Answer: The Pahari school of miniature paintings developed from the latter half of the 17th to the middle of the 19th century in the regions of Himachal Pradesh, along with some adjoining areas of Punjab, Jammu and Garhwal regions. It is closely related in conception and feeling to the Rajasthani painting. Its central theme is depiction of eternal love of Radha and Krishna. Different schools of Pahari painting:

• Basohli painting: It flourished in the Indian hill states during the late 17th and the 18th centuries and is known for its bold vitality of colour and line. Though the school takes its name from the small independent state of Basohli, its examples are found throughout the region. The Rasamanjari (c. 1690) series of paintings are one of its earliest examples.
  • Its features include a stylized facial type, shown in profile, which is dominated by the large, intense eye. The colours are always brilliant, with ochre yellow, brown, and green grounds predominating. A distinctive technique is the depiction of jewellery by thick, raised drops of white paint, with particles of green beetles’ wings used to represent emeralds.
• Guler painting: Jammu group of paintings closely followed the last phase of Basohli paintings. It mainly consisted of portraits of Raja Balwant Singh of Jasrota (a small place near Jammu) by an artist named Nainsukh, who originally belonged to Guler but settled at Jasrota. He worked both at Jasrota and Guler.
  • These paintings are in a new naturalistic and delicate style marking a change from the earlier traditions of the Basohli art. The colours used are soft and cool. The style appears to have been inspired by the naturalistic style of the Mughal painting of the Muhammad Shah period.
• Kangra painting: The Guler style was followed by the Kangra style, representing the third phase of the Pahari painting in the last quarter of the 18th century. This style flourished at various places namely Kangra, Guler, Basohli, Chamba, Jammu, Nurpur and Garhwal etc. It possesses characteristics like the delicacy of drawing and quality of naturalism.
  • In these paintings, the faces of women in profile have the nose almost in line with the forehead, the eyes are long and narrow and the chin is sharp. There is, however, no modelling of figures and hair is treated as a flat mass.
• Kulu-Mandi painting: Along with the naturalistic Kangra style in the Pahari region, there also flourished a folk style of painting in the Kulu-Mandi area which was mainly inspired by the local tradition.
  • This style is marked by bold drawing and the use of dark and dull colours. Though influence of the Kangra style is observed in certain cases yet the style maintains its distinct folkish character. A large number of portraits of the Kulu and Mandi rulers and miniatures on other themes are available in this style.

The Pahari school of paintings began at Basohli with a coarsely flamboyant style and blossomed into an exquisite and sophisticated style of Indian painting known as the Kangra School, through the Guler or pre-Kangra phase.