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Phad Style of Painting India is a country of 1350 million people. Its culture is diverse and rich.
About the painting, it has a long list of traditional arts. Phad, Kangra,
Pahadi and Deccan styles of paintings are some of the styles of painting
prevailing in India for centuries.
It is interesting to note that India's one of the traditional arts, the
phad painting is a folk painting; but its artists hardly get any sponsorship
for their works. This form of art has remained attached with and popular among
the mass of people. The reason behind that is simple. The subject matters of
these paintings revolve around heroic acts or mythological stories.
In the time when illiteracy was widespread in the country, such
storytelling with artistic illustration became the only available tool for
spreading and conveying the religion. The stories of the Hindu religion and its
various sects went to the masses through these artists.
The Artists: The social culture of India is based on castism. There are
sects and castes among the people in Rajasthan who practice the art of the Phad
style of Paintings. Their family profession is to entertain the people by
singing folk songs about the heroes in public programs. The subject of Phad
Paintings revolve around the life and events of Prince "Pabuji" who
is worshipped in Rajasthan. The community known as Bhopa are priest singers for
the 'Pabuji' followers. These folk singers use the artworks done by the phad
painters.
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The paintings depicting Pabuji and other Gods and Goddesses are used by
these singers and worshippers as mobile temples. Keeping one painting before a
crowd of people, they start singing and narrating the incidents painted on the
scroll. The Phad painting, which is done on a piece of cloth, is one of
the paintings styles practised from ancient times. Thematically these paintings
are the depiction of Indian deities and their stories, including the legends of
Rajasthani rulers.
Phad is a type of scroll painting. Artists paint these paintings on a long
cloth, the piece of cloth being of generally two types in lengths, either of
fifteen feet of thirty feet long. They used bright and subtle colours, mainly
extracted from the vegetables and the materials locally available. The modus
operandi of executing the phad painting is also unique. First, they draw
outlines of the paintings drawn in several blocks. Then these blocks are filled
with different colours.
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What is Kangra, Pahadi Painting Kangra painting is the pictorial
art of the people living in the region of Himachal Pradesh, situated in the northern part of
Here is an illustration of a painting done
under the style of Kangra Miniatures of the Pahari School that had made a mark
in the 18th century.
Raja Sansar Chand was the king of the small
It is believed that a team of Kashmiri
painters, trained in Mughal Miniature painting needed shelter. It was the time
of the first half of the 18th century when the Mughal dynasty was declining,
losing its importance as the supporter of the art of painting. The artists
needed support. One team of Kashmiri artists got due support and shelter at ‘Guler’.
It is a small hilly state in the Himalayan region.
The paintings done under the style and
nomenclature of Kangra paintings are in fact one of the school of paintings under the schools of
miniature paintings known as the Pahari style of painting. It was prevalent in
northern
The painting shown here is of Maharaj Sansar Chand. He was king
of a state that was situated in the lower Himalayans. The
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Radha Celebrating Holi AnonymousUnknown author
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Subjects of Kangra Paintings: Like Phad Painting RAJASTHAN PAINTINGS, and MUGHAL MINIATURES, the
painters working under the Kangra School of paintings chose traditional
subjects. One of the subjects was the depiction of the local environment, which
was Shringar for these artists. The word Shringar refers to the tastes for
beauty among the viewers. So these painters have marvellously depicted the
beauty of Indian men and women and their costumes in their miniature paintings.
The second main pool of the subjects for
Kangra paintings, like the Tanjore painting, Kalighat Painting came
to form the religious and literary books of Indian mythology and popular
literature. The depiction of the scenes described in these books became popular
for the Kangra miniature artists. These scenes included the scenes of worship
and the divine love between Lord Krishna and Gopis, the
young girls who were in divine love with Lord
These scenes are known as Krishna-Lila. The depictions from the
illustrated book Geet Govindam, a book of
poems written by poet Jaidev were also occupied most of the time by the Kangra
miniature painters.
Deccan Miniatures The school of painting that flourished under
the sponsorship of kings of south
Mudumalati is a story of the romance and love of
prince Manohar and his lover Madhumalati. Their story is full of love and
suffering of separation and reunion. Written in poetic language, it is a story
full of symbolism; the concept of Sufism is embedded in this tale of Manohar
and Madhumalati, which has become the subject for many artworks.
Deccan Miniature painting school was
operative in the southern part of India. It flourished during the medieval
period and later years. The Miniature Paintings styles had evolved in the northern part of
The art of painting
carried with it the influence and flavour of the culture it represented. The
art of painting prevalent in other parts of
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Materials Used in Deccan Miniatures: Style of Painting: The artists who practised this style lived in the cities of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, Golconda, and Aurangabad. Deccan Miniature artists used the same materials which their counterparts in north India used. These artists depicted their art on paper, ivory articles, wooden furniture, and other pieces made from leather and marble.
They used even cloth made from
silk and cotton fibres. Some of the paintings are on the walls of temples and
houses of the princes.
For conveying the reality that was beyond a specific vantage point, the
Mughal miniature artists had employed the concept of multiple perspectives. The
artists of Deccan miniatures also applied the same technique in their
artworks. However, the stories depicted by the paintings were different.
If we observe their work with artistic eyes, we can see that
the Deccan artists were influenced by the style of Persian and
Turkish painters. However, they had tried creating a synthesis of foreign and
indigenous styles of painting. That resulted in a great mix of charming
tradition. We can see that most of the paintings done under this style were
theme-based artworks.
It was not that the Deccan miniature artists copied the works done in the northern part of the country. They had refined the style that was prevalent in the seventeenth century. While maintaining the rhythmic delicacy of Mughal miniatures, Deccan painters had added the emotion of southern art into their paintings.
The male figures painted by these artists were charming and their complexions were fair. They looked emotionally charged. The females painted were more appealing than the women painted in Mughal miniatures. These artists had also injected the elements of restraint and reality, which they had borrowed from contemporary European artists. The above Image, courtesy Of Unknown. The Rose-Garden of Love, made in Hyderabad between 1741 and 1743. Deccan School, India. Now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. [All the images are in Public Domain, taken from Wikimedia Commons]
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