RAS question
The Meena community in Rajasthan traditionally practices which form of wall painting?
Correct answer: (A) Thapa paintings with natural pigments.
The Meena community in Rajasthan traditionally practises Thapa wall painting, made with natural pigments and earth colours on home walls.
Explanation
Thapa is the traditional wall-painting form associated here with the Meena community. It is a practice in which natural pigments and earth colours are used on the walls of Meena homes, especially during festivals and auspicious occasions. The Vernacular India catalogue supports the core distinction: Meenas paint the walls and floors of their houses with geometric images, linked with Mandana, and animal images, linked with Thapa, for ritual festivals and decoration. That is why option A fits the question. The point is not simply that Meena artists paint walls, but that this named tradition is rooted in household, ritual and decorative practice, unlike modern acrylic murals, oil canvases or digital art.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Acrylic mural painting is a modern medium, while Thapa uses natural pigments and earth colours in a household ritual setting.
- (C) Oil canvas painting shifts both the surface and the medium, whereas the Meena practice described here is wall painting on homes.
- (D) Digital art has no link to the traditional festival and auspicious-occasion wall painting described for the Meena community.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan art and culture through a community-specific folk painting tradition. Such questions recur in RAS because the exam often asks candidates to connect a tribe or community with its distinctive ritual art form.