Observe the image and answer the following question.
Observe the Kishangarh painting in the image.
In Kishangarh paintings, how are the figures of Sawant Singh and Bani Thani always represented?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → As Krishna and Radha
Option (1) As Dhola and Maru — Incorrect. Dhola and Maru are the prince and princess of a folk ballad; the Mewar Maru Ragini shows them escaping on a camel.
Option (2) As Raj Singh and his wife — Incorrect. Bani Thani was an attendant of Raj Singh’s wife; the pair are not painted as Raj Singh and his queen.
Option (3) As Krishna and Radha — Correct. Nihal Chand always shows Sawant Singh and Bani Thani as Krishna and Radha in brightly coloured, panoramic landscapes.
Option (4) As Rama and Sita — Incorrect. Rama and Sita belong to the Ramayana, which Ruknuddin painted at Bikaner; Kishangarh does not show the pair as them.
NCERT (2026-27):
“Bani Thani …She was an attendant of Raj Singh’s wife and a gifted poetess, singer and dancer. …The exaggerated facial type of Kishangarh, which becomes the distinctive and salient stylistic feature of the Kishangarh School, is believed to have been derived from the attractively sharp facial features of Bani Thani. Artist Nihal Chand is attributed with the credit of contriving this exquisite and characteristic Kishangarh physiognomy that is perceived in figures of Sawant Singh and Bani Thani is always represented as Krishna and Radha in brilliantly coloured, panoramic landscapes.” |
