VIEWPOINT

Reimagining the art form of the pichwai, will save it

By Khushi Shah
08 July, 2022

The Varanasi-based textile brand is attempting to reinterpret a 400-year-old legacy through hand-embroidery, empowering craftspersons in the process

A traditional form of painting that emerged from India’s Western frontiers, Pichwai–intrinsic to Rajasthan–is almost 400 years old. Over these years, *Pichwais are largely found not only in places of worship but also in homes, lighting up spaces with their vibrance and the many stories they tell. In the 21st century, however, the motifs depicting the Pichwai style are gradually dying away, making more room for modern architectural interventions. In an effort to conserve this art form and make it accessible globally, Varanasi-based textile brand Shanti Banaras brings the motifs of Pichwai paintings into cities around the world through exquisitely embroidered artwork.

Reimagining a legacy

The concept of Pichwai was chosen for this initiative as my family is a firm believer in Lord Shrinath or Shrinathji. Pichwai has its origins at the Nathdwara temple near Udaipur, which houses intricate paintings dedicated to Shrinathji. We naturally gravitated towards those paintings and decided to create our own, giving a 'Shanti' spin to them. The uniqueness of our artworks lies in the intricate, detailed embroidery. As a brand that specialises in hand-embroidery, we are attempting to do our bit to empower the community of weavers in India.

In our reimagining of the traditional art of Pichwai, motifs depicting nature and joy are captured in a moment by hand-embroidering over 100 colours of resham (silk) threads on handwoven fabric. Each piece is a labour of love, taking over 60 hours to make. The primary motifs that can be found on the artworks include lotuses, cows, peacocks, sakhis and trees.


A focus on storytelling

What’s interesting is that there is a different story behind each artwork. One of my personal favorites would be The Boat of Love. Divided into two scenes, the upper half of the painting depicts Lord Krishna and Radha enjoying the sunset and city views in a boat with their sakhis, while the riverbank is demarcated with structures that indicate the palace's embankment. In the bottom half of the painting, the lush green of the jungle hides the couple from the outside world . This intricate work of art connects two scenes admirably and is considered one of our finest pieces.

Khushi Shah is the founder of Varanasi-based textile brand Shanti Banaras

In Pichwai there is a different story behind each artwork

Another exquisite piece is Shri Shringaar in which Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya welcome Shrinathji and perform his shringaar (a form of adornment). To create this masterpiece, almost 97 resham threads and Swarovski garlands were used. It’s finely laid out, depicting a picturesque lake with a foyer, and is replete with traditional Pichwai motifs like cows, greenery as well as a palatial house.


It’s all about the details

Talking about the process of creating these pieces, one of the first ones took about nine to ten months to make. Since we forayed into a new space altogether, we wanted to take time to understand the process and do justice to it. Our in-house design team begins to collectively ideate along with the head designer, following which the piece is sketched and then made on to a graph in order to finalise the art. Our team members then match the colors for the piece together. This is only the back-end work that is done before the piece is stretched out on a khaka (drawing the design on paper) for embroidery. Moreover, the embroidery takes up to two to three months since it is carefully created by two to three craftspersons. They can embroider only half a metre of the design in one day, owing to its meticulous nature. The piece is then sent for finishing and extra backing, a process that requires patience and love for the work you're doing.

Pichwai has its origins at the Nathdwara temple near Udaipur, which houses intricate paintings dedicated to Shrinathji

In Pichwai the embroidery takes up to two to three months since it is carefully created by two to three craftspersons

The idea of creating Pichwais originally came with the thought of how most of us are besotted by the West. If we can buy artworks from Italy or New York and put them up in our homes, why do we overlook the exquisite craftsmanship of our own country? With this project, we aim to propagate local, homegrown art forms. Shanti Banaras is a legacy passed down over generations that celebrates India’s rich, handwoven textiles. Through the commissioning of these pieces of art, we are attempting to work towards building a patronage for the country’s treasured crafts.

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