India is the homeland of rich culture and heritage. From ancient times, the land has been providing the best of everything. Whether art, music, nature’s beauty, regions, religions or people, India has everything unique. With the immense diversity, every area has its traditional speciality like traditional food, clothes, art form and more.

Similarly, from the state of Rajasthan, a famous folk art, popularly known as the Pichhwai painting, came four centuries ago.

Pichhwai painting is one of the most renowned forms of art style. This art form originates from Nathdwara in Rajasthan. The word Pichhwai is made from the Sanskrit word “Pichh”, which means back and “Wai”, which means hanging. The Pichwai paintings are hung behind the idol of Shrinathji, a local form of Lord Krishna and the centre of Pushtimarg worship for displaying Lord Krishna’s tales. Other than Lord Krishna, it includes Radha, Gopis, his cows etc. You will also notice the painted lotus, an essential element in Pichhwai paintings.

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What are the Characteristics of Pichhwai Painting?

The Pichwai painting is done on clothes, and since it has religious and mystical elements, it is done with precision. The artist takes care of every minute detail and leaves no room for error.

This art form is not taught in any educational institution. If one wants to learn this art form, one must learn it from the master artist. To date, this is the only way to learn this art form.

The Pichwai paintings portray Lord Krishna as Shrinathji and include people he used to be surrounded by, along with lotus, elephants, peacocks and other prominent mystical elements. Nevertheless, Pichwai paintings depict a lot of festivals through the paintings, like Diwali, Janmashtami, Sharad Purnima, Holi, Rasleela and others.

The Pichwai painting is created on a handspun cloth or fabric by following specific steps. At first, the sketch of the paintings is drawn with utmost precision, like an outline. After that, these are painted using all-natural and organic products, be they either brushes or paints. The cloth used for creating pichhwai is cotton, and it is supposed to be kept away from water as the paints used are generally made up of vegetable dyes.

Is Pichwai painting a miniature painting?

First of all, it is essential to know what miniature paintings are. Miniature paintings are small illustrations of manuscripts. These illustrations can be from the ancient or medieval era.

Pichwai paintings are miniature paintings as they are part of the leading art form known as Nathdwara painting. So, most of the Nathdwara paintings are miniature paintings. The Nathdwara school is also a subset of the Mewar school of paintings. The sub-style of Mewar paintings includes Udaigarh, Devgarh, and Nathdwara as the critical locations of miniature production. Out of all the paintings created, the most famous are the Pichhwai paintings from Nathdwara which are not only artistically appealing for Indians and hold religious value but also attract many foreign customers who appreciate good art.

Is pichwai painting a one-person job?

Pichhwai painting in all its glory is not solely one man’s job. It is a group effort by skilled painters and artisans. Many people gather together to make the team and further work on a pichhwai painting. The result of these painters, however, is supervised as they work under the guidance of a master artist who is a professional and carries more knowledge and experience in this subject.

What are the Tools Used in Pichwai Paintings?

Pichwai paintings are made using all-natural things. The cloth used is handspun starched cotton cloth. The brushes for painting are made up of horse, goat, or squirrel hair. The colours are natural, using henna leaves, dried peepal fruit, cactus, Kesar, indigo, Palash flower, Hara Patthar, etc. It is also made of vegetable dyes. Moreover, pure gold is used in the paintings of Pichwai. It takes 3-4 days just to prepare colour from pure gold.

Coconut shells hold the paints, and vibrant colours like red, green, yellow, and more are used in the painting.

Is it Folk Art?

Folk art is the visual art form that compiles the culture and tradition of regions or places. To understand this, it is necessary to learn about folk art. Indian folk art contains the art forms like paintings, sculptures, ceramics and more from different parts of India. Many Indian folk arts include Tanjore art, Warli Paintings, Madhubani Paintings, Patachitra, Rajasthani miniature paintings and several more that arrives from various regions of India. Under the Rajasthani miniature paintings came the Pichhwai painting, which originated in the 17th century in the Nathdwara temple. Since then, it has been a famous artwork not only in India but it is being exported to foreigners too. To answer the question, yes, pichhwai paintings are a part of folk art.

Pichhwai paintings, with their vibrant colours and religious aspect, are renowned for decoring walls at home and in temples. They are exclusive and carefully crafted by local artists. The intricacy in designs is visible to the naked eye. People from all over the world import this famous painting as they are appealing globally to artists and passionate art lovers. With the enlightenment towards the tales of Lord Krishna, the spiritual value adds to positivity wherever these paintings are hung and transform the entire place in such a way that it evokes positive vibes.