RAS question
The Kapad Dwara painting tradition is at which temple?
Correct answer: (B) Shrinathji Temple, Nathdwara.
The Kapad Dwara painting tradition is associated with Shrinathji Temple at Nathdwara.
Explanation
Kapad Dwara refers to the cloth curtain, or Pichhwai, placed behind the idol of Shrinathji and changed several times during the day. Rajasthan Tourism links Pichwai painting directly with Shrinathji, describing it as a refined art form that depicts Shrinathji, a childhood manifestation of Lord Krishna. Its account also places the tradition at the Nathdwara temple, where Goswami priests from Mathura installed a pichwai, and says these paintings are found in the holy city of Nathdwara in Rajasthan. That is why, among the listed temples, the tradition belongs to Shrinathji Temple, Nathdwara, not to a general temple-art category elsewhere.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Karni Mata Temple at Deshnoke is not tied in the given material to the Kapad Dwara or Pichwai cloth-painting tradition.
- (C) Brahma Temple, Pushkar is not connected here with Kapad Dwara, while the cited tradition is linked to Shrinathji and Nathdwara.
- (D) Dilwara Temples are identified in the options as Jain marble temples, not as the Nathdwara-linked cloth-painting tradition.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan art and culture through a temple-linked painting tradition. RAS repeatedly asks such questions because they connect a local art form with its precise centre, deity and ritual context.