The Pahari Schools of Painting Class 12 Notes

Need the whole Pahari Schools of Painting chapter in one compact, revision-ready package? These Class 12 Fine Art notes cover the meaning of “Pahari”, the Basohli, Guler and Kangra schools, the offshoot centres, the favourite themes, a dated timeline and a step-by-step method for critiquing paintings.

Everything here follows the NCERT textbook An Introduction to Indian Art Part II, and these notes follow the 2026-27 session.

Use the page in three passes: skim the comparison table and timeline, re-read the three-painting analysis and the worked critique model, then plan the textbook exercise from the answer map. Keep the textbook open beside you for the colour reproductions — in this chapter, seeing the painting is part of the study.

Why ‘Pahari’ Is a Label, Not a Single School

Pahari means “hilly or mountainous” (NCERT, p. 67). Under this label come the painting centres of the western Himalayan hills — Basohli, Guler, Kangra, Kullu, Chamba, Mankot, Nurpur, Mandi, Bilaspur, Jammu and other towns active from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century (NCERT, p. 67).

The chapter traces one curved story: it begins at Basohli with a bold, flamboyant style, passes through the Guler or pre-Kangra phase, and ends at the Kangra School, the most refined and sophisticated of Indian painting styles (NCERT, p. 67).

Unlike the Deccani Schools of Painting or the Rajasthani Schools of Painting, the Pahari centres did not grow into independent schools with distinctive styles, even though each centre had its own taste in nature, architecture, faces, costumes and colours (NCERT, p. 67).

• Few dated works. Scarcity of dated material, colophons and inscriptions blocks clear categorisation (NCERT, p. 67).
• Fluid boundaries. Political borders shifted constantly, so region-based attribution misleads (NCERT, p. 68).
• Families, not regions. Scholar B. N. Goswamy treats the Pandit Seu family as the chief bearer of the Pahari style; a family-as-style model explains several strands of one style inside a single region — an argument that also holds for the Rajasthani schools (NCERT, p. 68).

The style itself shifted over time: in the early 1700s the Seu family still painted in the Basohli idiom; from mid-century, a pre-Kangra phase transformed into the mature Kangra style (NCERT, p. 68). Most scholars now dispute the old theory that migrating Mughal-atelier artists caused the change.

Instead they credit local artist families responding to newly introduced paintings — especially Mughal examples — whose naturalism appealed to Pahari artists (NCERT, p. 68). The new idiom brought compositions from a relative point of view, decorated margins, records of kings’ daily routines and occasions, and a new, idealised female prototype (NCERT, p. 68).

The full story sits with the other Class 12 Fine Art notes inside the Class 12 notes collection.

Pahari Terms and Definitions You Need for Class 12

The chapter works with a small set of terms. Learn these once and every school description below becomes easier to follow.

Basohli School: Bold Colours and Beetle Wings

The most dramatic early hill-state work comes from Basohli under Kirpal Pal (1678–1695), an enlightened prince (NCERT, p. 69). Its hallmarks:

• Strong primary colours and warm yellows filling the background and horizon
• Stylised vegetation rather than naturalistic plant forms
• Raised white paint to imitate pearls in ornaments
• Most distinctive of all: small, shiny green beetle-wing particles used for jewellery, simulating emeralds (NCERT, p. 69)

In palette and elegance the style shares the aesthetics of the Chaurpanchashika group of Western Indian paintings (NCERT, p. 69). The most popular theme was the Rasamanjari of Bhanu Datta; in 1694–95 Devida, a tarkhan (carpenter-painter), painted a magnificent series for Kirpal Pal. The Bhagvata Purana, Ragamala, and portraits of local kings, consorts, courtiers, astrologers and courtesans were other favourites (NCERT, p. 69).

Basohli’s ateliers spread to Chamba and Kullu, producing local variations of the kalam, and the style reached Mankot, Nurpur, Mandi, Bilaspur and Kangra as well (NCERT, p. 70). At the same time, a new manner — the Guler–Kangra phase (1690s–1730s) — brought experimentation that finally moulded into the Kangra style (NCERT, p. 70).

Shangri Ramayana. The Ramayana was a favourite text at Basohli and Kullu. The famous set is named after Shangri, the residence of a branch of the Kullu royal family, its patrons and former possessors; its Kullu artists were influenced in varying degrees by the styles of Basohli and Bilaspur (NCERT, p. 70).

Painted in the last quarter of the 1600s, the folios vary in style, so scholars believe different sets of artists worked on them (NCERT, p. 79). Two scenes are described closely:

• Ayodhya Kanda: Rama gives away his possessions — before the exile, Rama distributes jewellery, sacrificial vessels, a thousand cows and other treasures. The painter shows recluses, Brahmins, courtiers, commoners and servants receiving the gifts, and contrasts Rama’s serene, gently smiling composure with curious Lakshmana, anxious Sita and Brahmins who accept without pleasure. Details include a transparent garment, stippled beards, tilak marks, jewellery and weapons (NCERT, pp. 70–71).
• Bala Kanda: Rama and Lakshmana follow sage Vishvamitra — the princes set out to defeat demons who disturb hermits’ meditation and contaminate their rituals. Animals prowl half-hidden in the heavy growth, and the fragmentary wolf on the left and tiger on the right make the forest feel like a thick, dangerous jungle — with the possibility that they are demons in disguise (NCERT, pp. 71–72).

Guler School: The Refined Bridge to Kangra

The Guler–Kangra phase first appeared in Guler, a high-ranking branch of the Kangra royal family, under Raja Govardhan Chand (1744–1773) (NCERT, p. 72). Guler also had the longest painting tradition among the Pahari schools — artists worked in Haripur–Guler from the reign of Dalip Singh (1695–1743), whose portraits and those of his son Bishan Singh date from before the 1730s (NCERT, p. 73).

The engine of change was one family:

• Pandit Seu and his sons Manak (Manaku) and Nainsukh changed the course of painting around 1730–40 (NCERT, p. 72).
• Their pre-Kangra or Guler–Kangra kalam is more refined, subdued and elegant than the bold vitality of Basohli (NCERT, p. 72).
• Manak began the idiom; Nainsukh shaped the Guler School emphatically as court painter to Raja Balwant Singh of Jasrota (NCERT, p. 72).

Manak’s finest work is the Gita Govinda set painted in 1730 at Guler, which keeps Basohli elements — most strikingly, the lavish use of beetle-wing casings (NCERT, p. 73).

Nainsukh left Guler for Jasrota, working first for Mian Zoravar Singh, whose son and successor Balwant Singh became his greatest patron. His pictures record the patron’s daily life — performing puja, surveying a building site, or wrapped in a quilt in a cold camp (NCERT, p. 73).

His palette ran to delicate pastel shades with daring expanses of white or grey (NCERT, p. 74), and his gift was individual portraiture, which became a salient feature of the later Pahari style (NCERT, p. 73).

The family carried the style forward: sons and grandsons of Manak and Nainsukh worked at many centres, and Khushala, Fattu and Gaudhu served at the court of Govardhan Chand’s successor Prakash Chand (NCERT, pp. 73–74). The matured version of the style entered Kangra in the 1780s, while offshoots of Basohli continued in Chamba and Kullu (NCERT, p. 72).

Kangra School: The Poetic Peak of Pahari Painting

Kangra painting flourished under Raja Sansar Chand (1775–1823). His family, the Katoch dynasty, had ruled until Jahangir conquered the region in the seventeenth century and made them vassals. After the Mughal decline, Ghamand Chand recovered most of the territory, founded Tira Sujanpur on the banks of the Beas and maintained an atelier (NCERT, p. 74).

When Prakash Chand of Guler fell into financial crisis, his master artist Manaku and his sons took service under Sansar Chand (NCERT, p. 74).

Centres on the Beas:

Fewer paintings were made in Kangra itself because it stayed under the Mughals till 1786 and then under the Sikhs (NCERT, p. 75).

Style markers — the Kangra style is by far the most poetic and lyrical of Indian styles, marked by serene beauty and delicacy of execution:

• Delicacy of line and brilliance of colour
• Minuteness of decorative detail
• The female face with a straight nose in line with the forehead, in vogue around the 1790s — the most distinctive feature of the style (NCERT, p. 75)

Themes covered the Bhagvata Purana, Gita Govinda, Nala Damayanti, Bihari Satsai, Ragamala and Baramasa, plus records of Sansar Chand’s court — by the riverside, listening to music, watching dancers, presiding over festivals, practising tent pegging and archery, and drilling troops (NCERT, p. 75). Leading painters: Fattu, Purkhu and Khushala (NCERT, p. 75).

Sansar Chand’s son Aniruddha Chand (1823–1831) was also a generous patron, often painted with his courtiers (NCERT, p. 75).

Spread and decline: the style moved from Tira Sujanpur to Garhwal in the east and Kashmir in the west (NCERT, p. 75). Around 1805 the Gurkhas besieged the Kangra fort and Sansar Chand fled to Tira Sujanpur; in 1809 Ranjit Singh’s help drove them away. Though the atelier continued, the work never again matched the masterpieces of 1785–1805 (NCERT, pp. 75–76).

Two achievements stand out. The Bhagvata Purana series — one of the greatest Kangra achievements — shows effortless naturalism with deft, vivid figures in unusual poses; the principal master is believed to have been a descendant of Nainsukh (NCERT, p. 76).

The Rasa Panchdhyayi folio, drawn from five chapters of the same text devoted to the philosophical concept of Rasa, shows gopis devastated by Krishna’s disappearance and then re-enacting his lilas — killing Putana, freeing Yamala-Arjun, lifting Mount Govardhan, subduing Kaliya and answering the call of his flute (NCERT, pp. 76–77).

Beyond the Big Three: Kullu, Chamba, Mankot, Nurpur, Mandi and Garhwal

The textbook calls Basohli, Guler and Kangra “indicative centres” from which styles travel, not rigid borders. Jasrota, for instance, shows the Guler style, so it is classed under the Guler School with Jasrota as one of its centres (NCERT, pp. 78–79).

Pahari Themes: From Rasamanjari to Baramasa

Most Pahari subjects came from literature — Sanskrit texts, lyrical poetry and court records. This table collects the recurring themes so you can quote them for any school.

Notice how often nature frames these themes — forests, rivers and seasons are the settings of most of them, and Kangra painters in particular observed landscape naturalistically (NCERT, p. 83).

Reading Three Pahari Paintings

Three works are described in detail in the chapter. Being able to describe each one with evidence — subject, source, composition and style — prepares you for description and critique answers.

Awaiting Krishna and the Hesitant Radha (Guler–Kangra phase)

This painting belongs to the Guler–Kangra phase, a period in which experimentation had already begun (NCERT, p. 81).

Its source is Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda, which opens with Radha and Krishna falling in love on the banks of the Yamuna, follows Krishna’s spring sports with the gopis, and traces Radha’s heartbreak through Krishna’s remorse and longing to their mystic union — divine characters playing out a very human love-sport (NCERT, p. 81).

In the painting, Radha is shy and hesitant as she approaches the forested area while Krishna waits eagerly for her (NCERT, p. 81).

The artist worked from an inscription on the reverse of the painting in which a sakhi urges Radha to abandon her shyness, let her girdle tinkle merrily and go ahead to meet her beloved — the jingle of her bangles will announce her approach (NCERT, p. 81).

Balwant Singh Looking at a Painting with Nainsukh (Guler School)

Prince Balwant Singh of Jasrota sits in his palace closely observing a painting held in his hands; a figure behind him, politely bowing, is probably Nainsukh himself — which would make this a rare painting where an artist shows himself with his patron (NCERT, p. 82).

The time is early evening and the prince is smoking a hukka, something he usually indulged in during breaks between work. The clutter-free composition is itself indicative of quietude, peace and tranquillity — qualities suggestive of Balwant Singh’s temperament.

Musicians are placed towards the outer edge, positioned not to clamour for attention but to produce soft music that enhances the calm while the prince studies the painting, which depicts Krishna (NCERT, p. 82).

Nanda, Yashoda and Krishna (Kangra)

A Bhagvata Purana scene: Nanda moves his family and relatives from Gokul to Vrindavan because Gokul had become infested with demons that troubled Krishna without end (NCERT, p. 83).

In the painting, Nanda leads the group on a bullock cart; a second cart carries Krishna and Balaram with their mothers Yashoda and Rohini, while men, women and children follow with household goods.

The painter’s observation shows in small touches: tilted heads as people talk to each other, downcast, tired eyes from the heaviness of loads, and taut, stretched arms steadying vessels carried on the head (NCERT, p. 83).

Like other Kangra painters, the artist observed the landscape acutely and represented it naturalistically, and the flush-cut composition — resembling a photograph — adds to that naturalism (NCERT, p. 83).

Pahari Style Markers: A School-by-School Comparison Table

This chapter has no mathematical formulas, so this comparison table is your formula box — the one compact summary to reproduce while revising. The memory device below keeps the order straight.

Memory device: Bold Basohli, Graceful Guler, Kangra Crowns. Basohli is the bold beginning, Guler refines it into grace, and Kangra crowns the tradition as the lyrical peak.

Pahari Timeline: Patrons and Turning Points

One glance at this chronology lets you order the schools and attach the right patron to each phase. Only dates the chapter itself gives are listed.

How to Critique a Pahari Painting: A Worked Model

Critique answers need a method, not just memory. Use this five-step pattern, demonstrated here on Balwant Singh Looking at a Painting with Nainsukh:

1. Identify school and subject. The painting belongs to the Guler School (Guler–Kangra phase). Its subject is Prince Balwant Singh of Jasrota closely observing a painting he holds, with a bowing figure behind him — probably the artist Nainsukh himself (NCERT, p. 82).
2. Describe composition. The prince sits in his palace overlooking a lush green landscape. It is early evening and he smokes a hukka, which he indulged in during breaks between work; musicians are placed at the outer edge of the painting (NCERT, p. 82).
3. Point to style markers. The clutter-free composition, the quiet naturalism of the setting and the individualised, unposed portrait of a patron in daily activity are marks of Nainsukh, whose genius lay in individual portraiture (NCERT, pp. 73, 82).
4. Connect to mood and theme. The uncluttered space, the soft music and the dusk light create quietude, peace and tranquillity — qualities suggestive of Balwant Singh’s temperament. The painting he studies depicts Krishna (NCERT, p. 82).
5. Conclude with why it matters. This may be a rare self-portrait with his patron — Nainsukh showing himself with the man he painted on every possible occasion. As a record, it captures both a patron’s daily life and the artist-patron relationship that shaped the Guler School (NCERT, pp. 73, 82).

The same five steps work for every critique the chapter exercise names: fix the school, describe what you see, name two or three style markers, connect them to mood or theme, and close with the work’s place in the chapter’s story.

Common Mistakes Students Make With Pahari Painting Answers

These are the factual slips that weaken Pahari answers. Each row gives the wrong claim, the correct rule and a quick check you can run on your own writing.

Answering the Textbook Exercise: A Grounded Answer Map

The chapter closes with four exercise questions. Rather than full model answers, here is the fact-map for each — which parts of this page to use where.

Question 1: Reasons for nature appearing everywhere in Pahari miniatures

Build three grounded reasons: naturalism was the quality that appealed to Pahari artists when new paintings arrived (p. 68); many favourite themes are set in forests, rivers and seasons, so nature frames the drama (pp. 76–78); and the main centres — Tira Sujanpur, Alampur, Nadaun — lay on the Beas, with Kangra painters observing landscape naturalistically (pp. 75, 83).

Add the fragmentary wolf and tiger in the Bala Kanda folio as a concrete example of nature that also hints at demons in disguise (pp. 71–72).

Question 2: Major schools, places of expansion and differences (with a map)

State the broad three-style classification — Basohli, Guler and Kangra (p. 78) — then list the centres of expansion: Kullu, Chamba, Mankot, Nurpur, Mandi, Bilaspur, Jammu and Jasrota (pp. 78–79), plus the spread to Garhwal and Kashmir (p. 75). For the differences, use the style-marker comparison table in this page.

The question also asks you to mark all the schools on a map of India, so practise placing the Himalayan towns and not just the three main schools.

Question 3: Illustrating a poem or story in a Pahari style

Choose a scene with an emotional meeting or parting set in nature — the pattern of the Gita Govinda or the Abhisarika theme works well. Fix the school first, then name its markers: bold primary colours and beetle-wing jewellery for a Basohli answer; refined pastel shades for Guler; the straight-nosed female face and delicate line for Kangra.

The chapter’s own examples — Radha’s shy approach to Krishna, a nayika crossing a dark forest — show how a literary moment becomes a painting.

Question 4: Critiques of Nainsukh, Basohli paintings, Ashta Nayikas and the Kangra kalam

• Nainsukh: use the Balwant Singh evidence — everyday activities, pastel palette with expanses of white or grey, individualised portraiture (pp. 73–74).
• Basohli paintings: lead with the signature style — primary colours and warm yellows, stylised vegetation, raised white paint for pearls, beetle-wing emeralds — and the Rasamanjari series (p. 69).
• Ashta Nayikas: describe the eight heroines in their emotional states and dwell on the Abhisarika, who braves all hazards to meet her beloved (pp. 77–78).
• Kangra kalam: combine the style markers (delicacy of line, brilliance of colour, straight-nose face) with a favourite theme such as the Bhagvata Purana or Gita Govinda (pp. 75–76).

For any critique answer, apply the five-step worked model above rather than listing adjectives.

One-Page Revision Sheet for the Pahari Schools

Everything essential, in one sequence you can reread in final revision:

• Sequence: Basohli (bold) to Guler / pre-Kangra (refined) to Kangra (lyrical peak) (p. 67).
• Family chain: Pandit Seu to sons Manak and Nainsukh, then to Khushala, Fattu and Gaudhu (pp. 72, 74).
• Key patrons: Kirpal Pal (Basohli), Govardhan Chand (Guler), Balwant Singh (Jasrota), Sansar Chand (Kangra) (pp. 69, 72–74).
• Centre list for map recall: Basohli, Guler, Kangra, Kullu, Chamba, Mankot, Nurpur, Mandi, Bilaspur, Jammu, Jasrota — with Garhwal and Kashmir as the eastern and western spread (pp. 67, 78–79).
• Three style snapshots: beetle-wing emeralds (Basohli); pastel shades with white or grey (Nainsukh / Guler); the straight-nose female face (Kangra, around the 1790s) (pp. 69, 74–75).

Once you can explain why a Pahari face looks the way it does, the modern art movements you meet in the Bengal School and cultural nationalism notes will read more sharply.

All details above follow the NCERT textbook An Introduction to Indian Art Part II. You can verify any date, name or style feature in the official Class 12 Fine Art book through the NCERT textbook portal.

Reference: NCERT Class 12 An Introduction to Indian Art Part II textbook, chapter The Pahari Schools of Painting.

FAQs: Pahari Schools of Painting

Which are the three main schools of Pahari painting?

Basohli, Guler and Kangra, with the Guler–Kangra (pre-Kangra) phase as the bridge from Basohli to Kangra (NCERT, p. 78). The textbook presents them as a broad classification: Basohli’s bold style matured through Guler into the Kangra School, the most refined stage of the tradition.

What is the difference between Basohli, Guler and Kangra styles?

Basohli is bold — strong primary colours, warm yellows, stylised vegetation and beetle-wing emeralds (p. 69). Guler refines this into a subdued, elegant idiom with pastel shades and broad areas of white or grey (pp. 72, 74). Kangra is the poetic peak: delicate line, brilliant colour, minute decoration and the straight-nosed female face of the 1790s (p. 75).

Who were Pandit Seu, Manak and Nainsukh in Pahari painting?

Pandit Seu was a Guler artist; Manak (Manaku) and Nainsukh were his talented sons. Around 1730–40 they changed the course of Pahari painting (p. 72). Manak initiated the new idiom — his 1730 Gita Govinda is celebrated — while Nainsukh shaped the Guler School as court painter to Balwant Singh of Jasrota (pp. 72–73).

Their sons and grandsons, including Khushala, Fattu and Gaudhu, produced the finest later Pahari work.

What is the Guler-Kangra phase?

It is the transitional phase between Basohli and Kangra. Its early stirrings belong to the 1690s–1730s, when artists experimented and improvised into a more refined manner (p. 70). The phase is associated with Pandit Seu’s family, whose pre-Kangra or Guler–Kangra kalam replaced the Basohli idiom and finally matured into the Kangra style in the 1780s (pp. 68, 72).

What are the Ashta Nayikas in Pahari painting?

The Ashta Nayikas are the eight heroines depicted in various dispositions and emotive states — one of the most painted Pahari themes (p. 77). The chapter names Utka (anticipating her beloved), Vasaksajja (awaiting the beloved’s return and decorating the bed with flowers), Kalahantarita (resisting when the beloved returns late) and the Abhisarika, who braves all hazards to reach her beloved (pp. 77–78).

Which centres should I mark on the map for the Pahari schools?

Mark the ten centres named at the chapter’s opening — Basohli, Guler, Kangra, Kullu, Chamba, Mankot, Nurpur, Mandi, Bilaspur and Jammu — and add Jasrota as a Guler-style centre (pp. 67, 78–79). Garhwal in the east and Kashmir in the west show the later spread of the Kangra style (p. 75).

For the full centres list with each centre’s style, use the One-Page Revision Sheet above.