This cloth sheet is a Rajasthani 'Phada' printed manually with wooden seals and basic pigment colours. A 'Phada' is one of the most representative forms of Rajasthan's folk craft and nowadays in great demand. The printing process of a 'phada' is great time taking, tedious and demands considerable skill. The wooden seals, with which printing takes effect, are small. Some times, for achieving multiplicity of colours or to arrive at the size of the designing pattern, which is often several times larger to that of the seal, the printing hand is required to go on repeating impressions of the same seal. This obviously demands both accuracy and skill as its prime condition. Sometimes more hands than one, each with its own choice of seals and designs, accomplish the printing. As a result, a single 'phada' gets varying designing patterns, symmetries and multiplicity of themes. In this 'phada' there is on the extreme right a Devi figure riding on a buffalo type animal. The left has no such figure and no symmetry as such. Surprisingly, Rajasthan is known for its bright colours, whereas this piece lacks in them. This 'phada' has instead the colour pattern of Andhra's 'kalamakari', a well known folk style of Deccan. May be, in quest of novelty the Rajasthan artist synthesised his 'phada' style with 'kalamakari' colour scheme of South.
Mahadurga is the central theme of this 'phada'. In most folk styles of India the artist renders around the central theme whatever comes in his artistic perception and believing mind irrespective of any kind of scriptural coherence or established tradition. He little bothers as to whether such subordinate things have any relevance with the central theme or not. The central space of the 'phada' has been devoted to a sanctum consecrating the six armed Mahadurga riding her lion. Unusual for Devi iconography, she carries in two of her hands a pair of swords, in other two daggers, in the fifth a crown or a crown-like goblet and in the sixth a parrot not known to have much relevance to Mahadurga. At the foot of the sanctum there are six female devotee figures making offerings. The sanctum is surmounted by three domes whereupon fly peacocks and parrots. Pairs of massive flags unfurl on both sides of shrines.
The antechambers on sanctum's two sides have shrines of Lord Ganesha. Beyond the shrines of Lord Ganesh there are, one on each side, two subordinate shrines, which enshrine the four armed Devi in padmasana. She has in her four hands a sword, shield, dagger and bowl. The four armed Ganesha carries in his hands a pot, spear, bell and crown. Quite strangely, Lord Ganesh is riding a black elephant instead his official vehicle the mouse. A pair of flying 'gandharvas' with garlands in hands fly over the domes of Devi's shrines and a parrot couple over those of the shrines of Lord Ganesh. The 'phada' portrays on sanctum's right the sun and on left the moon. The 'phada' depicts three events of Ramakatha, Lord Rama chasing the gold deer with his bow and arrow in hand, Ravana abducting Sita and Hanuman carrying the mount for Sanjivini and one from the life of Lord Krishna, that is, subduing the serpent Kaliyah. Significant of numerous other figures are, Lord Shiva's son Kartikeya, Nagakanyas, Gandharvas, warriors, archers, devotees with pitchers, garlands and offerings, dancers, musicians, rulers, yogis, several species of animals and birds and by the way of the tradition of faith an entire cosmos.
This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of ancient Indian literature. Dr Daljeet is the chief curator of the Visual Arts Gallery at the National Museum of India, New Delhi. They have both collaborated on numerous books on Indian art and culture. the Miniature Paintings Gallery at the National Museum of India, New Delhi.
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