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Shahpura with Kalyan Joshi
Portraying India
Perceptions of India, inspired by the lives of those who embody its most authentic spirit
The Shahpura region has long been associated with Phad painting. Here, lies the modern town of Bhilwara where Kalyan Joshi continues a lineage of painters whose work predates the city’s current identity. From the Chitrashala studio established by his father as a sanctuary for young artists, he continues to work within the tradition, taking it to the world.
Keeping the visual appeal aside, art forms like Phad preserve folklore and stories that have travelled through time. Kalyan Joshi is an admirable example of how our culture can be brought to life and enrapture contemporary audiences. The National Awardee is guiding generations of new artists in this glorious tradition and immortalizing the form. In Bhilwara, that movement continues through his practice.
Phad painting in this region is historically tied to hereditary artists. The Joshi family has a lineage of Phad painters stretching back to the 13th century. This was also the period around which the local folk stories first emerged, being documented by these scrolls. Kalyan Joshi began training at the age of eight under his father and Guru, Shree Lal Joshi. The studio was his primary space of learning, where he learnt the compositions, colour preparation, and building narratives through incessant practice. Although he completed a degree in commerce, he chose art as his profession and lifelong practice.
Kalyan Joshi’s work retains the traditional motifs while expanding the range of subjects by introducing contemporary themes. His series on the COVID-19 pandemic in similar framework, now part of the British Museum collection, documents the plight of migrant workers, lockdown conditions, and how people recovered. He subsequently helped revive narratives that had nearly disappeared. One of his Phads, depicting the ten incarnations of Vishnu (a hindu deity), had ceased to be performed or painted. It’s reintroduction led to renewed attention, earning him the National Award in 2010. Moreover, he welcomed change by the introduction of more mythological stories like the Ramayana and Mahabharat and later working on Panchatantra (ancient Indian collection of animal fables in Sanskrit).
Meaning “fold” in the regional dialect, the Phad painting is made on large scrolls that are designed to travel with nomadic communities, particularly Rabaris. Historically, these painted scrolls were carried by priest-singers known as Bhopas, who wandered from village to village, narrating their painted epics at night by firelight and singing the stories of folk heroes like Pabuji and Devnarayan. While the male priest (Bhopa) would narrate the story depicted in the Phad painting playing a two-string instrument called the Ravanhatta, his wife (Bhopi) would accompany through song and dance, using a lamp to highlight different scenes. For over 700 years, these religious scrolls or Phads have served as mobile temples.
Dense with luminescent detail and vibrant shades of yellow, orange, green, red and white with figures outlined in black. He works on handmade cloth, paper, and canvas, using natural sources for colours by crushing stones, herbs and flowers. His works in galleries include pieces done in stone colour on paper, pigments on cloth, pigments on canvas, and ink on paper. Recognition of his work extends across institutions in India and internationally, including the Asian Art Museum and Bharat Bhawan.
Chitrashala Studio, Bhilwara
Kalyan Joshi is not content to be the last keeper the art. As the founder of the Ankan Kala Sansthan, he taught children the art of Phad and organized over thirty exhibitions alone in his hometown, Bhilwara, in the span of fifteen years, and worked tirelessly to ensure that the tradition does not thin out with each passing generation. Many of his students now practice professionally. Currently, he heads the Chitrashala studio established by his father, where he teaches students, many of whom have now begun practicing professionally. He regularly conducts workshops across schools in India with the hope of keeping this style of painting alive.
A recent commission through the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts brought Phad into the Parliament of India, where he led a team of fifteen artists to create a 75 X 9 foot work. Completed in three and a half months, the work interprets the theme of democracy. Within the family, his daughter Kritika who is trained in textile design, now does Phad painting on bags, masks and accessories. Brothers Kalyan Joshi and Gopal Joshi went further to introduce Phad onto home décor, textiles, furnishings, and handicrafts with the help of their students.
The old walled town was founded in 1629 and named for the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. In the early 20th century, Rajadhiraj Nahar Singh of Shahpura mortgaged his family’s property and jewels to carve out lakes in the parched heartland of Rajasthan as an act of provision for his people that outlasted his reign. Today, the wetland he created draws hundreds of migratory birds every winter and remains a resource for the agrarian communities around it. Overlooking 250 gorgeous ponds and lakes, the Aravalli mountains in the background, Shahpura sits within comfortable driving distance of both Jaipur and Udaipur. The Joshi family traces its roots here as they would paint for the king and local patrons, producing Phads for singers, before some moved to Bhilwara towards the end of the 19th century.
Recommendations for Further Exploration
To Watch
World of Phad paintings by Kalyan Joshi:Saffron Art
Phad Narration by The Bhopas
At Tushita, we marvel at India with you. After nearly 50 years of travelling through the country, we’re still enamoured by its beauty every day. From Ladakh, where Tushita was anointed by a Buddhist monk in 1977, to Tamil Nadu, where we worked with locals to showcase one of the oldest cultures in the world, we are partners in your journey to discover our part of the world.
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