Paper IPaper I · History
Indian Music, Dance and Painting
The classical music systems (Hindustani and Carnatic), the eight classical dance forms and their States, the folk dances, the schools of miniature and mural painting (Mughal, Rajput, Pahari, Deccan, Tanjore, Madhubani), the major instruments, and the cultural-heritage angle, in reference tables with authored CAPF practice
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PaperPaper ISubjectHistorySyllabusHistory of India: broad understanding of the social, economic and political aspects of Indian history from ancient to modern timesImportanceMedium
Art And CultureMusicClassical DancePaintingMiniatureFolk DanceInstruments
This is the performing-and-visual-arts culture zone, tested almost entirely through matching: a classical dance form to its State, a music system to its features, a painting school to its region or patron, a folk dance to its State, and an instrument to its category. It complements the architecture-and-sculpture note and overlaps with current affairs (the recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi awards and the Padma honours; the GI tags for craft and painting forms, which you should verify the latest). The treatment follows NCERT art-and-culture material and the standard chronology used across the history notes. The companion building note is art and architecture of india.
Indian classical music shares its theory (the raga, a melodic framework, and the tala, the rhythmic cycle) but splits into two systems:
| System |
Region |
Features |
Key figures / instruments |
| Hindustani |
North India |
Developed with Persian and Central-Asian influence; more improvisation; gharana (school) tradition; forms such as dhrupad, khayal, thumri |
Tansen (Akbar's court); sitar, sarod, tabla, santoor, sarangi |
| Carnatic |
South India |
More fixed compositions (kriti); a single composer-performer tradition |
The Trinity, Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri; veena, mridangam, violin, ghatam |
The raga sets the melody and the tala the rhythm; the drone is held by the tanpura in both systems. Amir Khusrau (thirteenth to fourteenth century) is credited in tradition with developing the sitar and the tabla and the qawwali form.
- Tata (string / chordophone): veena, sitar, sarod, sarangi, santoor (struck), tanpura.
- Sushira (wind / aerophone): flute (bansuri), shehnai, nadaswaram.
- Avanaddha (membrane / percussion): tabla, mridangam, pakhawaj, dholak.
- Ghana (solid / idiophone): manjira (cymbals), ghatam, jaltarang.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi recognises classical dance forms; the commonly tested eight are:
| Dance |
State / region |
Note |
| Bharatanatyam |
Tamil Nadu |
Oldest, from the temple devadasi tradition |
| Kathak |
North India (Uttar Pradesh) |
Storytelling; the only one with strong Hindustani-Mughal influence; gharanas (Lucknow, Jaipur, Banaras) |
| Kathakali |
Kerala |
Elaborate make-up and costume; based on epics |
| Kuchipudi |
Andhra Pradesh / Telangana |
Drama-dance; the Bhagavata Mela tradition |
| Odissi |
Odisha |
Tribhanga posture; temple sculpture come to life |
| Manipuri |
Manipur |
Gentle, devotional, the Raslila of Krishna |
| Mohiniyattam |
Kerala |
The "dance of the enchantress"; graceful, lasya style |
| Sattriya |
Assam |
From the Vaishnava monasteries (sattras) of Sankardeva |
(Kerala has two classical forms, Kathakali and Mohiniyattam; Assam's Sattriya was the latest to be recognised classical.)
| Folk dance |
State / region |
| Bhangra, Giddha |
Punjab |
| Garba, Dandiya |
Gujarat |
| Ghoomar, Kalbelia |
Rajasthan |
| Bihu |
Assam |
| Chhau |
Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal (a martial mask dance) |
| Lavani |
Maharashtra |
| Yakshagana |
Karnataka |
| Bamboo dance (Cheraw) |
Mizoram |
| Rouf |
Jammu and Kashmir |
| Theyyam, Kalaripayattu (martial) |
Kerala |
The mural tradition runs from the Ajanta and Bagh caves (ancient Buddhist frescoes) to later temple murals. The medieval and early-modern miniature schools are the high-yield matching set:
| School |
Region / patron |
Features |
| Mughal |
Mughal court |
Persian-Indian fusion; portraits, court scenes, natural history; height under Jahangir (Ustad Mansur) |
| Rajput / Rajasthani |
Rajput courts (Mewar, Bundi, Kishangarh, Marwar) |
Devotional and romantic themes; the famous Bani Thani of Kishangarh |
| Pahari |
Hill States (Kangra, Basohli, Guler) |
Lyrical, romantic; Kangra is the most refined |
| Deccan |
The Deccan sultanates (Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmadnagar) |
Persian and indigenous blend, rich colour |
| Tanjore (Thanjavur) |
Tamil Nadu |
Gold leaf and gem inlay; devotional themes |
| Madhubani (Mithila) |
Bihar |
Folk painting on walls and paper; geometric and natural motifs |
| Pattachitra |
Odisha and West Bengal |
Cloth-based scroll painting; Jagannath themes |
| Warli |
Maharashtra |
Tribal monochrome figures on mud walls |
| Kalamkari |
Andhra Pradesh / Telangana |
Hand-painted or block-printed cotton |
| Phad |
Rajasthan |
Scroll painting of folk deities |
Company painting (Kalighat in Bengal and the "Company School") emerged under European patronage in the colonial period; the Bengal School (Abanindranath Tagore and others) led the early-twentieth-century nationalist revival in art.
The performing and visual arts are part of the intangible and tangible cultural heritage that the State protects and promotes through the Sangeet Natak Akademi (performing arts), the Lalit Kala Akademi (visual arts) and the Sahitya Akademi (literature), and through the Geographical Indication (GI) tagging of craft and painting forms (Madhubani, Pattachitra, Kalamkari and others have GI tags; verify the latest). UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list includes Indian traditions such as Vedic chanting, Kutiyattam, Ramlila, the Kumbh Mela and yoga (verify the latest). For an officer the cultural angle matters in two practical ways: the protection of festivals and gatherings (the Kumbh and similar mass events are major law-and-order and crowd-management tasks) and the soft-power role of culture in diplomacy. See art and architecture of india.
Formats: dance-to-State matching (Bharatanatyam-Tamil Nadu, Sattriya-Assam, Mohiniyattam-Kerala); painting-school-to-region or patron (Pahari-Kangra, Mughal-Jahangir, Madhubani-Bihar); Hindustani versus Carnatic features and figures (the Trinity, Tansen); instrument-to-category; folk-dance-to-State; statement-based questions on which State has two classical dances.
Authored practice (not verbatim PYQs):
Q1Which classical dance form originates from Kerala and is known for its elaborate make-up and costume?
- AKuchipudi
- BKathakali
- COdissi
- DManipuri
Answer:
- B. Kathakali is from Kerala; the other Kerala form is Mohiniyattam.
Q2The Sattriya dance, the most recently recognised classical form, belongs to:
- AOdisha
- BManipur
- CAssam
- DAndhra Pradesh
Answer:
- C. Sattriya comes from the Vaishnava sattras of Assam.
Q3The "Trinity" of composers, Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri, belong to:
- AHindustani music
- BCarnatic music
- CPahari painting
- DKathak gharanas
Answer:
- B. The Trinity are the great composers of Carnatic music.
Q4The Bani Thani, a celebrated miniature, belongs to which painting school?
- AMughal
- BKishangarh (Rajput)
- CPahari
- DTanjore
Answer:
- B. The Bani Thani is from the Kishangarh school of Rajasthani (Rajput) painting.
Q5Madhubani painting is a folk tradition of:
- ABengal
- BOdisha
- CBihar (Mithila)
- DMaharashtra
Answer:
- C. Madhubani (Mithila) painting comes from Bihar.
Q6The tabla and the mridangam are, respectively, percussion instruments of:
- ACarnatic and Hindustani music
- BHindustani and Carnatic music
- Cfolk music only
- Dwind category
Answer:
- B. The tabla is the Hindustani percussion; the mridangam the Carnatic.
- Kerala has two classical dances, Kathakali and Mohiniyattam; do not pair both with the same description.
- Sattriya (Assam) was the latest to be recognised classical; do not confuse it with the folk Bihu (also Assam).
- Hindustani (North, gharanas, more improvisation, sitar and tabla) versus Carnatic (South, the kriti and the Trinity, veena and mridangam).
- Mughal (court, naturalistic) versus Rajput / Rajasthani (devotional, romantic) versus Pahari (hill States, lyrical). Kishangarh's Bani Thani is Rajput, not Pahari.
- Madhubani (Bihar) versus Pattachitra (Odisha) versus Warli (Maharashtra) versus Kalamkari (Andhra). All are folk forms of different States.
- Kathak is the only classical dance with strong Mughal-Hindustani influence; the rest are temple-rooted.
- Two-dance Kerala: "Kerala dances twice: Kathakali (loud) and Mohiniyattam (lasya)."
- Dance-State: "Bharatanatyam-Tamil Nadu, Kuchipudi-Andhra, Odissi-Odisha, Sattriya-Assam, Manipuri-Manipur."
- Music systems: "Hindustani is the North (sitar, gharana); Carnatic is the South (veena, the Trinity)."
- Painting: "Pahari in the hills (Kangra), Madhubani in Mithila (Bihar), Tanjore in gold."
- Hindustani (North) and Carnatic (South) classical music share the raga and tala.
- Tansen sang at Akbar's court (Hindustani); the Trinity (Tyagaraja, Dikshitar, Syama Sastri) led Carnatic music.
- Eight classical dances: Bharatanatyam (TN), Kathak (UP/North), Kathakali and Mohiniyattam (Kerala), Kuchipudi (AP), Odissi (Odisha), Manipuri (Manipur), Sattriya (Assam).
- Miniature schools: Mughal (court), Rajput/Rajasthani (Mewar, Kishangarh), Pahari (Kangra, Basohli), Deccan, Tanjore.
- Folk painting: Madhubani (Bihar), Pattachitra (Odisha), Warli (Maharashtra), Kalamkari (Andhra).
- Instruments: tabla and sitar (Hindustani), mridangam and veena (Carnatic).
- The Sangeet Natak, Lalit Kala and Sahitya Akademis promote the arts.
- Indian classical music splits into the Hindustani (North) and Carnatic (South) systems, sharing the raga and tala.
- Tansen is the great Hindustani name (Akbar's court); the Trinity (Tyagaraja, Dikshitar, Syama Sastri) lead Carnatic music.
- The eight classical dances are Bharatanatyam (Tamil Nadu), Kathak (North), Kathakali and Mohiniyattam (Kerala), Kuchipudi (Andhra), Odissi (Odisha), Manipuri (Manipur) and Sattriya (Assam).
- Kerala alone has two classical dances; Sattriya was the most recently recognised.
- Kathak is the only classical dance with strong Mughal-Hindustani influence; the rest are temple-rooted.
- Miniature schools: Mughal (court, naturalistic), Rajput/Rajasthani (devotional), Pahari (lyrical, Kangra), Deccan and Tanjore.
- The Kishangarh Bani Thani is a famous Rajput miniature; the Kangra school is the finest Pahari one.
- Folk painting includes Madhubani (Bihar), Pattachitra (Odisha), Warli (Maharashtra) and Kalamkari (Andhra).
- Ajanta has the finest ancient murals; the Bengal School led the early-twentieth-century nationalist art revival.
- The tabla and sitar are Hindustani; the mridangam and veena are Carnatic.
- The Sangeet Natak, Lalit Kala and Sahitya Akademis are the national bodies for the performing, visual and literary arts.
- GI tags protect several craft and painting forms; verify the latest list.
- Raga / tala: the melodic framework / the rhythmic cycle of Indian classical music.
- Hindustani / Carnatic: the North Indian and South Indian classical music systems.
- Gharana: a school or lineage in Hindustani music and Kathak.
- Kriti: the principal composed form in Carnatic music.
- Devadasi tradition: the temple-dance origin of Bharatanatyam.
- Sattra: a Vaishnava monastery of Assam, the home of Sattriya dance.
- Miniature painting: small, detailed painting (Mughal, Rajput, Pahari, Deccan).
- Pahari / Rajput / Mughal school: the hill-State, Rajput-court and Mughal-court painting traditions.
- Madhubani / Pattachitra / Warli / Kalamkari: folk-painting forms of Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra and Andhra.
- Sangeet Natak / Lalit Kala / Sahitya Akademi: the national academies of performing, visual and literary arts.