Pahari Painting

A named syllabus item. The examinable structure is the line of descent: Basohli → Guler → Kangra, with regional sub-schools alongside.

Basohli (c. 1660–1730)

• Bold, hot colour — vivid reds and yellows; large staring eyes; beetle-wing cases used for jewellery.
• Key work: the Rasamanjari of Bhanudatta, painted by Devidasa, c. 1694–95, for Raja Kirpal Pal.
• Sub-schools: Nurpur, Mankot, Kullu, Chamba (early), Mandi, Bilaspur, Jasrota.

Guler (c. 1730–1780) — the 'pre-Kangra' phase

• The family workshop of Pandit Seu and his sons Manaku and Nainsukh, under Raja Govardhan Chand.
• Soft naturalism, Mughal-influenced modelling, cool palette, delicate line. Manaku's Gita Govinda series (c. 1730); Nainsukh's intimate studies of Balwant Singh of Jasrota.

Kangra (c. 1780–1823)

• The high point, under Sansar Chand II at Sujanpur Tira and Alampur.
• Themes: Gita Govinda, Bihari Satsai, Nala–Damayanti, Baramasa, Bhagavata Purana; the ideal female type with a long straight nose in line with the forehead.
• Declined after the Gorkha invasion of 1806 and Sansar Chand's death in 1823; artists dispersed to Sikh courts.

Other centres

• Chamba — its own line, plus the Chamba rumal, embroidery in double-satin stitch 'painted with the needle' (GI tag).
• Mandi — bold, dark-toned, Shiva-centric; strongly individual.
• Arki (Baghal) — wall paintings in the fort's Diwan-e-Khas, mixing Kangra manner with Sikh and colonial subjects.
• Kullu, Bilaspur, Nurpur, Garhwal.