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Scroll.in
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
A new book brings short histories of Phad, Kalighat, and other iconic Indian folk art styles
Phad Born in Shahpura, Rajasthan, Phad is a scroll art form originally practised by members of the Chhipa caste. These paintings served as visual aids for the bhopas and bhopis, priest-singers of the Rabari tribe who narrated tales through song and dance. Travelling from village to village, they performed at night, illuminating sections of phad scrolls to ensure continuity and maintain the audience's focus. The name phad means 'to unroll' in the local dialect. Ranging anywhere between five to thirty feet in length, preparing a phad scroll is a massive undertaking. Coarse cotton or khadi is soaked in water overnight and then primed with a mixture of flour and gum to strengthen its fibres. The prepared fabric is polished with stone, which further ensures the longevity of the artwork. Naturally occurring pigments are combined with kheriya gond, a local gum, to produce rich and long-lasting shades of orange and yellow, blue and green. The illustrations – densely packed and boldly coloured – are outlined with black ink, kala or siyahi, as a final touch. Phad scrolls traditionally depicted the exploits of local heroes, chief among them being the folk deities Pabuji (Pabuji Ki Phad) and Devnarayan (Devnarayan Ki Phad). Over time, the form has adapted to include episodes from Rajasthani history and Hindu scriptures. When a phad painting begins decomposing, it is ritually immersed in Pushkar Lake. The decline of bhopa ballads, along with financial and time constraints, led to a reduced appetite for phad. In response, modern-day artisans have adopted innovations such painting episodes rather than entire stories on smaller canvases. Shahpura's Joshi family, who have practised phad for generations, have been at the forefront of efforts to preserve it. Padma Shri Shree Lal Joshi established the Joshi Kala Kendra in 1960, where artists could study phad regardless of their background. Today, the institute is thriving under the name Chitrashala and phad artwork decorates the Indian prime minister's office. Kalighat Kalighat painting originated in the 19th-century Calcutta, West Bengal. The history of this art form is closely tied to the Kalighat Temple, located on the banks of the Hooghly River. Hordes of locals, pilgrims and curious European visitors were drawn to this tourist location, giving migrant artisans and craftsmen from across the country a lucrative opportunity to sell souvenirs. These included patuas, members of an artisan community from West Bengal, who began to use cheap materials to maximise their output and cater to the growing demands of pilgrims and tourists visiting the temple. The patuas traditionally painted long narrative stories, better classified as Kalighat Patachitra, which often ran over 20 feet in length. However, given the need to work quickly and stand out amidst other competing artisans near the temple, they abandoned their elaborate narrative style to create standalone pictures with only one or two figures. They gained immense popularity for their simplicity, portability and affordability, especially among the voyaging European tourists who were on the lookout for 'exotic' artwork to take home to friends and family with ease. The artists used inexpensive materials, such as mill paper, and watercolours – either made from natural materials or brought in readymade from Britain – to paint the elements in the foreground while the background remained plain. For drawing the outlines, brushes made from squirrel or goat hair were used. Initially, the motifs used were predominantly religious, depicting the chief temple deity, Goddess Kali, along with other mythological figures. Over time, however, colonial influence in urban Calcutta led to a shift in themes represented by Kalighat painters. They began using their medium for satirical commentary on societal changes, ridiculing the lifestyle of Englishmen, and for depicting their own everyday experiences – complete with evolving technologies and lifestyles. The Kalighat movement was transient and the artworks notoriously hard to preserve, owing to the low-quality materials that were used to create them. The practice began to die out during the early twentieth century after cheaper, commercially produced images gained favour over hand-painted ones, pushing the patuas back into the rural districts, bereft of employment.
Time of India
04-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
Sindoor Goddesses of India: From Harappa to Hinglaj and Charani women
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Sindoor in India is linked to auspiciousness, femininity, fertility, and most surprisingly, ancient trade routes frequented by nomadic pastoralists. Worn by married women of India, the earliest reference to the use of sindoor comes from the Harappan civilisation, where clay figurines have been shown with sindoor in the parting of the hair. These figurines have been found in the Baluchistan is this sindoor coming from? In all probability from Darestan in Iran. It is known that during the Bronze Age, 2000 BC, there were wide trading networks. The Harappans procured lapis lazuli, a blue stone, from Afghanistan. So, obtaining cinnabar-mercury sulphide, which is sindoor -from Darestan in Iran is not along the Makran coast, sindoor is known as Hingula and was offered to Hinglaj Mata , whose oldest shrine is located in Balochistan. Even today, people travel from India to Balochistan in Pakistan to make offerings to this goddess. This site is considered a Shakti Peeth, associated with the head of the goddess, which was always covered with vermilion, or red dedicated to such sindoor-smeared goddesses are found in Balochistan, Gujarat, Kutch, Sindh, along the Makran coast, and along the Aravalli mountains -even extending along trade routes into Madhya Pradesh and as far south as Odisha (Talcher), where red sindoor is found in the form of iron oxides. These are major Tantric locations, a network of occult sites visited by ancient shamans and goddesses have a deep connection with women of the Charan community . The Charans are a unique community: poets who narrated ballads, keepers of royal genealogies, warriors who fought alongside Rajputs, and pastoralists closely associated with animal husbandry-particularly the breeding of buffaloes, sheep, goats, camels and narrated stories of Pabuji, the one who brought camels to India, and of Dev Narayanji linked to horse breeding in the Aravalli region. In these tales, the hero's mare is always gifted by a Charan woman or Charani-believed to be a living embodiment of the goddess, spiritually connected to sindoor-smeared goddesses. These were not symbolic abstractions but real women reputed to possess miraculous, magical powers -channels through whom the goddess women are said to have aided Rajput kings, directed kings to dig step wells during droughts, fed armies using only a single piece of bread and a pot of buttermilk, and cheered them into battlefields to protect the herds. There are numerous stories of Charani women with miraculous kings attempted to molest them, only to be met with curses and divine retribution, attacked by swarms of bees and snakes dropping from their umbrellas. In some tales, there is not a single Charan human-goddess but seven sisters, accompanied by a brother or uncle known as Bhairo. This motif of seven sisters and one brother can even be traced back to Harappan Charanis are worshipped even now in temples such as the Karni Mata Temple in Rajasthan, Bahucharaji Mata and Khodyar Mata in Gujarat, and Hinglaj Mata in Balochistan. Traditionally dressed in deep red-the colour of sindoor-to embody auspiciousness, they sometimes wore black to communicate bad news or Khejri tree is sacred to the Charani women. It is said that when there was no wood and one such woman had no staff with which to churn buttermilk, she caused a Khejri tree to appear -from which she produced a limitless supply of buttermilk. In some stories, these women are described as daughters of snake gods; in others, they are nymphs who take the form of tigers. Now, tigers and the Khejri tree appear on Harappan seals-suggesting that the Charans may have been closely linked to, or descended from, the Harappan cities through the cult of sindoor. Women of this region wear bangles similar to the bangles manufactured in Harappan oldest image of Durga, dated to the 1st century BC, was found in Nagar near Chittorgarh, Rajasthan. It shows the goddess with two hands, plucking out the tongue of a buffalo. Intriguingly, in the Hinglaj Mata temple in Balochistan, there is still a site commemorating the tongue of the buffalo demon being flung to the side of the temple. The legend of the region refer to Hinglaj Mata of Balochistan as Lal Chunariya Wali or Nani Devi. The name Nani connects her with Naina Devi of Uttarakhand and the goddess Nana, who was revered as a lion-riding goddess during the Kushan era. The sindoor goddess trail thus spreads over geography and history. Sindoor then becomes a marker of a civilisational network that predates the composition of the Vedas.
Hindustan Times
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Folk musicians of Rajasthan battle landlessness, rising heat in fight to save ancient art
Churu/Meerut, In a noisy roadside restaurant along the Delhi-Haridwar highway, Subhash Nayak sits quietly in a corner, playing his Ravanhatta. The fading notes of the ancient instrument struggle to rise above the hum of passing vehicles and chatter of diners. Dressed in a bright turban and a satin-print waistcoat, Subhash is among the last of the Bhopas traditional priest-singers of Rajasthan who still play the Ravanhatta, a bowed string instrument believed to have been created by the demon king Ravana to worship Lord Shiva. But today, he mostly plays Bollywood songs. "Folk music is my first choice, but people prefer Bollywood songs. They help me earn my bread," he says. Every summer, Subhash and his wife leave their home in Khabarpura village in Rajasthan's Churu district, where temperatures easily cross 45 degrees Celsius, and travel to Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and other towns in Uttar Pradesh to survive. The reason: their 700-year-old art, Pabuji ki Phad, a spellbinding musical performance where Bhopas sing heroic tales of the folk deity Pabuji, is slowly fading away. The heart of this struggle lies in the intersection of two pressing issues: landlessness and climate change. According to Jitendra Sharma from Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage , in Rajasthan, Pabuji is believed to be an incarnation of Lakshman. His story is painted on a cloth scroll called a Phad and folk singers called Bhopas travel from village to village singing and narrating his tale. The Koli community weaves the cloth, while Brahmins paint the pictures. The Raikas, a pastoral community known for extensive camel herding, worship Pabuji because they believe he protects their animals. The Rajputs respect him, as Pabuji himself was a Rathore Rajput. He says the Bhopas, like many nomadic communities, have long depended on land for their livelihood, both as a means of survival and as a source of cultural grounding. Yet, many are landless, which leaves them without access to the basic support structures that can offer them stability, such as housing, water, electricity and government assistance. As their connection to the land weakens, so does their ability to continue the cultural practices that define their identity. At the same time, climate change is exacerbating their plight. The rising heat is making it increasingly difficult for Subhash and his peers to perform or even travel to earn a living. Sitting in a dim, dilapidated rented room in Meerut's Sheikhpura, Amar Singh, another Bhopa from Khabarpura, recalls how elders in the community would perform Pabuji ki Phad during village ceremonies, often under the patronage of wealthy landowners. "Back then, almost every household kept camels. People relied on them and held Phad rituals to heal sick animals and pray for their family's well-being," he says. "Now, camels are gone. Tractors have taken their place. Even those who still rear them do not organise the rituals. We barely recite phad one or two times a year." The audience has also disappeared. The younger generation prefers songs on their phones. "We go from village to village, singing bhajans. People give whatever little they can," Singh says. His children haven't learned the art. "There is no future in it. It doesn't pay. Out of a hundred Bhopa families, only two still perform today." He fears the tradition won't last much longer. "It's slipping away like sand between fingers." Rising heat, he says, has made things worse. "People stay indoors after 10 am. No crowd means no work." With no land or home of their own, Singh says their semi-nomadic community is even more exposed to extreme weather. "You will understand when you see my village," he adds. In Khabarpura village in Churu, his brother Dharampal shows the harsh conditions they endure during the scorching summer. In place of a proper house, there is an asbestos roof resting on four bare walls. There's no electricity connection, so there's no fan. His six-year-old son, running a fever, lies on a jute sack spread across the floor. The tiny room has just one window, a plastic water drum, two trunks, some clothes on a cot and a few utensils. It's 1:30 pm and the temperature has reached a maximum of 43 degrees Celsius, according to the IMD's Mausam app. IMD data also shows that nine out of the 10 highest maximum temperatures in Churu have been recorded in the last 15 years, with all observations exceeding 48 degrees Celsius. Last year, the district recorded the highest temperature of 50.5 degrees Celsius on May 29, an all-time high since record-keeping began in 1956. The state recorded 11 heatwave days this April, compared to the normal four to seven days. Climate experts say rising temperatures in Rajasthan are being driven by climate change. "Rajasthan, being a desert state, is naturally hotter than other parts of the country. But temperatures are rising even further across different regions. We are witnessing more heatwave days and warmer nights," said Abhiyant Tiwari, Lead - Climate Resilience and Health at NRDC India. "Migration is often linked to better livelihood opportunities and improved living conditions, including thermal comfort. But to understand how rising heat is affecting this ancient art form, we need more ethnographic studies," he adds. Sumit Dookia, associate professor at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and a native of western Rajasthan, says the old social fabric of the state once supported many landless communities that kept ancient art forms alive. The Bhopas were among them. "Back then, wealthy landowners patronised these artists. Today, that support is gone. And without land of their own to farm, the Bhopas are forced to leave their villages just to survive," he said. Outside Dharampal's house, under a Khejri tree, 16 earthen pots, some broken, lie scattered. Only a few hold water. Nearby, a traditional well used to store rainwater for daily needs is dry. The rainfall here is erratic and the future uncertain. The government has been working to provide tap water to every household under the Jal Jeevan Mission. But without land ownership, the community is left out. "Without land ownership, the government cannot give them a house. And without a house in their name, they cannot get electricity or tap water connections," says Narendra, a local resident who has helped many of them apply for houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin . Under PMAY-G, landless beneficiaries are given high priority and it is the responsibility of states and Union territories to provide land for such individuals for house construction. Village Development Officer Manju Choudhary says the gram panchayat does not have any land that could be given to landless communities for house construction under PMAY-G. "A proposal to convert common pasture land into gram panchayat land has already been sent to the state government but approval is pending," she says. As of March, out of 55,722 identified landless beneficiaries in Rajasthan, 54,641 have been provided land or assistance for land purchase. However, families like Dharampal's remain excluded. Dharampal remembers a time, 20 to 25 years ago, when life was better. Their parents would perform Pabuji ki Phad up to ten times a month, earning between ₹2,000 and ₹5,000 each time. "We did not have land or a house, but we had enough to eat," he says. Today, it is a different story. Sitting on a cot beside the empty pots, his 60-year-old mother Shanti says, "Life would change if we had patta to build a home and access to electricity and water."
