Buddhist miniature paintings mainly represented Buddhist divinities and schenes from the life of the Buddha and can be found in the numerous Buddhist texts and manuscripts that still survive. These miniatures are not (as inPersian manuscripts) originally and decoratively associated with the script, but occupy spaces left by the scribe to be filled by the painter.

Indian paintings of Bodhisattvas and also one of the oldest surviving Tibetan Buddhist Banner has been found at Tun Huang in Western China.

Buddhist paintings represent a continuation of the older tradition. The composition and iconography remain unchanged. But the schenes are much more crowded and colors are stronger and more formal. The art is essentially ecclesiastical in quality, much less emotional and more purely decorative than the paintings of earlier periods.
The glowing color and accomplished drawing lend to these manuscript illustrations

The tradition of manuscript illustration and temple banner painting has survived in Nepal and Tibet up to the present day. Most of the later day (seventeenth and eighteenth century) manuscripts are written on thick black paper.

Buddhist paintings can also be found in Burma, Ceylon, Bali, and Cambodia.