Kangra painting continued throughout the nineteenth century but it was
only during Sansar Chand's own reign (1775-1823) that the style achieved
great lyrical glory. Similarly it was only towards the end of the
eighteenth century that other states in the Punjab Hills developed their
own interpretations of the great impassioned theme. At Nurpur, Chamba,
Kulu and Bilaspur[122] pictures of Krishna had temporary vogues and at all
these places artists created new modes of expression. None of the local
styles, however, possessed the same prestige as that of Kangra and all
were subsequently obliterated by the general Kangra manner. By the
mid-nineteenth century, the Rajput order in the Punjab Hills foundered
before the British and while lesser nobles and merchants continued to
purchase pictures of Krishna the cult as a whole declined in princely
favour. Only in Eastern India and then mainly in the villages did delight
in Krishna continue to evoke new painting. From the twelfth century
onwards Bengal had constantly celebrated the loves of Krishna--the poets
Jayadeva, Chandi Das and Vidyapati being all natives of this part of
India. Hymns to Krishna were sung in the villages and as part of this
fervid adhesion, local manuscripts of the _Bhagavata Purana_ and the _Gita
Govinda_ were often produced. Such manuscripts were normally not
illustrated but were preserved between wooden covers, on which scenes of
Krishna dancing with the cowgirls or with male devotees were painted.[123]
Book covers of this kind were produced in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries and the resulting pictures have something of the savage elation
associated with the Basohli style and its derivatives. During the
nineteenth century, painted book-covers ceased to be produced but three
other kinds of painting continued to celebrate the Krishna theme. Frescoes
of Hindu gods and goddesses including Krishna were often executed on the
mud walls of village houses in Mithila, the birthplace of the poet
Vidyapati, and the style of painting with its brilliant colours and