Phad Painting Style
It is not uncommon to hear of India’s cultural marvels, unique local traditions and unmatched contributions to handmade art works. Yet, only when one goes beyond these fancy sounding words to really explore India’s majestic heritage is one exposed to how rich our inheritance truly is. One such work of art, born in the land of folklore, Rajasthan, is the Phad paintings. These are huge paintings done on cloth, and depict stories of the local deities and gods. Scale of the figures in the painting depicts their social status of the character in the story. What is also interesting is that the figures face each other, not the audience.
This style of painting is the blend of Rajput and Mughal styles of painting. Originated thousands of years ago, this fabled heritage of Bhilwara is done on a long piece of canvas called Phad. Mostly, the stories of the folk deity Pabuji and the Gurjar Warrior, Devnarayanji are depicted on Phads. In ancient times, the storytellers would travel from village to village and narrate the stories using Phads as their pictorial depiction tool. Singing and dancing made an integral part of storytelling.
A phad painting depicting Raas-Leela.
The Origins of Phad
A 700-year-old legacy passed down from generation to generation in the same family, Phad traces its origins to Shahpura, near Bhilwara, in Rajasthan. Phad is a type of scroll that tells complex religious stories about local gods and deities. Created as portable or tourist temples, these traditional paintings were made by priests-singers of the Rabari tribe, known as Bhopas and Bhopis, who sang and performed verses stories about their local gods - Devnarayanji (an incarnation of Vishnu) and Pabuji (a local hero). The Phad painting will be unrolled or unfolded after sunset, and the performance in front of village members will last until night. Maybe that's why the paintings are called 'Phad', which means 'fold' in the local dialect.
While the male priest (Bhopa) would sing and narrate the story depicted in the Phad painting. The Bhopa had a musical instrument known as Ravanahatha, his wife (Bhopi) would accompany through song and dance, while also putting a spotlight on the corresponding section in the painting, using a lamp. A two-string instrument called the ‘ravanhatta’ would be used in the performance.
Picture of Pabuji ki Phad by Bhopa.
What adds to the uniqueness of Phad art, is that historically, it was only members of the Joshi family, belonging to the Chipa caste, that created these paintings. The Bhopas (priests) would commission the Joshis to make a Phad to use in their performances. The traditional paintings used to be large, with “Pabuji ki phad”, or Phad paintings of Pabuji being 13 armlengths long, and those of Devnarayan being nearly 30 feet long.
Today, while the storytelling tradition of the Bhopas is still alive in some villages, the significance of Phad paintings has moved much beyond, with efforts made by several members of the Joshi family, including Shree Lal Joshi, Nand Kishor Joshi, Shanti Lal Joshi, Kalyan Joshi, Gopal Joshi, Prakash Joshi, and Vijay Joshi, to increase appreciation for Phad as an art form.
The Legend Of The Craft
Devanarayan, one of the main characters of Phad painting, was a medieval hero, worshipped as a folk-deity.
As the legend goes, in the 10th century, Chochu Bhat, a devotee of Lord Devnarayna, commissioned Joshi Phad Painter to create a painting of the entire life of Devnarayan. Devnarayan bestowed the ‘Joshi’ caste to make Phad paintings.
Devnarayan ki Phad, Phad painting
Devnarayan ki Phad(detail), Phad painting
The devotes worship Pabuji as a folk-deity. The character of Pabuji, represented in Phad painting of Rajasthan, portrays him as a divine character and an incarnation of Laxmana.
The three basic features associated with this art form are: the epic story of Pabuji, the Rathore chief of Rajasthan in the 14th century, who is extolled as an incarnation of Hindu God, and worshipped by the Rabari tribals of Rajasthan; the Phad or Par, which is a long scroll painting (or sewn) made on cloth, with the martial heroics of Pabuji richly displayed for worship; and the bard priests, known as the Bhopas (who belong to the cult of Pabuji) of the nomadic tribe of Nayakas and specialists in narrating the story of the Pabuji in their sartorial best through the medium of the Phads used as a portable temple, all over the desert lands of the Thar in Rajasthan.
Pabuji ki Phad, Phad Painting.
Folk-deity Pabuji in Pabuji Ki Phad, a Phad painting at National Museum, New Delhi
The Making and Technique of Phad Painting
Phad paintings are not only complex in their stories, but the making process and techniques are just as elaborate. The first step is getting the canvas ready for painting. A mixture of wheat/rice flour is boiled with water. The boiling continues till it turns into a thick paste. The artist applies Kheriya Gond on the canvas, which is a local gum . The cloth is then stretched and dried in sunlight and then polished. A stone tool called Mohra makes the cloth smooth and shiny.
The women artisans makes the colours used in Phad painting with natural elements. They extract it from stones, minerals and vegetation. The painting contains earthen colours with a dedicated palette for specific designs. For example, yellow is used for ornaments and orange for limbs and torso. The artist finishes the rough sketch and starts filling the paint one at a time.
The painting begins on an auspicious day. This starts with offerings to Goddess Saraswati. A virgin girl of the painter’s family or of a higher caste paints the first stroke. Artist divides the entire scroll into several small sections, and creates a rough freehand sketch. Initially, the figures are painted in a light yellow colour and the process is called ‘Kachi likhai Karna’.
An artist creating a Phad painting
Phad Painting depicting the story of "Pabuji Ki Vivaah"
School of phad
Till as recently as 50 years ago, the form of phad was exclusively practiced by the artists of Joshi lineage of the Chippa caste. The Joshi artists were commissioned by the bhopa and bhopi to create the phad artworks and carefully guarded the techniques associated with the art. However, one of the most celebrated phad artists and Kalyan’s father, Shree Lal Joshi, realised the need to let in others on the secrets of phad and established Joshi Kala Kunj, a school of phad, in 1960 to popularise the art.
Joshi ji founded Chitrashala, a pioneer institute for training in different styles of paintings of Rajasthan and especially for Phad painting (Mewar Style) more than fifty years ago. The art itself is more than seven hundred years old. There was a time when the secrets of Phad painting were confined to the Joshi family. However, when Joshi ji felt that the art form was slowly dwindling away, he felt the need to establish ‘Joshi Kala Kunj’, now ‘Chitrashala’ in 1960 to develop new artists other than the Joshi family.
He virtually challenged all orthodox ideas for the sake of art. He took upon himself the task of revitalizing this art, even at the international level.
Shri Lal Joshi working on a Phad Painting
Kalyan and his brother Gopal are carrying forward their father’s legacy by introducing new themes without compromising on the traditional techniques.
Kalyan Ji has taken up this mission with brother Gopal Joshi and is happy to see some of the artists that his father had taught winning national awards for the art. He is motivated, and humbly so, every time he meets a new audience to speak to, about this wonderful art. He also can’t help but praise the artists because so much hard work goes into Phad paintings; sometimes it can take almost 2 months to finish one painting. Kalayan Ji speaks highly of some well known artists, who have excelled in this profession, “Pradeep Mujherjee, a Bengali artist, learnt from my father back in the 1970s under the guru-shishya parampara. He won the National Award in 1985. There is also Rameshwar Singh, in Jaipur who later devised his own unique style, using modern touches to enhance Phad art. He won the LKA award. The interesting part is that every painting has a story. So, by preserving this art, we also preserve stories that have traversed thousands of years by word of mouth and hearsay, from our ancestry.”
Kalyan Joshi working on Phad Painting
Hanuman Chalisa Phad Painting, By Kalyan Joshi
Unfortunately, despite the efforts of Shree Lal Joshi and his sons to popularise phad art, there are less than 10 to 13 artists practicing it full-time today. “Most people interested come and learn the art at the school started by Joshi as a hobby,” said Agarwal. “There is very little appreciation for folk art forms in India and as a result, the profession is not a lucrative one.”
Phad in Modern times
Like many old art forms of India, the Phad Paintings were on the verge of being faded away in the sands of time too. However, the traditional Joshi family descendants took an active step to stop this artform from being extinct by opening art classes for interested artists and passing down the knowledge of creating beautiful Phad Paintings, which have now made their way to the traditional handicrafts of India sector.
They’ve also made a few modern changes to the painting, from the inclusion of chemically developed colors to drawing more widely known deities like different avatars of Vishnu, including Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, and their tales. A modern-day Phad Artist is skilled to narrate various interesting and captivating stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which have commendable artistic value!
When God comes to visit, Phad Painting
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