Pariksha SaathiLesson 8 of 10 · Uttar Pradesh General Knowledge
Art, Crafts, Music and Dance of Uttar Pradesh
Drafted with AI assistance and fact-checked on 28 October 2026; not yet read line by line by a human editor. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. Editorial standards & corrections
Kathak
Kathak, one of India's classical dances, grew in this region from the kathakars, storytellers who narrated the epics in temples. In the Mughal and Nawabi courts it became a refined art of rhythm and expression, with fast footwork (tatkar) on ankle bells (ghungroo), quick spins (chakkar) and abhinaya. Two of its three main gharanas belong to Uttar Pradesh. The Lucknow gharana flowered under Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and stresses grace, delicacy and expressive abhinaya, often to thumri; its line runs from Thakur Prasad and the brothers Kalka Prasad and Bindadin Maharaj to Achhan Maharaj, Lachhu Maharaj, Shambhu Maharaj and Pandit Birju Maharaj. The Banaras gharana is traced to Janakiprasad, and the famous dancer Sitara Devi belonged to it. The third, the Jaipur gharana, belongs to Rajasthan.
Hindustani classical music
The region has been a cradle of Hindustani music. Amir Khusrau, born at Patiali (now in Kasganj district), is credited by tradition with the qawwali and the tarana. Swami Haridas of Vrindavan, a master of dhrupad, is remembered as the guru of Tansen, who sang at Akbar's court. The thumri developed in Lucknow under Wajid Ali Shah, and Banaras developed its own purab ang thumri along with the semi-classical dadra, kajari, chaiti and hori; its great singers include Siddheshwari Devi, Rasoolan Bai and Girija Devi, called the queen of thumri. Khayal gharanas of the state include the Agra gharana, made famous by Ustad Faiyaz Khan, and the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana. Banaras also has a tabla gharana founded by Pandit Ram Sahai, whose masters include Kishan Maharaj. Pandit Ravi Shankar (sitar) was born in Varanasi, and Ustad Bismillah Khan (shehnai), though born at Dumraon in Bihar, lived and played in Varanasi. In Lucknow, Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande founded the Marris College of Music in 1926, now the Bhatkhande institution.
Folk songs
Each region has seasonal and ritual songs. Kajari is sung by women in the rainy month of Sawan, especially in Mirzapur and Varanasi, often about separation from a loved one. Chaiti is sung in the month of Chaitra. Birha is a Bhojpuri song form of the Ahir community of Purvanchal. Alha, sung in Bundelkhand in the rainy season, is the heroic ballad of the brothers Alha and Udal of Mahoba, based on the Alha-khand attributed to the poet Jagnik. Sohar is sung at a child's birth, Hori or Phag at Holi, and Rasiya in Braj, while nirgun songs carry the teaching of saints such as Kabir.
Folk dance and theatre
Nautanki, the best-known folk theatre of Uttar Pradesh, is a musical drama of verse dialogues sung to the beat of the nagara drum; its two main schools are Hathras and Kanpur, and Gulab Bai, trained in the Kanpur style, became its most famous woman performer. Raslila in Braj (Mathura-Vrindavan) enacts the life of Krishna, and Ramlila enacts the Ramayana, most famously in the month-long Ramlila of Ramnagar in Varanasi; UNESCO listed the Ramlila as intangible cultural heritage in 2008. Charkula is a Braj dance in which women balance a tall tiered wooden frame lit with oil lamps on their heads. Other folk dances include the Dhobia dance of Purvanchal, the Diwari and Rai of Bundelkhand, and the Karma and other tribal dances of Sonbhadra.
Textiles and crafts
Varanasi is famous for its silk saris and brocades woven with zari (gold and silver thread), including the heavy kinkhab, and Banaras brocades and saris carry a Geographical Indication. Lucknow's chikankari is fine white embroidery on light cotton or muslin, linked by legend with Nur Jahan, using stitches such as bakhiya (shadow work) and phanda; Lucknow and Bareilly are centres of zardozi, raised gold embroidery. Agra keeps alive the Mughal art of pietra dura (parchinkari), the inlay of semi-precious stones in marble. Bhadohi and Mirzapur weave hand-knotted carpets, Varanasi makes lacquered wooden toys, Nizamabad black pottery with silver patterns, Gorakhpur terracotta horses and elephants, Khurja glazed pottery, and Saharanpur carved woodwork.
Painting
Mughal miniature painting flourished in Akbar's workshops, where the illustrated Hamzanama was produced, and continued under Jahangir at Agra. Under the Nawabs a Lucknow (Awadh) style developed, and in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Lucknow and Banaras were centres of Company painting made for European patrons. Folk traditions include Sanjhi of Braj, delicate cut-paper stencils used to make pictures of Krishna's life, Kohbar paintings on the walls of the bridal room in eastern Uttar Pradesh, and chowk purna, the auspicious floor designs made at festivals and ceremonies.
Key facts
- Kathak gharanas: Lucknow (grace and abhinaya; Wajid Ali Shah, Bindadin, Birju Maharaj), Banaras (Janakiprasad, Sitara Devi), Jaipur (Rajasthan).
- Thumri grew in Lucknow under Wajid Ali Shah; Banaras has the purab ang thumri; Girija Devi was called the queen of thumri.
- Swami Haridas of Vrindavan was Tansen's guru; Amir Khusrau was born at Patiali (Kasganj).
- Kajari: Sawan songs of Mirzapur and Varanasi; Chaiti: songs of Chaitra; Birha: Ahir songs of Purvanchal; Alha: Bundelkhand ballad of Alha-Udal.
- Nautanki schools: Hathras and Kanpur; Gulab Bai, trained in the Kanpur style, was its famous woman performer.
- Charkula (Braj): women dance balancing a tiered frame of lit lamps on the head; Diwari and Rai are dances of Bundelkhand.
- Ramlila became UNESCO intangible cultural heritage in 2008; the Ramnagar (Varanasi) Ramlila lasts a month.
- Crafts: chikankari (Lucknow), zardozi (Lucknow, Bareilly), brocade and zari (Varanasi), pietra dura (Agra), black pottery (Nizamabad).
- Bhatkhande founded the Marris College of Music, Lucknow, in 1926; Ravi Shankar was born in Varanasi; Bismillah Khan lived there.
- Folk art: Sanjhi (paper stencils of Braj), Kohbar (bridal-room wall painting), chowk purna (floor designs).
Quick revision
Kathak from temple kathakars; Lucknow gharana (Wajid Ali Shah, Bindadin, Birju Maharaj) and Banaras gharana (Janakiprasad, Sitara Devi); thumri of Lucknow and Banaras; Girija Devi; Swami Haridas guru of Tansen; Agra and Rampur-Sahaswan gharanas; Bhatkhande college 1926; Kajari, Chaiti, Birha, Alha, Sohar; Nautanki (Hathras, Kanpur), Raslila, Ramlila (UNESCO 2008), Charkula; Banarasi brocade, chikankari, zardozi, pietra dura; Sanjhi and Kohbar art.