Kangra occupies a place of pride on the art map of the world as the originator of Pahari paintings. It is here that Indian History of painting; after travelling a haphazard journey from the dark caves of Ajanta, finally reached its culmination in the enchanting and peaceful valley of Kangra and produced an art from unparalleled in the history of Indian art. Having reached its pinnacle in the art of Pahari paintings, there were no further heights to be scaled  and  it began to slowly disintegrate into Sikh paintings; becoming their handmaiden and serving their needs in the early 19th century.

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According to art critics, nowhere else has the woman been portrayed so lovingly as in Pahari paintings. The Pahari paintings are indeed a feminine art produce.The woman in these paintings is real  and the man is only secondary, as if a moth captivated by the brightness of flame. The  ethos of the paintings are unique, the silent music of these paintings cast a spell  on you and the green pastures of Kangra are so dexterously represented that the visitor wants to walk right into them but doesn’t for the frame of glass. The concept of eternal love is represented  by blue coloured Krishna and the essence of womanhood  is Radha .And when they meet at  the  tree grove ,the eye meets the eye  and the whispering sakhis speak of nothing else but the course of Krishna’s love. In the Bhakti cult, Radha and her sakhis represent the soul who long to meet; the super soul in the form of Krishna.

It is  Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra ,the art connoisseur par excellence who gave shelter to the artists  migrating from the distressing conditions at Delhi when the Mughal empires was in the thorns of dissolution because of the fanaticism and Puritanism of Aurangzeb, the last mughal ruler.Moorcraft the European traveller writes 

"He is fond of drawing ,keep several artists who execute the minute parts with great fidelity "Dr B.N.Goswamy  in his masterly work "Pahari Master s "speaks of Purkhu artist who was prolific artist working in the court of Raja Sansar Chand and had produced scores of portraits of Raja Sansar Chand  and his durbar scenes. At times, the Raja is shown watching a dance sequencer, smoking a huqqa  or playing holi with his officials  or holding the durbar (in which each and every  official is individually painted by Purkhu) or admiring a painting. 

Some art critic hold that the pahari artist was ignorant of perspective .But the Pahari artist  was well aware of this handicap and achieved spectacular results of three dimension; By introducing shading, applying dots and stippling. From these paintings one will notice that the furniture was rather unknown in the society of that period (17th-18th centry) and the main characters preferred to sit on the carpets .There are some paintings where Maharaja Sanasr Chand and Masharaja Ranjit Singh are shown seated on high chairs but  are rather uncomfortable.

The Pahari paintings are considered as the living documents of conditions of the society  prevailing in that period. From these paintings we gather that people have no habits of reading from books. In fact, we gather a host of interesting facts by studying these paintings. From these paintings we learn that the civilization has made a giant leap towards progress and modern amenities within a short span of last three hundred years, when these paintings were commissioned. According to Dr .Vogel, the pahari paintings represent the last phase of Indian paintings. This phase is characterized by minute and decorative details, brilliant and glowing colours and by rhythmical and flowing lines. It was essentially an art of line. The line was so rhythmical and flowing and the artist was so skilled in drawing that he could paint it in a split of a second .The paper used was the handmade paper which was prepared especially by the prisoners of Sialkot. For laying the colours, the artist used to prepare brushes from the tail of squirrel and composed two to twelve hair. The colours were either mineral or vegetables.