Pichwai Paintings | How Pichwai Paintings are a cool addition to your home? | Indianshelf

Pichwai paintings are also called as Pichwai which is a traditional Indian art form with its origins in Rajasthan. This features painting of Lord Krishna or Shreenath ji. The painting is highly intricate and uses dark rich hues on a fabric.

These paintings have deep religious roots and are executed with the utmost devotion by the rural artisans. Often, these depict the ones having Lord Krishna in the incident featuring him holding the huge Govardhan hill on his pinkie finger. Often, other forms of sewas of Shri Krishna are taken up and represented.

Deeper insights on Pichwai Paintings

These Pichwai Paintings originated over 400 years ago in the town of Nathdwara Rajasthan. These relate themselves to the spiritual effects of the great Lord Krishna in his Shreenath Avatar. The result is intricate and visually appealing paintings with a clear spiritual theme.

1. Authentic Pichwai paintings

These paintings look stunning on the walls and require huge time to complete. Other common subjects of these Pichwai Paintings are Radha Rani, Gopis, Cows, Gwalas, Lotuses, etc. These also signify the festivals like Sharad Purnima, Raas Leela, Govardhan Puja, Janamashtami Celebrations, Gopasthami, Nand Mahotsav, Holi and Diwali.

The regular motifs

The word Pichwai Paintings comes from - pichh - means the back and wai - means hangings. This was initially founded by pushtie marg sect in early 16 centuries. These were used to decorate the main temple of Srinath as hangings behind the deity and to celebrate the various seasons or events related to Lord Krishna and his life. 

Thus, the artwork finds a special place in the homes of leading art collectors of India in relation to their beautiful aspects. It is important to note that the Pichwai artwork follows the concept of dyeing and fine drawing to get the best results.

The gold guild

You can opt to buy a more expensive and premium version of the Pichwai Paintings. These include more intricate versions of cows, stone and mineral colour to get the best results. The artwork is extremely detailed, and hand painted.

You can use gold gilded versions along with specific gold detailing for the best results. This can be expensive and can burn a hole in your pocket. 

The purist versions

Most of the paintings of Lord Krishna are done on a fabric using dark and rich hues. Although, religious significance is attributed to these colors, yet these hardly beat down the beauty of stone colour variations.

Here seven colors are used to represent the Lord Krishna and then similar colors are grinded to add tree gum to finish the artwork. These colors hardly fade away and use themes like cows, Lord Krishna, Annakut festival, etc.

2. The modern versions of the Pichwai

The greyscale

You can opt to buy the greyscale version of these artworks. These are often termed as 24 swaroopa that explore the actual 24 divine forms of Shreenathji in form of Mughal artwork or miniature styles. These have little or no historical precedence.

Although many people wish to get pichwai landscapes, but it rarely yields effective outcomes.

On clothing fabric

As new artists are coming forward for highlighting the artwork, the creative enthusiasts are looking into the process of using the same for natural fabrics to accentuate the positive impact of the same.

Pichwai silken variants

These variants use silk and paper along with natural stones to bring alive the story of forests and Lord Krishna. Here gates of Nathdwara and Gopashtami are picturized to gain the right results. These depictions are based on subjects like Lord Krishna and Kunj or around the famous havelis.

A monochromatic framework is also used to give a fresh look to the same.

3. Using Pichwai for home decor needs

The pichwai paintings are an ideal way to decorate your walls and bring in beauty and spiritual fervour to the room. The labour intensive process of creating the same brings about a huge difference to your home decor and can uplift your home and its elegance instantly. Apart from gold foil, the other differential features of the same include - big and broad eyes, big nose and a heavy body. The idea is sourced directly from the tales of Lord Shreenath ji and bought into a beautiful, charming home decor item.

Ceiling mounted lights

As a rule of thumb, these mounted lights should be placed in such a way that the light beam hits the center of the artwork. The right angle must be positioned at 30 degrees. However, going for an angle of 10 or beyond 45 means that you are either pointing too directly or too harshly. As a result, you end up casting long shadows or highlighting the unwanted parts.

Use track lights

Using a track lighting system means that you have a cleaner and minimalistic decor idea. With the use of these best lamps, these can bring the best results as ceiling mounted ones and have lower chances of creating shadows. These are easier to install and offer better flexibility.

Further, use the recessed ceiling fixtures that cannot move to create a perfect look for your pichwai painting. However, if you decide to relocate the same, the cost of the movement may rise. As a result, you may have a light pointing to an empty wall.

Avoid use of natural light

When you place the painting in the natural light, it takes a toll on its beauty. This is because this delicate design is exposed to sunlight, ultraviolet rays and infrared light that causes these expensive paintings to lose their sheen. Hence, position these far away to get the best results.

Frequently asked questions

Question 1 - How to get the pichwai paintings for your home decor needs?

Answer - If you cannot visit the Rajasthan market area for such authentic pichwai paintings, you can easily buy these at indianshelf store. 

The above brand carries numerous products and styles of such unique and authentic Indian art forms and crafts to promote rural area artisans.

Question 2 - Where can I use these Nathdwara or pichwai paintings? 

Answer - This is an ancient form of art passed on from generation to generation. The theme is devotional yet is extremely beautiful. Each of these paintings have a central theme that enchants your guests if placed in your living or drawing room area. 

Since a lot of labor goes into the creation of these paintings, the same is extremely expensive. Artisans usually design the same on a starched cloth and then create beautiful story themes using organic and natural stone colour. What is more, even the brushes are extremely natural, and they rarely use the plastic variants to create the perfect look.