Phad painting

Folk-deity Pabuji in Pabuji Ki Phad, a Phad painting scroll at National Museum, New Delhi

Phad painting or phad (/pʌd/; IAST: Phad, Hindi: फड़) is a style of religious scroll painting and folk painting, practiced in Rajasthan state of India.[1][2] This style of painting is traditionally done on a long piece of cloth or canvas, known as phad. The narratives of the folk deities of Rajasthan, mostly of Pabuji and Devnarayan are depicted on the phadss. The Bhopas, the priest-singers traditionally carry the painted phads along with them and use these as the mobile temples of the folk deities, who are worshipped by the Rebari community of the region. The phads of Pabuji are normally about 15 feet (4.6 m) in length, while the phads of Devnarayan are normally about 30 feet long. Traditionally the phads are painted with vegetable colors.

Traditional examples of this art are Devnarayan Ki Phad and Pabuji Ki Phad.[3][4] This style was revolutionized by Shree Lal Joshi and Pradip Mukherjee about forty years ago.[when?] Mukherjee's modern version of these paintings are based on the stories of Ramcharitmanas, Gita Govinda, Kumārasambhava, Bhagavad Gita and Hanuman Chalisa.[5] The art of Phad painting was traditionally practiced exclusively by the Joshi community. However, in 1960, Shree Lal Joshi established a school called Joshi Kala Kendra to teach this art form to everyone. Today, the school is known as Chitrashala and is located in Bhilwara city, Rajasthan.[6][7]

  1. ^ Chillibreeze. Indian Murals and Paintings. Chillibreeze. pp. 14–. ISBN 978-81-904055-1-5.
  2. ^ Rakesh Kumar (2007). Encyclopaedia of Indian paintings. Anmol Publications. p. 83. ISBN 978-81-261-3122-8.
  3. ^ Dalrymple, William (2009). Nine Lives. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. pp. 96–97. ISBN 978-1-4088-0153-6. Retrieved 13 June 2010. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. ^ "The bhopas of Rajasthan". The National. 4 September 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
  5. ^ Shilp Guru Awards 2007 and 2008. New Delhi: Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. 2008. pp. 40–41.
  6. ^ Chaudhuri, Zinnia Ray. "Phad paintings: Rajasthan's travelling temples are fading away after half a millennium". Scroll.in. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Chitrashala: Keeping Phad Art alive". The Better India. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2019.