The Pichwai paintings originated in Nathdwara town, near Udaipur, Rajasthan. This folk art form is more than 400 years old.
The word pichwai literally means “backdrop”. The paintings are made on cotton cloth and placed mainly in the temples of Pushtimarg devotional tradition. Pichwai paintings are hung behind lord Krishna’s idol on different occasions and festivals to celebrate different events of the lord’s life.
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Characteristic Features of Pichwai Art form
This ancient art form is known for depicting the stories of lord Krishna. The lord is depicted as Shrinathji (7 year old manifestation of lord ), often accompanied with Radha, gopis, lotuses and cows.
Pichwai style has a characteristic depiction of the lord with large eyes, broad nose and a heavy body, inspired by the idol of Lord Shrinathji.
These paintings frequently showcase different festivals and celebrations like Raas Leela, Govardhan Puja, Sharad Poornima, Holi, Diwali, Gopashtami, Nand Mahotsav and Janamashtmi.
How are Pichwai paintings made?
Firstly a rough sketch is made on a starched cloth and then filled with colours. Originally Pichwai was made with natural colours using brushes made of horse/squirrel hair, but now modern and less expensive materials have taken over.
Dark borders and colours like red, yellow, green, white and black are used along with a lot of gold in these paintings. Addition of pure gold gives rich charm and value to them.
It takes about 3-4 days just to prepare colours for one painting. A single Pichwai painting takes about a few weeks to several months to complete depending upon its size and complexity of its design. It requires immense expertise and skills to produce even the smallest details with precision.
Often a group of skilled painters come together to create one pichwai painting, under the guidance of a head artist. Some of the popular Pichwai styles are Kota Bundi, Nathdwara, Kishangarh style and Hyderabadi style paintings. Since each piece takes around weeks to months to be ready, their prices are also based on that. A good Pichwai painting starts from ₹50,000.
Evolution with time:
Originally Pichwai were used as decorations for the Krishna temples across the country, especially the Shrinathji temple in Nathdwara. Over the years, pichwai paintings have evolved in size and style too.
Keeping up with the times today, From 10-12 feet, the size of the painting has been reduced to 2-4 feet now. Apart from temples, now these can be found in houses too.
Modern artists have also changed the signature anatomic features by giving a sharp nose or a curvature to the nose,and rounded eyes.While the modern artist makes the modifications, they make sure not to meddle with the integral structure of the Pichwai art form.
The Pichwai art form is very ancient and extremely skillful art, but its existence is fading away and needs to be revived and acknowledged more.