Class 7 Arts (Kriti) Chapter 4, Story of India’s Storytelling Tradition, journeys with narrator Kathanjali through India’s living folk storytelling forms that blend narrative, music, painted scrolls and portable shrines.
What Class 7 Art Chapter 4 Covers
Harikathe, Kaavad Katha, Phad & Thangka explores Karnataka/South India’s musical Harikathe (highlighting artist Gururajulu Naidu), Rajasthan’s painted wooden shrine Kaavad Katha (KhojaRam ji) and scroll-based Phad storytelling, and Himalayan Thangka narrative paintings.
Become a Storyteller! (Assessment Project) guides students to adapt a regional folktale using props, painted panels, rhythm and voice modulation.
The storytellers: the chapter is narrated by Kathanjali, a storyteller who has lived for thousands of years among kings and common people. Harikathe began in southern India around the 12th century to share temple stories with ordinary people. Kaavad Katha of Rajasthan, over 500 years old, uses a painted wooden shrine with folding panels, made by craftsmen, and carried by Kaavadiyas such as KhojaRam ji.
Scrolls and paintings: Phad paintings of Rajasthan and Thangka paintings of Ladakh, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh tell stories from Buddhist scriptures, saints’ lives and local folklore. Many of these oral traditions are now becoming rare as young people move away from them, which is why the chapter asks how you would save them.
Exercises in Chapter 4
- Activities, Circle Time reflections and end-of-chapter Assessment rubrics.
Read Class 7 Art Chapter 4 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Chapter 3: Let’s Design — Stage Technicals 2
- Next: Chapter 5: Making Music
- Hindi medium: Class 7 Arts Chapter 4 PDF in Hindi (Kriti)
- All Art chapters and the other Class 7 books: Class 7 NCERT books 2026-27
- All Class 1 to 12 NCERT Textbooks: NCERT Books PDF (Class 1–12)
- Every book chapter by chapter: NCERT chapter wise PDF
FAQ
What is ‘Kaavad Katha’ in Rajasthan’s storytelling tradition?
Kaavad is a portable, brightly painted wooden shrine with multiple folding doors; the storyteller (Kaavadiya Bhat) opens each panel in sequence while narrating genealogies, epics and folk legends.
How does ‘Harikathe’ combine different art forms?
Harikathe (‘story of the Lord’) is a traditional composite storytelling art where a single narrator-performer weaves together dramatic prose narration, devotional poetry, classical/folk music, rhythm and humour.
What is Kaavad Katha?
A storytelling tradition of Rajasthan, over 500 years old, in which a storyteller opens the painted panels of a wooden shrine (kaavad) while narrating.