Observe the image and answer the following question.
The painting in the image is a folio from a Ramayana set of the Pahari schools. In which region was this set painted?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Kullu Valley
Option (1) Guler — Incorrect. Guler is where the Guler–Kangra phase first appeared, through Pandit Seu and his sons Manak and Nainsukh.
Option (2) Kangra — Incorrect. The Kangra School grew in the 1780s from the matured Guler style, with Tira Sujanpur as its most prolific centre.
Option (3) Kullu Valley — Correct. The painting is Rama and Lakshmana following sage Vishvamitra to the forest, a folio of the Shangri Ramayana. This set was painted in the Kullu Valley.
Option (4) Mandi — Incorrect. Mandi rulers worshipped Vishnu and Shiva, so Krishna Lila and Shaivite subjects were painted there.
NCERT (2026-27): “Kullu emerged with a distinctive style, where figures had a prominent chin and wide open eyes, and lavish use of grey and terracotta red colours in the background was made. Shangri Ramayana is a well-known set painted in the Kullu Valley in the last quarter of the seventeenth century. Paintings of this set vary from each other in style, and, thus it is believed that these were painted by different sets of artists.”
“Rama and Lakshmana following sage Vishvamitra to the forest, Bala Kanda, Shangri Ramayana 1680–1688, Raja Raghbir Singh Collection, Shangri, Kullu Valley, India” |
