In Pahari painting, what is the central theme of the Baramasa paintings?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Illustrating the modes of love or courtship appropriate to each month of the year
Option (1) Giving a pictorial record of Raja Sansar Chand and his court — Incorrect. Many other Kangra paintings show Sansar Chand listening to music or presiding over festivals; they are not Baramasa folios.
Option (2) Illustrating the modes of love or courtship appropriate to each month of the year — Correct. The Baramasa set has 12 folios, one for each month of the year.
Option (3) Depicting the nayika who hastens to meet her beloved braving all hazards — Incorrect. This is the Abhisarika, one of the Ashta Nayikas.
Option (4) Depicting the love that gopis have for Krishna in the Bhagvata Purana — Incorrect. This is the theme of the Rasa Panchdhyayi, five chapters of the Bhagvata Purana.
NCERT (2026-27): “Kangra School …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.” |