How an erstwhile princess is on a mission to revive Kishangarh miniatures
Almond-shaped eyes, aquiline features, elongated faces with defined chins and noses, earthy tones, panoramic landscapes and stylised clouds — these are some of the things that set apart Kishangarh paintings from the other miniature traditions of India.
Drenched in bhakti and sringara rasas, these miniatures originated somewhere around the 17th Century in Kishangarh in Ajmer, Rajasthan. Rulers such as Raj Singh and Sawant Singh set up court ateliers led by Bhavanidas and Nihal Chand and patronised this art form. However, diminished patronage over the years has seen miniatures and traditional visual art forms relegated to the realm of handicraft.
Centuries later, Vaishnavi Kumari, who traces her lineage to the erstwhile royal family of Kishangarh, has taken upon herself the task of reinventing the art form to suit the contemporary milieu. In 2010, she set up Studio Kishangarh, where she works with artists to create paintings that merged traditional aesthetics and modern sensibilities.
'We do acrylic on canvas, work on wasli (handmade) paper and take up landscape themes. We might take inspiration from a Pichwai painting and interpret it in our own way, using gold and silver embellishment. We recently had a show 'Ishq Chaman' based on the poetry of Raja Sawant Singh. The poem talks about devotion and we created allegorical paintings on love and devotion for god,' says Vaishnavi Kumari, the curator and founder of Studio Kishangarh.
Vaishnavi graduated from NIFT and pursued her Master's in art history from SOAS University, London. 'Middlemen buy unique haathi-ghoda paintings at very low prices from artists. These are sold as souvenirs. That set me thinking. In museums and auctions, you see work that is highly valued, and I wondered why we were not producing that kind of quality. Traditionally, a patron influenced the kind of work done in karkhanas (workshops). For example, you see hunting scenes in Kota paintings, because the ruler wanted those depictions. Nainsukh (1710-1778) painted most of his works for the local ruler Raja Balwant Singh of Jasrota in Himachal Pradesh. That encouraged me to set up an atelier and offer contemporary patronage,' says Vaishnavi.
A couple's rendezvous in a lush green garden against the picturesque backdrop of mountains, dense flora and fauna and a distinct blue sky is an aesthetic marvel, and a typical Kishangarh miniature. This style is also synonymous with Bani Thani — known as the Indian Mona Lisa, a combination of grace and beauty, supposedly painted by Nihal Chand, as instructed by then ruler Raja Sawant Singh. It is said that the Raja and Bani Thani were lovers, and they are the nayak and nayika in several paintings.
Among the most famous of Kishangarh paintings, 'Boat of Love', is on display at the National Museum, Delhi. Inspired by Raja Sawant Singh's poem, the painting depicts three scenes featuring Radha and Krishna — atop a hill, crossing the river seated on a boat accompanied by attendants, and amid dense foliage.
Through her work in the atelier with her artists, Vaishnavi wants to educate people about the art tradition. 'What you see is just the first layer which is the aesthetic — the women are beautiful, the figures so lyrical… but there is a deeper meaning. Bani Thani wasn't just a beautiful woman. She was an accomplished poet and an amazing musician. Sufism and Haveli Sangeet were major influences at the time and we want the viewers to discover all these facets to these paintings. Raja Sawant Singh was a Bhakti poet and wrote in Rekhta, a precursor to the Hindustani dialect, among other languages, under the pen name of Nagari Das. A pushtimargi, belonging to the Vallabhacharya sect, he wrote devotional poetry for Krishna and Bani Thani,' she adds.
Once Vaishnavi returned from London, she discovered many families that had been painting for generations. She brought together a few of them for two reasons — better livelihood opportunities and the chance to develop a unique aesthetic.
'We have a core group but we also work with other artists. When we started, we were doing handicrafts — we painted apparel. I explore a lot of media. Even though I give ideas, the exploration is by the artists. Also, each painting is the collective work of two or three artists — one does the basic drawing, the other adds the flora and fauna elements, the third might add an iconic element like the Kamadhenu. They enjoy working on a new visual vocabulary,' says Vaishnavi, who is trying to strike a balance between the old and the new.
Vaishnavi Kumari, who traces her lineage to the erstwhile royal family of Kishangarh, has taken upon herself the task of reinventing the art form to suit the contemporary milieu
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fashion Value Chain
2 days ago
- Fashion Value Chain
Bobby Aggarwal Explores Urban Poetics in Denscity Series
Atelier Bobby Aggarwal introduces its third limited edition collection, Denscity – There's a Moon Hanging on My City, a sculptural homage to the layered complexity of Indian urban life. The collection draws from the quiet rhythm within the chaos of cities like Bombay and Calcutta, where dense architectural sprawl meets timeworn elegance. Crafted from found waste wood, black-and-white leather, and brass, the collection uses contrast to evoke drama and stillness. The works—such as the LaLuna coffee table and Walkeshwar Tower cabinet—mirror winding streets, asymmetrical skylines, and the poetic irregularities often seen in Pichwai paintings. Aggarwal reflects on the enduring character of cityscapes that evolve organically: 'There's a quiet nobility in how these spaces endure change—small villages and historic cities alike,' he says. The moon in the collection's title symbolizes serenity amidst visual overload, suggesting an underlying order in urban disarray. Denscity is both a tribute and a critique—a thoughtful interpretation of the imperfect yet intentional forms that shape our lived environments. Its pieces invite a deeper appreciation of urban beauty: chaotic, whimsical, and quietly composed. 'There's a quiet nobility in how these spaces evolve…' – Bobby Aggarwal
Hindustan Times
17-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Connecting the dots: Check out a ‘tattoo garden' in Manipur
There are many ways to save something. One can document it, place it in a museum, capture it on camera, or simply write about it. When Moranngam Khaling began to worry about the ancient but fading tattoo traditions of north-east India, none of these approaches seemed ideal. He wanted, he says, to help it sprout back to life. That's how the 40-year-old ended up creating a 'tattoo garden'. 'In our culture, every element that goes into a tattoo was once a living thing. It's a nature-to-nature transfer,' he says. So, on a four-acre plot in Khoibu village, Manipur, his tattoo garden holds 25 types of plants, representing the raw materials used across 10 tribes. In addition, there are photos and explanations of patterns; across Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura, hand-tapped dots and stripes serve as markers of identity, age, class, marital status, or even how many rivals a brave warrior has killed in battle. 'The plants aren't difficult to grow because they are native to the land,' he says. What has been difficult is gathering the information on what different tribes use, and what some of the rarer patterns mean. Khaling has spent 12 years travelling sporadically through villages across the three states, for this purpose, photographing patterns and jotting down details. 'With fewer and fewer elders alive, the transfer of knowledge becomes difficult,' he says. It all began for Khaling with a reawakening of his own. He was studying at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Hyderabad in 2008 when he came upon an image of a traditional Uipo tattoo. Khaling is one of only 2,000 remaining members of the Uipo aka Khoibu tribe. The more he explored the tattoos of his tribe, the more intrigued he became. He had spent much of his childhood with relatives in Delhi, sent away by his parents as many children are, to keep them away from Manipur's strife, with its blockades and sectarian conflict. He was now 24 years old, and still this was all new to him. It struck him at this point that this once-vital aspect of his community's identity was endangered. Younger people weren't opting for the traditional patterns, which typically cover parts of the face, chest, neck, arms and legs. Others, like him, were growing up with no knowledge of these patterns at all. He became determined to preserve what he could of the ancient art form. In 2009, he graduated from NIFT, Hyderabad and moved to Delhi to open his first tattoo studio. In 2012, he decided to move the tattoo studio to Manipur, and carry on his research alongside. He shuttled between Delhi and Manipur in this manner, until 2019, when he returned home for good. Since then, he has worked to set up the tattoo garden and knowledge repository on his four acres, part of which was a gift from a cousin and part an endowment from Khoibu village. Amid the ongoing troubles, he hasn't opened the garden to the public. It will eventually be open to visitors by appointment, he says. Khaling hopes to expand beyond tattoos too, turning the plot into a sort of tribal art and design centre. 'I want to work with craftsmen on bamboo and cane furniture, traditional textiles and handloom. I plan to make this a place with intent,' he says. Meanwhile, his efforts at documentation, and the tattoo patterns he has helped preserve, have drawn attention. They have been exhibited at the Humboldt Forum museum in Berlin and the Museum of Vancouver in Canada, among others. He has been featured in tattoo anthropologist Lars Krutak's The World Atlas of Tattoo (Yale University Press; 2015) and will feature in Krutak's upcoming Indigenous Tattoo Traditions: Humanity Through Skin and Ink (Princeton University Press; 2025). 'I have been studying his work since 2013,' says Krutak. Khaling, for his part, is proud of his work, but doesn't think it extraordinary. In his own family, he says, his father Mosyel Syelsaangthyel Khaling, a respected native linguist, has toiled for decades on a dictionary of the Uipo language. His brothers, one a teacher and the other a social worker, live lives rooted in the community. Many in his tribe are working in their own ways, he adds, to preserve what they can of a heritage that is fading.
Hans India
11-05-2025
- Hans India
Creative Strokes – A One-Week (01 May to 07 May 2025) Art Workshop at Sphoorthy Engineering College
Hyderabad: Sphoorthy Engineering College, through its SheInspires initiative, successfully conducted a one-week workshop titled 'Creative Strokes', exclusively designed for the female fraternity of the institution. The workshop aimed to nurture creativity, promote self-expression, and encourage entrepreneurial skills among women through artistic exploration. Held over five days, the workshop featured hands-on training in a variety of art forms including fabric painting, tie & dye, clay jewellery making, canvas painting, and traditional Pichwai art. Participants used Fevicryl-brand painting materials such as acrylics, pastels, metallic paints, 3D liners, and moulding clay, adding professional finesse to their creations. The sessions were led by Ms. Chinni Leela Sravanthi, an accomplished trainer, whose engaging instruction and artistic expertise added immense value to the experience. Secretary Shri S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Principal Dr. Giridhar Akkula appreciated Women's Chapter Mentor Dr. Gayathri and her team for conceptualizing and executing this creative initiative. They emphasized the importance of such platforms in fostering holistic development and empowering students beyond the classroom.
