The well-known painting "Bani Thani" belongs to the
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) Kishangarh school
Bani Thani belongs to the Kishangarh school of Rajasthani painting. It was painted by the court artist Nihal Chand, based on a poem by Kishangarh's ruler Sawant Singh, and shows Radha with an elongated face, curved eyes and pointed nose.
- ✓ (d) Nihal Chand painted Bani Thani for Sawant Singh of Kishangarh, who wrote poetry on Radha and Krishna. Its exaggerated facial type became the hallmark of the Kishangarh school.
- ✗ (a) Bundi is another Rajasthani centre of painting, but it is not the school associated with Bani Thani.
- ✗ (b) Jaipur is another Rajasthani school, with no link to Nihal Chand or Bani Thani.
- ✗ (c) Kangra belongs to the Pahari (hill) schools of the western Himalayas, not to Rajasthan.
Remember · Bani Thani, Nihal Chand and Sawant Singh (Nagari Das) go with the Kishangarh school. Its trademark is the elongated face with sharp features.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Chapter 2 “The exaggerated facial type of Kishangarh, which becomes the distinctive and salient stylistic feature of the Kishangarh School, is believed to have been derived from the attractively sharp facial features of Bani Thani.”
- NCERT Class 12 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Chapter 2 “He writes about her in a poem Bihari Jas Chandrika, which became the basis for Nihal chand's painting of Bani Thani”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·