Whereas fresco painting is an ancient art in India, the perfection of the Shekhawati paintings is remarkable. In Shekhawati, the fresco painters were called chiteras and belonged to the caste of kumhars or potters. They ware also called chejaras or mesons since they worked both as painters and builders.

In Rajasthan, initially only vegetable pigment were used for colour – like kajal (lamp black) for black,  safeda (lime) for white, neel (indigo) for blue, harabhata (terra verte)  for green, geru (red stone power) for red, hirmich  for brown, kesar (saffron) for orange and pevri (yellow-clay) for yellow ochre.

Mixed in lime water and subsequently beaten into plaster, they remained unfaded for almost as long as the buliding lasted. 

Until the last decade of the 19^th century, when chemical pigments came to India. The Rajasthani chiteras stuck to the ‘fresco-buono’ technique (1830-1900).

In the method only a part of the wall was plastered at a time with three layers of very fine clay. The last layer of filtered lime dust, while still damp, carried the design painted on it.

Synthetic dyes from Germany and England permitted intricate work since they were meant to be painted on dry plaster and the painter did not have to hurry up with the  painting before the plaster would dry up. These frescoes were painted between 1900-1930.