Phad Painting: The Traditional Art of Rajasthan

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Phad Painting The Traditional Art of Rajasthan
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• Indias diverse folk art forms have narrated
  deep-rooted stories and cultures from many
  centuries. Whether it is the folklore dance forms
  or art forms that take the form of some painting,
  the Indian Art has had a rich history. The modern
  art lovers today are taking to exploring the old
  art forms and bringing them back to life. One
  such art form thats making its way into modern
  art galleries is the traditional art of
  Rajasthan Phad Paintings! These paintings are
  not only conquering the hearts of art
  connoisseurs in the country but also slowing
  making a way in the global markets that have
  scope for traditional handicrafts of India.
  Heres all you need to know about the Phad
  Paintings.
• Phad Paintings in the roots
• Like any artform, Phad Paintings too are deeply
  rooted in the Indian Art and Culture, dating back
  to many centuries. Finding its origins in
  Shahpura, Bhilwara in the state of Rajasthan, the
  Phad Paintings date back to a 700 year old
  legacy! Phad in the local dialect of Rajasthan
  means fold gaining its name due to its nature
  of being folded or scrolled up as a message.
  These are scroll paintings, where the painting
  had a unique narration of the stories of local
  deities.

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• These scrolls were treated as mobile temples or
  traveling temples where they were carried by
  the priest singers across towns, narrating the
  story of the tribe.
• These priest singers were called Bhopas and
  Bhopis, and they performed stories of the local
  deity Devnarayan Ji, an incarnation of Lord
  Vishnu and Pabuji, a local hero of the
  Rajasthani Tribe Rabari. These scroll paintings
  would be unrolled in the evenings by the priest
  singers and they performed their narrative plays
  into the night. Thats how the singing culture of
  Rajasthan flourished overtime and it was a common
  practice for the Bhopas (male priest singers) to
  narrate the story while their wives (Bhopis)
  would accompany them, and bring the story to life
  by dancing and putting up a performance together,
  attracting all the villagers to the play.
• Phad Paintings can take two to three weeks of
  time for completion depending on the complexity
  of each piece of painting. They are generally
  created on the handwoven coarse cotton cloth
  which is soaked overnight for the cloth to
  thicken up. They then smear it with rice starch
  or wheat flour liquid to thicken it furthermore
  to create a perfect canvas-like overlay.

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• It is then smoothened by moonstone to rub off any
  extra starch before the Phad Artist starts
  illustrating his art on the canvas. The colours
  are organic and are naturally extracted from
  local flora like leaves, roots, flowers, herbs
  and creepers. They mix these natural extracts
  with gum and water before they start applying it
  on the cotton fabric.
• The present-day Phad Paintings
• 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. Theyve also made a few modern
  changes to the painting, from the inclusion of
  chemically developed colours 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!

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