Pichwai painting being a traditional and religious art form initially confined to the usage as the backdrop in Nathdwara temple, Udaipur, Rajasthan. The pichwai painting portrays the various life phases of Srinathji i.e. 7 years old god Krishna. The painting is executed with utmost devotion on cloth or paper using natural materials like coal, zinc, indigo, saffron, gold, silver in vibrant colour combinations using red, yellow, black, green etc. The different themes of pichwai painting revolve around Annakutpichwai, raasleela, Nand Mahotsav, Sandhya Arti, Gopasthmi, Morkutipichwai, Daan Mahotsav etc, significantly using lotuses, cows, trees, peacocks, gopis. Many art galleries like artisera, artzolo etc are selling Pichwai inspired wallart suitable for living rooms, work spaces, pooja rooms etc in different themes, and colour pallates customised to suit the taste of the modern consumer. However, to expand the value and to transcend the boundaries of regional usage, designers and artists have intervened with the Pichwai painting. This paper explores the designers’ and brands approach in taking inspiration from pichwai art into mainstream fashion in different ways.
Pichwai painting in contemporary fashion
Rajdeep Ranawat
Fashion designer Rajdeep Ranawat is known to produce fine embroidered, sequinned, beaded motifs and designs by aesthetically using Indian artisanal skills and techniques. The design process includes creating original artworks by hand and then transforming them into digital prints on ecofriendly, sustainable organic and silk fabrics. The brand uses finest materials, weaves, metallic threads, beads, pearls, sequins and Austrian crystals to create a glamourous western silhouette with Indian taste. Rajdeep Ranawat has beautifully captured the essence of pichwai paintings elements in his ethereal collection. His collection is a mix of tunics, skirts with contemporary style tops etc. The different constructional features include collars like mandarin, a button placket front tunica, tops, skirts, kaftans. Sleeves are made in all the styles ranging from petal sleeve to loose boxy kimono sleeves.
The layouts of the patterns are overall to sectional arrangements of aesthetically combined motifs like cow, trees, lotuses, in different scales printed in trendy colour combinations.
The functional features include adjustable drawstring in waistbands, Variety of embellishments used include beautiful coordinating tassels with glass beads and Swarovski crystals and glass beaded edgings. It is also providing some customised options to its clients like adjusting the size of sleeves, placing of crystals, selection of coordinating sets, as per the size of the client.
Guthali studio
Another startup label Guthali “a timeless seed” aims to work for the revival of traditional crafts using handmade, hand painted and hand woven techniques to produce everyday products. As an endeavour to preserve and revive pichwai art form, Guthali studio has designed the collection of cushion covers, dupattas, coasters, fridge
magnets, logbooks, tray sets.
Label Pratham
Label Pratham is a venture that offers Pichwai saris, lehngas and dupattas that are a work of art. All of these carry intricate and mostly hand-painted motifs of cows, elephants and more. Label Pratham was found in by 2015 Prashant and Shweta. Many celebrities like Neeta Ambani, Sonam Kapoor, Vidya Balan and more are seen wearing label Pratham. The label is known for its Rajasthani Pichwai art apparel where motifs of cows, Shree Nath Ji, gullies of artists and elephants are integrated into ethnic wear.
Pratham has experimented with pichwai art in including its motifs in various forms in hand woven tussar linen. Their product range is quite diverse ranging from running printed fabric, stitched blouses, double layered masks, dupattas, sari, kurta etc. The fabrics manufactured are hand woven tussar linen. Their recent collection “Pichwai-Paithani” was based on amalgamating pichwai motifs in paithani sari using traditional weaves and colour combination.
Conclusion
Pichwai painting is a revered art form and the designers have successfully incorporated its various elements without hurting the religious sentiments of devotees of Srinathji. The mentioned case studies help in understanding how a traditional art form can be shaped into various forms in order to satisfy the creative urge of upcoming labels. This ultimately leads to wider reach of the art form beyond the boundaries of a particular geographical locale.
