Phads are a painting tradition of Rajasthan. Given below are two statements:
Statement I: Phads are long, vertical, cloth scrolls painted to honour folk deities.
Statement II: Phads depict brave men who sacrificed their lives while protecting the community’s cattle from robbers.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Only Statement II is correct.
Statement I: Phads are long, vertical, cloth scrolls painted to honour folk deities. — Incorrect. Phads are long, horizontal cloth scrolls, not vertical ones.
Statement II: Phads depict brave men who sacrificed their lives while protecting the community’s cattle from robbers. — Correct. Phads illustrate the tales of the bhomias, the cattle heroes who died protecting the community’s cattle from robbers.
NCERT (2026-27): “Phads of Rajasthan Phads are long, horizontal, cloth scrolls painted to honour folk deities of pastoral communities inhabiting the region around Bhilwara in Rajasthan. For such communities, safeguarding their livestock is the foremost concern. Such concerns purposely reflect in their myths, legends and worship patterns. Among their gods are defied cattle heroes, who are brave men who sacrificed their lives while protecting the community’s cattle from robbers. … Illustrating the valorous tales of these bhomias, the phads, are carried by bhopas, the itinerant bards, who travel the territory, displaying them while narrating tales and singing devotional songs associated with these hero-deities in night-long storytelling performances.” |