts Museum, New Delhi
Surajkund Mela, Haryana
Delhi Trade Fair, New Delhi
From the family archive
Workshops & commissions
Learn from the family
Every summer the Marotias teach the traditional techniques to students, and in 2026 Hari Narain Marotia trained painters at a cultural camp at the City Palace in Jaipur. Visitors to the City Palace Museum can watch them paint. To ask about a workshop or a commission, write to us.