Question

Bhanudutta's Rasamanjari was painted in _________ style.
A.Basohli
B.Kangra
C.Mewar
D.Bund

Answer 1

Hint:Rasamanjari is a 17th century collection of poems which narrate different shades of love. The poems are written in Sanskrit by a poet by the name Bhanudatta. Soon after the poems were written, three artists of the same family from Himachal Pradesh named Kripal, Devidasa, and Golu created illustrations based on the poems. They came from a family of painters and the arts transferred from Kripal to his son Devidasa and then to Golu. The art has a unique way of painting by using watercolour extracted from natural dyes and gold on paper. To make this extra special, there are beetle wing fragments pasted over the painting, to draw ornaments.

Complete answer:
The paintings created from the stories of Rasamanjari were from three generations of painters who came from a family of painters based on Nurpur, Himachal Pradesh. They followed a specific style of art called the Basohli where thick layers of natural water colours were mixed with monochromatic backgrounds and green beetle wing fragments attached on where the ornaments are supposed to be.
The three series were produced in consecutive years as Kripal’s works came around 1660–70 , followed by Devidasa’s in 1695 , and finally Golu’s in 1715 . Even though there are no specifications for the heroes present in these poems, the artist Kripal drew the hero in the same appearance as Lord Krishna. This may be linked to the concept that he is someone who is omnipresent and is thus intended to show various characters in the prototypical nature of the scenes.

Hence, the correct answer is option (A).

Note: Artists from the Artists International Development Fund of the Arts Council, Britain have established a collaboration with Bharatanatyam dancers and Sanskrit poets to understand the different aspects of rasa in literature and also study the concept of Nayaka – Nayika bheda. The project carries out research and in order to establish new knowledge using Rasamanjari written in Sanskrit, its textual and pictorial commentaries (Basohli paintings), to finally present it through dance choreography. This will be presented to the public in Mexico City.