Test: The Pahari Schools of Painting- 1 - Humanities/Arts MCQ

The term Pahari is derived from the Hindi language, meaning "hilly or mountainous" in origin.

Pahari Schools of Painting includes towns such as Basohli, Guler, Kangra, Kullu, Chamba, Mankot, Nurpur, Mandi, Bilaspur, and Jammu in the hills of western Himalayas.

The Pahari School of painting is known for its exquisite and sophisticated style, which emerged from the Guler or pre-Kangra phase.

Pahari paintings demonstrate challenges in their territorial classification, as political boundaries were always fluid and the paucity of dated material, colophons and inscriptions prevent informed categorisation.

B.N. Goswamy, one of the most significant scholars of the Pahari Schools of Painting, has attributed the shaping of Pahari style from the simplicity of Basohli to poetic lyricism and refinement of Kangra to the ingenuity of a family of artists through his scholarly approach of family as the basis of style.

The most popular theme of Basohli painters was the Rasamanjari of Bhanu Datta. In 1694–95, Devida, a tarkhan (carpenter–painter), did a magnificent series for his patron Kirpal Pal.

The most significant characteristic of Basohli painting is the use of small, shiny green particles of beetle wings to delineate jewelry and simulate the effect of emeralds.

The Guler School is a style of painting that first appeared in Guler, which was a high-ranking branch of the Kangra royal family. The style is more refined, subdued, and elegant compared to the bold vitality of the Basohli style.

Guler artist Pandit Seu with his sons Manak and Nainsukh are attributed to changing the course of painting around 1730–40 to a new style, usually referred to as the pre–Kangra or Guler–Kangra kalam.

Although initiated by Manak, his brother Nainsukh, who became the court painter of Raja Balwant Singh of Jasrota, is responsible for shaping the Guler School emphatically.

Raja Sansar Chand (1775–1823) established the supremacy of Kangra over all surrounding hill states. He was a remarkable ruler who patronized painting in the Kangra region.

Tira Sujanpur emerged as the most prolific centre of painting under the patronage of Raja Sansar Chand. Later in his life, he shifted to Nadaun, where the most matured paintings were painted.

The most distinctive feature of the Kangra style is the delineation of the female face, with a straight nose in line with the forehead, which came in vogue around the 1790s.

One of the most popular themes painted in the Kangra style is portraits of rulers and their families. For example, Raja Sansar Chand and his son Aniruddha Chand are often seen painted with their courtiers.

Rasa Panchdhyayi is a group of five chapters from the Bhagvata Purana devoted to the philosophical concept of Rasa.