For the first time an Indian production has been shot all over the world. This is Doordarshan's major contribution to the field of Indian art. 26 documentaries will be telecast on prime time National Channel of Doordarshan.

The shooting for THE PAINTINGS OF INDIA is the most extensive shooting schedule ever carried out and features in the current Limca Book of Records.

This series of films, above all, sees and presents the tradition of our painting from the deep understanding of the fountainhead of Indian art, at Ajanta and other sites of classic art. We see the streams of Indian thought and aesthetics flowing through the centuries and bringing down to us one of the most beautiful traditions of the world.

Art historian Benoy K Behl, world famous for his pioneering photographic techniques, Researcher and Assistant Director Latika Gupta, and camera assistants Pawan Giri and Gopal Prajapati have just completed 7 ½ months of travel and shooting, covering 90,000 kilometres in countries around the world and in many districts in 20 states in India.

Collections of Indian paintings in museums have been covered in detail in countries including Switzerland, Ireland, France, UK and the USA. Sites of mural paintings have been shot in Japan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan.

Many of the world's leading experts on Indian art history, both in India and abroad, have been interviewed and their words will be presented in these films.

For the past two years, deep and extensive research has been carried out by Benoy K Behl assisted by Latika Gupta and a team of 25 researchers.

A dedicated production team has organized and coordinated the complex logistics, research and computer graphics of this vast project. This team includes Matthew Kurien, Sohan Lal, Sucharita Apte, Shaurya Kumar, Saurabh Sahu, Rakshit Singh, Alicia Ingty, Philomina KC, Ashok Kumar and Jacob Peter.

The shooting for these films has included the coverage of many rare mural paintings which were never photographed in detail before. Rarely-viewed paintings will be seen in these films, presenting the continuous development of the art of India.

These will include among many others, the recently-excavated Gupta period Buddha painting on the rock face at Satdhara, 7th century paintings of the KailashnathTemple in Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu),9th century paintings in the Jain caves of Sittanavasal (Tamil Nadu), the remains of the 11th century Nalanda murals, the rich treasure of the scarcely-known murals of many very remote monasteries of the Trans-Himalayas of the 11th century, 14th century paintings of Choti Kacheri in Lalitpur District, ceiling paintings of the Virupaksha temple (Hampi, Karnataka) of the 15th century, the 16th century paintings of the Lepakshi Temple(Andhra Pradesh).

These and many more murals which have hardly been seen even by most art historians will be brought straight to the homes of millions of people in India in this series of 26 documentaries.

A vast archive of over 2500 selected masterpieces of Indian miniature paintings has been created over the last 8 months. The best paintings from the reserve collections and galleries from the top museums and private collections all over the world have been filmed and will be seen by vast numbers of people for the first time in these films.

Museums all over India and all over the world have cooperated in an unprecedented manner to help in creating this vast archive of images of miniature paintings to take before the people of India and of the world.

Rare and exquisite Pala palm leaf manuscript paintings of the 11th century, beautiful early Jain manuscript paintings of Western India and fine and almost forgotten early Bijapur miniatures which fall back to the grace and compassionate depictions of Ajanta. The masterpieces of the glorious Mughal school of miniatures have been shot including paintings from famed manuscripts such as the Hamzanama, Timurnama, Akbarnama, Baburnama, and others. The flowers of the fine early Rajput paintings and the lyrical paintings of Kangra and other Pahari regions have been filmed.

These and many, many other miniatures representing THE PAINTINGS OF INDIA have been filmed to bring for the first time a true and beautiful view of Indian paintings to vast audiences over Doordarshan.

Extensive filming has been carried out of rock art dating back to prehistoric times, at sites such as Bhimbhetka, Raisen, Adamgarh, many sites in and around Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh and Eddakal.

The tribal art of India is also going to be presented in this series. The Pithora paintings of the Rathwa tribe, Warli art, Saora paintings and paintings of the Khovar and Sohrai traditions of the tribes of Jharkhand, will be seen in the film on Tribal painting. The deep and inherent connections in paintings from prehistoric times through tribal paintings will be seen.