Painting MCQs for UPSC Prelims

Correct answer: D - Kishangarh school

Bani Thani is the iconic painting of the Kishangarh school of Rajasthani miniature painting, often called the 'Indian Mona Lisa', associated with the patronage of Raja Sawant Singh and the artist Nihal Chand. The Bundi and Jaipur schools, though also Rajasthani, are distinguished by different stylistic conventions and subjects and are not linked to this work. The Kangra school belongs to the Pahari tradition of the Himalayan foothills, not Rajasthan. Hence Bani Thani belongs to the Kishangarh school.

Correct answer: C - Jahangir

Mughal painting under Jahangir moved away from large projects illustrating manuscripts towards muraqqas (albums), individual portraits and naturalistic studies of birds, animals and flowers, reflecting the emperor's personal connoisseurship; artists like Mansur and Bishandas flourished in this idiom. Humayun's contribution was bringing Persian masters such as Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus Samad to India, laying the foundation of the school. Akbar's atelier concentrated precisely on grand illustrated manuscripts like the Hamzanama and Akbarnama. Under Shah Jahan, painting became more formal and architecture took primacy, but the decisive shift to albums and portraiture had already occurred under Jahangir.

Correct answer: B - 1 and 2 only

The Ajanta Caves are world-famous for their Buddhist mural paintings (statement 1), and the Lepakshi temple in Andhra Pradesh has notable Vijayanagara-period mural paintings on its ceilings (statement 2), so option (b) is correct. Sanchi (statement 3) is renowned for its Buddhist stupa and the exquisitely carved stone gateways (toranas) and railings, but it is celebrated for sculpture rather than mural paintings, which eliminates options (c) and the too-narrow option (a) that leaves out Lepakshi.

Correct answer: A - a hand-painted cotton textile in South India

Kalamkari is a traditional hand-painted (or block-printed) cotton textile art of South India, notably from Srikalahasti and Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, using natural dyes and a pen (kalam). It is not a bamboo drawing of the North-East, a block-painted woollen cloth of the Western Himalayas, or a painted silk of North-West India, so those options are wrong.

Correct answer: A - Ajanta

The Padmapani Bodhisattva is a celebrated mural in Cave 1 of the Ajanta caves, painted in the Gupta-Vakataka era, so Ajanta is correct. Badami has its own rock-cut cave murals but is not known for the Padmapani painting. Bagh caves (Madhya Pradesh) contain Buddhist murals influenced by Ajanta but the iconic Padmapani is at Ajanta. Ellora is famed for its rock-cut sculpture and the Kailasa temple rather than this painting.

Correct answer: A - Kishangarh

The Bani Thani is the signature image of the Kishangarh school, executed in the mid-18th century, largely credited to the artist Nihal Chand under the patronage of Raja Sawant Singh (who wrote devotional poetry under the name Nagari Das). It is marked by elongated, arched eyebrows, a sharp nose and a refined, stylised elegance. Mewar, Marwar and Bikaner are distinct Rajasthani schools with different idioms.

Correct answer: B - Only three pairs

Three pairs are correct. Phad is a narrative scroll-painting tradition of Rajasthan depicting folk deities such as Pabuji and Devnarayan. Kalighat painting emerged in 19th-century Bengal around the Kalighat temple in Kolkata. Cheriyal scrolls are a folk painting tradition of Telangana used by storyteller communities. The fourth pair is wrong: Pithora is a ritual wall painting associated with the Rathwa and Bhil tribal communities of Gujarat (and adjoining Madhya Pradesh), not Kerala. Therefore only three of the four pairs are correctly matched.

Correct answer: C - All three

All three are correct. Ajanta murals were painted in tempera/fresco-secco on a dried plaster surface, not on wet lime (true fresco). The rough ground was a mud plaster mixed with fibrous materials (vegetable fibres, rice husk, grain) topped by a thin lime wash. Iconic works include the 'Dying Princess' and the Bodhisattva Padmapani (Cave 1).