It is the story of Pooja Singhal, an avid art collector, who has breathed new life into a 400-year-old religious art form of India – Pichwai Art. Pichwai painting is dedicated to Lord Krishna’s avatar form of ‘Shrinathji’ – portrayed in the temples in Nathdwara, Rajasthan.
Passion for Pichwai Art: How it all Started
Pooja, born in Udaipur, Rajasthan, was fond of religious paintings and the cultural legacy of India from the very beginning. The passion was instilled in Pooja by her mother, who used to visit the Nathdwara temples often. With time, Pooja grew fond of this art and started visiting areas around Nathdwara to explore the local art traditions.
She started collecting authentic works from local artisans. Gradually, she grew her collection to become an avid follower of the craft and considered reviving the form. It was a revivalist’s wish to take this ancient art form beyond the realm of temples and shrines and place it on the map of contemporary art of India.
Where the Word ‘Pichwai’ Came from
‘Pichwai’ literally means back of something; with reference to the paintings created as backdrops of the idols in Indian temples.
Pooja breathed new life into the religious form of pichwai art, setting it free from its defined boundaries so that the art won’t fade into obscurity due to the scarcity of traditional materials. Her mission took off from her atelier project in Udaipur, with collaborators and master artists working extensively on this centuries-old form, adding more contemporary twist to it, applying light and focus, framing, and bold colours.
As she wanted to make it big, she started with a bang! Her collaboration with Delhi’s Gujral Foundation showcased more than 150 artworks in a sprawling bungalow set up. It was wonderful to have a refreshing take on a 400-year-old art form reincarnated with contemporary shape and appeal.
Let’s take a look into a revivalist’s world to discover how Pooja Singhal has conceived and pioneered these changes diligently over the years. It’s no less revolutionary for a woman in a patriarchal set-up of Rajasthan to initiate a cultural revival involving religious art!
The Journey of Pichwai Painting: From Antiquity to Atelier
Pichwai painting has its roots in the Nathdwara region of Rajasthan and its surrounding areas. Artisans usually belong to the same family, as handed down through generations, crafting only a handful of pieces a year. It took a long time to pass on the techniques and skills, which created fewer opportunities for trade or large-scale exhibitions.
Pooja Singhal proposed a workshop or atelier system to get more artists, working and exhibiting together, under the guidance of expert pichwai artists. This helped in both teaching and learning the finer skills and displaying them in studios. Thus, the artists could generate more artworks for future displays.
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Her atelier project Pichwai Tradition & Beyond acted as both curator and advocate of the art form, bringing together artisans from the pichwai community along with some need-based, part-time artists to accelerate a whole new art culture.
Pichwai Tradition & Beyond: Storytelling Under the Guidance of Pooja Singhal
What Was Retained:
There were several factors that ensured the art form revival without interfering with its age-old techniques like:
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The delicate outlining or ‘likhai’ and fine brushstrokes to adorn the backdrop.
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The use of natural pigments, encouraged as an ancient practice.
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The use of fine brushes, often made from squirrel hair.
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By reusing the recurrent motifs of pichwai paintings like lotuses, cows, temples, peacocks, relevant to the various Leelas of Lord Krishna.
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Conventional Pichwai portrayal of the idol ‘Shrinathji’ in rich décor and colour derived from minerals, stone dust, and synthetics.
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The use of 24K gold foils to ornate the art pieces instead of artificial or imitation gold.
Pooja supervises the artists closely working with traditional materials, colours, and proportions, while adding more modernized appeal and aesthetics to them.
Contemporary Twists Added to Religious Paintings:
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Artisans are encouraged to work with new colour schemes like greyscale tones, deconstructing shapes like exploring round shaped canvases instead of the conventional rectangular form.
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Pastel colours are used to paint the motifs like lotuses, creating minimalistic sketches of the elaborate paintings.
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Singhal introduced contemporary framing ideas for these artworks to make them look classy and appealing to the new-age art collectors and buyers.
Introducing Fair Compensation and Recognition for the Pichwai Artisans
As a revivalist, she wished to create economic sustainability for local artisans. Her motto was to free the art form from its family-based ties and liberate it through atelier-based large-scale projects, where artisans can earn fair remuneration and get recognized for their skills.
It was a great initiative to provide livelihoods to numerous village-based artists who could now think beyond Nathdwara and look for better opportunities.
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Pichwai: Tradition & Beyond has created a decent livelihood option for the artisans to earn from Rs. 8000 for smaller works to Rs. 18 to 20 lakhs for collection-worthy pieces.
Taking the Pichwai Art to an International Stage
Besides grooming pichwai art in indigenous set-ups and workshop showcases, Pooja has taken this artform to a global stage by exhibiting the works at major art events like London’s Mall Galleries, the Kochi Biennale, the India Art Fair, and more such prestigious art destinations across the country and abroad.
Ruh: Pooja Singhal on Creating Her Fashion Label
It was a soulful and private journey for Pooja, the heritage revivalist, as she gradually got immersed in the creative process and understood the fragility of the art form. That was when she realized the need for coming up with an initiative like Pichwai: Tradition & Beyond, to go beyond preservation, but to curate and revive it before it gets obscured with time.
She also led a social media project through which she revived and modernized handlooms to generate employment for Indian weavers and artisans.
It was her story – a woman in a world of men, proposing creative changes, honouring the past while introducing evolutionary changes in style and presentation. That’s how she conceived the idea of Ruh (the soul), her signature label.
On the Path of Pichwai Art Renaissance with Pooja Singhal
The journey of Pichwai art has taken a modern course with a visionary like Pooja Singhal embracing the idea of merging religious art with the mainstream cultural dialogue. She has always wanted this art to be treated as a living and breathing, not worshipped as a mere relic of the past. And she has realized her dream with conviction and perseverance, sharing it on a global stage.
Her latest international exhibition, “Feast, Melody and Adornment” in London showed that spirit all the way, highlighting her fashion brand Ruh. She showcased some of the marvellous Pichwai art pieces to a premium international audience. For a woman leading a cultural change in a country like India and to revive a heritage without losing its identity was more than a challenge.
After years of extensive research and study, Pooja could bridge the gap between devotional art and modern cultural discourse, blending aesthetics, authenticity, and innovation.
She has elevated this centuries-old sacred form from the religious boundaries of temples to the global art scenario, retaining its Ruh – the ‘Soul’ of a timeless art of India.