Fine Arts Test - 2

The correct answer is Mandi.

Key Points

• Mandi's rulers were devout followers of Vishnu and Shiva.
• As a result, Shaivite scenes were painted alongside Krishna Lila themes.
• The Garhwal School is associated with an artist named Molaram.
• Several of his autographed works have been discovered.
• The Kangra style of the Sansar Chand period influenced this school.

Additional Information

• Kullu- Shangri Ramayana is a well-known set painted in the  Kullu Valley in the last quarter of the seventeenth century.
• Basholi was famous for its palaces as well as its tiny paintings.
• Kangra, situated in Himachal Pradesh, was famous for miniature paintings.

The correct answer is Raja Govardhan Chand.

Key Points

• ​Guler School:
  • The first quarter of the eighteenth century saw a complete transformation in the Basohli style, initiating the Guler–Kangra phase.
  • The Guler-Kangra phase first appeared in Guler which was a high-ranking branch of the Kangra royal family, under the patronage of Raja Govardhan Chand.
  • Guler artist Pandit Seu and his sons Manak and Nainsukh are attributed with changing the course of painting around 1730–40 to a new style
  • The new style was referred to as the pre–Kangra or Guler–Kangra Kalam.
  • Guler-Kangra style is more refined, subdued and elegant compared to the bold vitality of the Basohli style. 

• Balwant Singh in prayer, Nainsukh, 1750 (Guler School).
• Kangra Style:
  • The first quarter of the eighteenth century saw a complete transformation in the Basohli style, initiating the Guler–Kangra phase.
  • This first phase appeared in Guler, a high-ranking branch of the Kangra royal family, under the patronage of Raja Govardhan Chand. Hence statement I is correct.
  • Manak also called Manaku and his brother Nainsukh, who became the court painter of Raja Balwant Singh of Jasrota, are responsible for shaping the Guler School emphatically.
  • The most matured version of this style entered Kangra during the 1780s, thus, developing into the Kangra School while the offshoots of Basohli continued in Chamba and Kullu.
• Guler-Kangra Style:
  • The early period of Kangra Kalam is represented by Guler-style artwork.
  • Some Hindu artists schooled in Mughal style sought the patronage of the Rajas of Guler in the Kangra Valley about the middle of the eighteenth century.
  • Guler has the oldest tradition in the art of painting among the hill states.
  • Basholi painting is a reputed school of miniature paintings known for its vivid, evocative colours, bold lines, and deep-set facial patterns.
  • Basohli's style is characterised by vigorous, bold lines and strong glowing colours.
  • Sons and grandsons of Manak and Nainsukh worked at many other centres and are responsible for the finest examples of Pahari paintings. Hence statement II is correct.

• The above picture is an Idealised Figuration of the Guler-Kangra Style of Paintings.

The correct answer is Kullu.

Key Points

• Kullu developed a particular style, in which people had a pronounced chin and wide-open eyes, while the background was lavishly painted in grey and terracotta red.
• Shangri Ramayana is a well-known set painted in the last quarter of the seventeenth century in the Kullu Valley.
• The style of the paintings in this collection differs from one another, leading to the assumption that different painters painted them.
• Nurpur artists are thought to have kept the brilliant colours of Basohli with the tiny figure types of Kangra when the Basohli style had outgrown itself and matured into the Kangra style.

Additional Information

• Basohli is a town in the Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir.
• It is located on the Ravi River's right bank.
• It was famous for its palaces, which are now in ruins, as well as its tiny paintings.
• Mandi, situated in Himachal Pradesh, was also famous for miniature paintings.
• Bilaspur, situated in Himachal Pradesh, was also famous for miniature paintings.

The correct answer is Manaku.

Key Points

• Manak, also known as Manaku, founded the Guler School.
• However, his brother Nainsukh, who later became the court painter of Raja Balwant Singh of Jasrota, is credited with firmly establishing the Guler School.
• Manak's most notable work is a group of Gita Govinda paintings created around 1730 at Guler, which preserve some Basohli features, most notably the profuse usage of beetle wing casings.
• Gita Govinda (Song of the Cowherd) is a Sanskrit devotional poem by Jayadeva and is a cycle of 24 songs.
• These paintings are from a long series in which each illustrates a single verse.

Additional Information

• Pandit Seu was an Indian painter who was most likely associated with Raja Dilip Singh of Guler's court.
• Manaku and Nainsukh, two of his sons.
  • They were prominent practitioners of Pahari paintings.
• Nainsukh has been dubbed "one of India's most creative and brilliant artists."
• Sansar Chand was the Rajput monarch of Kangra, which is now part of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
• Sansar Chand was a descendant of the Katoch dynasty, which controlled Kangra for centuries before being overthrown by the Mughals in the early seventeenth century.

The correct answer is Both I & II.

Key Points

• Kangra Style
  • The Kangra style is naturalistic, and great attention is paid to detail.
  • The foliage depicted is vast and varied.
  • This is made noticeable by using multiple shades of green.
  • Characteristic features of the Kangra style are the delicacy of line, the brilliance of colour and the minuteness of decorative details.
  • Distinctive is the delineation of the female face, with a straight nose in line with the forehead, which came in vogue around the 1790s, is the most distinctive feature of this style.
  • Most popular themes that were painted were the Bhagvata Purana, Gita Govinda, Nala Damayanti, Bihari Satsai, Ragamala and Baramasa. Hence statement I is correct.
• Tira Sujanpura
  • Tira Sujanpur is a town and municipal council in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur district.
  • The town is situated in the Himalayan foothills on the southern bank of the Beas River and was founded by the Katoch dynasty in the 18th century.
  • It was a hub for Kangra-style miniature paintings and Hindu temples built in an unusual blend of traditional Nagara architecture shrines and Mughal architectural palaces, the latter embellished with flowery murals of Ramayana and Mahabharata legends.
  • Hence statement II is correct.

The correct answer is 12.

Key Points

• The Baramasa paintings, consisting of 12 folios illustrating the modes of love or courtship appropriate to each month of the year had become a popular theme in the hills during the nineteenth century.
• An account of Baramasa is given by Keshav Das in the tenth chapter of Kavipriya.
• He, thus, describes the hot month of Jyeshtha, which falls in the months of May and June.
• The painter takes utmost delight in depicting all analogs as described by the poet.
• This painting is in the National Museum of New Delhi.

The correct answer is A-4,B-3,C-2,D-1.

Key Points

• Sansar Chand:-
  • Sansar Chand(1775–1823) was a Rajput ruler of the erstwhile state of Kangra in what is now the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
  • Sansar Chand was a scion of the Katoch dynasty which had ruled Kangra for centuries until they were ousted by the Mughals in the early 17th century.
  • He is remembered as a patron of the arts and the Kangra paintings.
• Dalip Singh:-
  • There is evidence that artists were working in Haripur–Guler ever since the reign of Dalip Singh (1695–1743).
  • The first quarter of the eighteenth century saw a complete transformation in the Basohli style, initiating the Guler–Kangra phase.
• Raja Govardhan Chand:-
  • Guler first appeared in, a high-ranking branch of the Kangra royal family, under the patronage of Raja Govardhan Chand (1744–1773).
• Kirpal Pal:-
  • From 1678 to 1695, Kirpal Pal, an enlightened prince, ruled the state.
  • Under him, Basohli developed a distinctive and magnificent style.
  • It is characterized by the strong use of primary colors and warm yellows — filling the background and horizon.

The correct answer is All of these.

Key Points

• Kangra Style:
  • Painting in the Kangra region blossomed under the patronage of a remarkable ruler, Raja Sansar Chand (1775–1823).
  • Most popular themes that were painted were the Bhagvata Purana, Gita Govinda, Nala Damayanti, Bihari Satsai, Ragamala and Baramasa. 
  • Paintings of the Kangra style are attributed mainly to the Nainsukh family.
  • Salient features of this school of art:
    • The fineness of drawing and the quality of naturalism are the stand-out features.
    • It is by far the most poetic and lyrical of Indian styles marked with serene beauty and delicacy of execution.
    • Distinctive is the delineation of the female face, with a straight nose in line with the forehead, which came in popularity around the 1790s, is the most distinctive feature of this style.
    • Most popular themes that were painted were the Bhagvata Purana, Gita Govinda, Nala Damayanti, Bihari Satsai, Ragamala and Baramasa.

• Gita Govind-
  • Jayadeva, a Hindu poet from the 12th century, wrote the Gita Govinda.
  • It describes Krishna's, Radha's, and gopis' relationship.
  • There are twelve chapters in the Gita Govinda.

Nal Damyanti-

• Raja Ravi Varma's account of Nal and Damayanti is included in India's epic, the Mahabharata.
• After losing everything in gaming, Yudhishthira was forced to flee into exile with his brothers.
• A sage told him the story of Nal and Damayanti at the same moment.

Ragmala-

• Ragmala is the name of a twelve-verse composition with sixty lines that mention several ragas and appears in most scroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji following Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji's Mundaavani compositions.
• Ragmala is a garland of Ragas, or musical melodies, as the title suggests.

The correct answer is Basohli.

Key Points

• Basholi Style:
  • Basohli is the first and most spectacular example of craftsmanship from the hill states. 
  • Basohli painting is a style of Pahari miniature painting that flourished in the Indian hill states during the late 17th and early 18th centuries and is notable for its vibrant colour and line.
  • It is characterised by strong use of primary colours and warm yellows filling the background and horizon, stylised treatment of vegetation and raised white paint for imitating the representation of pearls in ornaments.
  • The huge, focused eye dominates the stylised facial type portrayed in the profile.
  • The colours are always vibrant, with ochre yellow, brown, and green being the predominant ground colours.
  • The depiction of jewellery by thick, elevated drops of white paint, with bits of green beetle wings used to imitate emeralds, is a unique method.
  • The most significant characteristic of Basohli's painting is the use of small, shiny green particles of beetle wings to delineate jewellery and simulate the effect of emeralds.
  • In their vibrant palette and elegance, they share the aesthetics of the Chaurpanchashika group of paintings of Western India

• Rasamanjari, Basohli, 1720

The correct answer is Ashta Nayika.

Key Points

• Pahari Style
  • Pahari Schools of painting (roughly "painting from the mountains") is an umbrella word for a type of Indian painting that originated in the Himalayan hill kingdoms of North India during the 17th and 18th centuries and was largely done in miniature form.
  • Pahari Schools of Painting include towns, such as Basohli, Guler, Kangra, Kullu, Chamba, Mankot, Nurpur, Mandi, Bilaspur, Jammu and others in the hills of the western Himalayas, which emerged as centres of painting in the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.
  • The unending love of Hindu deities Radha and Krishna is the core theme of Pahari painting.
  • Pahari painting evolved from Mughal painting, albeit it was primarily patronized by Rajput monarchs who governed most of the region, and it gave birth to a new style in Indian painting. Hence statement I is correct.
• Ashta Nayika:
  • Depiction of Ashta Nayikas or eight heroines is one of the most painted themes in Pahari paintings.
  • It involves the depiction of women in various dispositions and emotive states.
  • The situation conceived is, generally, full of bizarre and dramatic possibilities with the passion and steadfastness of the nayika, triumphing against the opposing elements of nature. 
  • Few Ashta Nayikas are:
    • Utka is the one who is anticipating the arrival of her beloved and patiently waits for him.
    • Svandhinpatika is the one whose husband is subject to her will.
    • Vasaksajja awaits her beloved’s return from a voyage and decorates the bed with flowers in
      a welcoming gesture.
    • Kalahantarita is the one who resists her beloved when he seeks to soften her pride and repents when he comes late.

• Abhisarika Nayika, Kangra, 1810–20.