Rajasthan: Art, Culture, Religion and Heritage

What the official syllabus says

RAS Main Examination, Paper I: General Studies I, Unit I (History), Part A: History, Art, Culture, Literature, Tradition and Heritage of Rajasthan. This page covers points four to nine; the first three are on Rajasthan: History, Administration and Integration.

• Art and Culture: Performing and fine arts, handicraft, Architecture and monuments, Folk music and folk Dances, Folk Stories and Folk Lores.
• Fairs and festivals
• Tribes and their Traditions.
• Heritage: Major sites of Heritage and tourism in Rajasthan.
• Rajasthani language and important literary work.
• Religious beliefs, Saints and folk deities.

Topics in detail

These six lines ask for the living culture of Rajasthan. For each art form, fair, deity or work, learn the region or community it belongs to, its distinctive features and one or two well-known names.

Performing arts: folk dances

• Ghoomar (women's dance, Marwar and Jaipur regions); Kalbeliya of the Kalbeliya community (on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2010)
• Chari dance (pots with lamps on the head), Bhavai (balancing pots), Terah Tali of the Kamad community
• Kachhi Ghodi (dummy horse), Chang dance of Shekhawati, Gair (men's dance at Holi), Agni (fire) dance of the Jasnathi sect
• Tribal dances: Gavari of the Bhils of Mewar, Valar of the Garasias, Shikari dance of the Sahariyas

Performing arts: folk drama and music

• Folk theatre: Khayal (Kuchamani, Shekhawati and other styles), Rammat (Bikaner, Jaisalmer), Tamasha (Jaipur), Nautanki, Swang, puppet theatre (kathputli)
• Phad vachan: the Bhopas' sung reading of the Phad scrolls of Pabuji and Devnarayan
• Hereditary musicians: the Manganiyars and Langas of western Rajasthan; Maand singing (Allah Jilai Bai of Bikaner)
• Classical music: the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana; court patronage of music
• Instruments: string (kamaycha, ravanhatha, sarangi, ektara), wind (algoza, shehnai, morchang, pungi), percussion (dhol, nagada, chang, khartal, manjira), and the bhapang of Mewat

Fine arts and handicrafts

• Schools of painting: Mewar (Chawand, Udaipur, Nathdwara), Marwar (Jodhpur, Bikaner, Kishangarh with the Bani Thani of Nihal Chand), Hadoti (Bundi, Kota hunting scenes), Dhundhar (Amber, Jaipur, Alwar); their themes, colours and patrons
• Folk painting: Phad of Shahpura (Bhilwara), Pichhwai of Nathdwara, the Kavad shrine boxes of Bassi (Chittorgarh), mandana floor art
• Textiles: bandhej and leheriya tie-dye, block printing of Sanganer and Bagru, Ajrakh of Barmer, Dabu (mud-resist) printing, Kota Doria weaving
• Metal, stone and other crafts: Meenakari and kundan jewellery of Jaipur, Thewa of Pratapgarh, Koftgari, Jaipur blue pottery, Molela terracotta (Rajsamand), Usta art on camel hide (Bikaner), lac bangles, Makrana marble

Architecture and monuments

• Forts: types described in old texts (hill, water, desert and forest forts); the Hill Forts of Rajasthan on the World Heritage List (Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Ranthambore, Gagron, Amber, Jaisalmer)
• Temples: Osian, Kiradu, Harshnath, Dilwara Jain temples (Mount Abu), Ranakpur Jain temple, the Brahma temple at Pushkar, Eklingji
• Palaces, havelis and chhatris: City Palace (Udaipur and Jaipur), Hawa Mahal, Patwon ki Haveli (Jaisalmer), painted havelis of Shekhawati, cenotaphs (Bada Bagh, Gaitore)
• Water architecture: stepwells (Chand Baori at Abhaneri, Raniji ki Baori at Bundi), kunds, talabs and johads; the planning of Jaipur city

Folk stories and folk lore

• Hero ballads: Pabuji, Tejaji, Gogaji, Devnarayan (the Bagdawat epic)
• Love legends: Dhola-Maru, Moomal-Mahendra, Jethwa-Ujli
• Collections of folk tales, such as Vijaydan Detha's Baatan ri Phulwari; proverbs, riddles and folk songs of the seasons

Fairs and festivals

• Religious fairs: Pushkar (Kartik), Kolayat (Bikaner), Ramdevra (Jaisalmer), Tejaji at Parbatsar, Gogamedi (Hanumangarh), Kaila Devi (Karauli), Shri Mahavirji, Karni Mata at Deshnok, the Urs at Ajmer Sharif
• Baneshwar fair (Dungarpur) at the confluence of the Som, Mahi and Jakham, a major tribal fair
• Cattle fairs: Pushkar, Nagaur, Tilwara (near Balotra)
• Festivals: Gangaur, Teej, Holi and Dhulandi, Sheetla Ashtami; tourism festivals such as the Desert Festival of Jaisalmer and the Camel Festival of Bikaner

Tribes and their traditions

• Main tribes and where they live: Meena, Bhil (Banswara, Dungarpur, Udaipur, Pratapgarh), Garasia (Sirohi, Udaipur), Sahariya (Baran; a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group), Damor, Kathodi
• Settlement and social life: Bhil pal and phala, the role of the gameti; marriage customs; haat bazaars
• Tribal festivals, dances and beliefs; Scheduled Areas of southern Rajasthan under the Fifth Schedule

Heritage and tourism

• World Heritage Sites in Rajasthan: Keoladeo National Park, Jantar Mantar (Jaipur), the Hill Forts of Rajasthan, Jaipur City
• Wildlife tourism: Ranthambore, Sariska, Desert National Park, Mount Abu
• Heritage hotels, tourism circuits, rural and desert tourism; the role of tourism in the state economy

Rajasthani language and literature

• Dialects: Marwari, Dhundhari, Mewari, Hadoti, Mewati, Wagdi, Shekhawati, Malvi; Dingal and Pingal styles
• Old works: Prithviraj Raso (Chand Bardai), Bisaldev Raso (Narpati Nalh), Achaldas Khichi ri Vachanika (Shivdas Gadan), Veli Krisan Rukmani ri (Prithviraj Rathore of Bikaner), khyats such as Muhnot Nainsi ri Khyat and Bankidas ri Khyat
• Suryamal Mishran: Vansh Bhaskar and Veer Satsai
• Modern writers: Kanhaiyalal Sethia, Vijaydan Detha, Chandra Prakash Deval; the demand for constitutional recognition of Rajasthani

Religious beliefs, saints and folk deities

• Folk deities: the panch pir (Pabuji, Harbhuji, Ramdevji, Gogaji and Mehaji); Tejaji; Devnarayan; Karni Mata, Jeen Mata, Kaila Devi, Shila Devi
• Saints and sects: Mirabai, Dadu Dayal (Dadu panth, Naraina), Jambhoji (Bishnoi sect and its 29 rules), Jasnathji (Jasnathi sect), Sant Pipa, Dhanna, the Ramsnehi sect, Charandas and Laldas
• Sufi traditions: Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (Ajmer) and Hamiduddin Nagauri
• Vaishnava centres: Shrinathji at Nathdwara (Vallabha sampradaya), the Nimbarka seat at Salemabad; Jain and Shaiva centres

Overlaps

The same culture is in the Prelims syllabus, and one of the six Essay themes of Paper IV is “Tourism, Culture, and Contemporary Issues with reference to Rajasthan”. Tribes and tourism are also in the Rajasthan part of Paper II, and tribes are read with Sociology.