A backdrop for a living child
A household, not a temple: at Nathdwara, Shrinathji is cared for as a seven-year-old Krishna. His temple is called a haveli, and he is woken, dressed, fed and put to bed through the day.
Decorating the child's room: like any loving household, the haveli decorates for the season. The pichwai behind the image is part of that, with the clothes, jewels and food.
- Shrinathji
- Krishna as a boy of seven, lifting Govardhan
- Temple called
- A haveli, a household
- Changed
- With seasons, festivals and the day
- Daily viewings
- Eight short darshans, or jhankis
- Photography
- Forbidden inside the temple
- The word: pichwai joins pichh, behind, and wai, hanging. It is literally the cloth that hangs behind.
- A scene from Braj: each pichwai sets the scene. A lotus pond cools the child in summer, rain clouds bring the monsoon, a moonlit dance brings autumn.
- Seen in a flash: devotees see the pichwai only during darshan, short openings of the shrine through the day. That brief glimpse is why its colours are so bold.
- From temple to home: devout families keep small pichwai behind their household shrines, and in recent decades collectors and designers have taken them all over the world.
How Shrinathji and the painters came to Mewar
Pushtimarg: the path of grace, founded by Vallabhacharya around the end of the fifteenth century, in which devotees serve Krishna with the tenderness of a parent for a child.
From Govardhan: in Pushtimarg tradition, the image of Shrinathji emerged from Govardhan hill near Mathura, where Vallabhacharya established his worship. Our page on Mathura and Vrindavan covers Braj today.
- The journey: in the late 1660s, with temples in Braj under threat in Aurangzeb's reign, the priests took the image away for safety and travelled for some two or three years.
- Mewar's welcome: Maharana Raj Singh of Mewar agreed to protect it. When the cart's wheels sank into the mud at the village of Sihad, the priests took it as a sign, and the image was installed there in 1672.
- The painters: a community of painters grew up around the new temple, making pichwai for the haveli, for other Pushtimarg temples and for devout families.
- The full story: our piece on Nathdwara and Shrinathji tells the journey in more detail.
The pichwai calendar
Summer, the lotus pond
What you see: great ponds of lotus flowers and leaves, sometimes with no figures at all, sometimes with cows resting in the shade or pavilions over water.
- Why: in the hottest months the household's care turns to keeping the child cool.
- Collectors' favourite: a lotus pichwai is the piece most guests fall for first, and it suits almost any room.
The monsoon, clouds and peacocks
- What you see: dark clouds, falling rain, peacocks dancing on the rooftops and the green of Braj in the wet season.
- Swings: for the festivals of Sawan, Radha and Krishna are swung in a decorated cradle, and swings appear in the paintings.
Janmashtami and Nandotsav
- What you see: Krishna's birth, the celebrations in Gokul and the cowherds dancing.
- When: Krishna's birthday falls in August or September, followed by the joyful day after. Our page on Janmashtami in Nathdwara describes the festival.
Sharad Purnima, the dance by moonlight
- What you see: the raas, Krishna's circle dance with the gopis under a huge white autumn moon, with a Krishna beside every gopi.
- The palette: deep blues and silvers. These are among the most complex pichwai to paint, and among the most moving.
Annakut and Gopashtami
- Annakut: the day after Diwali, a mountain of food is offered in memory of Krishna lifting Govardhan, and its pichwai shows the great heap before Shrinathji.
- Gopashtami: a little later, honouring the day Krishna first took the cows to graze. The paintings fill with herds, white, red and dappled.
Spring and Holi
- What you see: spring flowers, mango blossom and the gopis throwing coloured powder at Krishna.
- The mood: bright, busy and cheerful. They suit a family home beautifully. Our Holi page explains the festival.
How to read a pichwai
Shrinathji's pose: his left arm raised above his head, lifting Govardhan hill to shelter the people of Braj from the storm, and his right hand resting in a fist at his waist.
The priests: many pichwai show the temple's priests and the Tilkayat, the hereditary head, attending Shrinathji with fans, lamps and offerings, so the painting is also a picture of worship.
- Shrinathji's pose
- Left arm raised, lifting Govardhan
- Skin
- Dark, almost black
- Eyes
- Long and lotus-shaped
- Setting
- Braj, with the Yamuna and kadamba trees
- Quality test
- The painted border
- The gopis: the cowherd women of Braj stand in rows in profile, often in matching saris, their faces almost identical. They stand for the devotee's loving attention.
- The cows: patterned, decorated and gently individual, often with coloured handprints on their flanks and calves at their sides. Nathdwara's temple keeps its own herd.
- The trees and the river: the kadamba tree, where Krishna played his flute, and the Yamuna running blue at the foot of the painting place the scene in Braj.
- The lotus: purity and the beauty of the god, and in summer pieces almost the whole subject.
- The border: fine pichwai have painted borders of flowers, small figures or scenes. The quality of the border is a good test of the whole piece.
How a pichwai is painted
Preparing the cloth
- Starch and stone: hand-woven cotton is washed, stiffened with starch and burnished with a stone until the surface takes a single-hair line.
- Paper for small pieces: smaller works may be painted on handmade paper, prepared just as carefully.
The drawing
- Established models: many compositions follow drawings and stencils passed down in the painting families, so Shrinathji's pose and proportions are always right.
- The line: fixed with a fine brush, confident and unbroken. It is the painter's signature as much as any name.
Colours and gold
Ground by hand: traditional painters grind mineral and natural pigments on a flat stone with water and gum, sometimes for hours, until the colour is silky.
- Layers: flat areas first, then shading, then pattern. Apprentices often fill large areas while senior painters do the jewellery and textiles.
- Gold: real gold, as leaf or paint, for Shrinathji's ornaments and fine borders, burnished until it shines.
The face, last of all
- The master's hand: the faces, and above all Krishna's eye, are painted last by the master, when his hand is steadiest.
- A quiet moment: in some families finishing the eye is treated with a small ceremony. When it is done, the painting is complete.
The painters of Nathdwara today
Family studios: most studios are family homes, with cloths spread on the floor of a front room or an upstairs room with good light.
Long apprenticeships: an apprentice starts by grinding colours and filling borders, moves on to cows and trees, and may wait many years before painting Shrinathji's face.
- Daughters too: fathers have always taught sons, and increasingly daughters now learn alongside them.
- Shared commissions: large pieces are divided between relatives and neighbours, each with a speciality, so one pichwai can carry the work of several hands.
- Two markets: some work still comes from temples and devout families. Much now comes from collectors, designers and galleries in Indian cities and abroad.
- Pride and caution: painters welcome the new demand, which has kept families in the craft, but worry about pressure to work faster and cheaper.
- Teaching: several painters now teach visiting students, and a lesson booked through us pays the painter who gives it.
Pichwai and its cousins
Mewar miniatures: pichwai shares the flat colour, fine line and profile faces of the Mewar court painters. Our miniature painting page explains the schools.
Kishangarh: the long-eyed Radha of Kishangarh shows how differently another court painted Krishna's love, with elongated faces and dreamy lakes.
- Bundi: the monsoon murals of Bundi share pichwai's love of rain clouds, peacocks and lotus. Our piece on Bundi murals shows how to read them.
- The phad: the great scrolls of the folk heroes Pabuji and Devnarayan are also portable temples, painted for performance rather than display. See our piece on the bhopa and the phad.
- The temple songs: pichwai is one of several arts serving Shrinathji, alongside haveli sangeet, the devotional songs of the Pushtimarg temples.
Where to see pichwai
Nathdwara, in the temple and the lanes
- In place: at a morning darshan, usually Shringar or Rajbhog, you see the pichwai hanging behind Shrinathji, as it was meant to be seen. Phones and cameras stay in the car.
- Chitron ki Gali: the street of paintings near the temple, where almost every doorway opens onto a studio. Our pichwai painting experience takes you inside.
Udaipur, the painters of the old city
- Studios: Udaipur has its own painters in the Mewar tradition, many of whom also paint pichwai. A studio near the Jagdish temple is a good alternative if Nathdwara's crowds are too much.
- With a lesson: we arrange half-day and full-day lessons with a painter, in Nathdwara or Udaipur.
Rajsamand and Kankroli
- Rajsamand: about half an hour north of Nathdwara, the great lake Raj Singh completed in 1676, with marble pavilions and the long Sanskrit inscription of the Raj Prashasti.
- Kankroli: the temple of Dwarkadhish on the lakeshore, another important Pushtimarg seat, quieter than Nathdwara.
Ahmedabad, for the great collection
- The Calico Museum: in Ahmedabad, it holds an important collection of Pushtimarg paintings and temple textiles. Visits are by advance booking, so we arrange them well ahead.
Choosing a pichwai to take home
Which season? a lotus pond or a cow study suits almost any room and any household. Sharad Purnima and Annakut pieces are richer, busier and more devotional.
With or without the god? many collectors choose lotus ponds, cows or trees without the figure of Shrinathji, which are freer to hang anywhere.
- Cloth or paper? large cloth pieces are the traditional form. Paper suits smaller studies and is easier to frame.
- Size and detail: a small lotus or cow study can be finished in days. A large Sharad Purnima with dozens of gopis may take a team months, and costs accordingly.
- New colours: some painters now work in pale or unusual palettes for designers. They are beautiful, but if you want a traditional piece, say so.
- Commission one: you can commission a pichwai from a painter we know and have it shipped when finished. Allow weeks or months for a large piece.
Buying honestly
Look closely: a hand-painted piece shows tiny variations in line and colour layered with visible depth. A print is flat and perfectly even.
Look at the gold: real gold leaf or paint catches the light differently from printed gold as you move.
- Hand-painted
- Small variations, layered colour
- Gold
- Catches light differently from print
- Back of cloth
- Paint shows through unevenly
- Ask for
- A signed note of who painted it
- Ship it
- Rolled, never folded
- Look at the back: on hand-painted cloth, paint usually shows through faintly and unevenly. A printed piece is blank or uniformly coloured.
- Ask about pigments: natural colours are slower to use and cost more. Good painters will tell you honestly if they used modern paints, and many fine pieces do.
- Buy from the painter: or from a studio we trust, and ask for a signed note on the back saying who painted it and when.
- Antiques: old pichwai are rare, valuable and some are subject to export rules. Talk to us before buying anything sold as old.
- Shipping: have large pieces rolled around a tube with soft paper between the layers, never folded. Our shopping guide explains how we choose shops, and our guides never take commissions.
Living with a pichwai at home
Light and damp: pigments and gold dislike strong sun and damp walls. Hang yours out of direct sunlight, on a dry wall.
Framing: use acid-free mounts and leave a little air between the painting and the glass. Many collectors hang cloth pieces loosely from a padded rod, as the temple does.
- Storing: roll, never fold. Keep a spare piece wrapped in cotton, not plastic.
- Where to hang the god: many devout families think about where a painting of Shrinathji hangs. It is a kind gesture to keep it somewhere calm, never in a bathroom or corridor.
- Change with the seasons: if you own more than one, do as our aunt does and the temple does, and change them with the year.
Sacred art, and how to treat it
In the temple: photography is forbidden inside the Shrinathji haveli, and we follow the rule without exception. Our temple etiquette guide covers the rest.
In the studios: take off your shoes as the family does, and never step over a painting spread on the floor.
- Ask before photographing: most painters are happy for you to photograph finished pieces, but some prefer that works in progress, especially the god's face, are not photographed.
- Pay fairly: we pay painters directly for their time and lessons, and we never take a cut of what you buy.
- Don't haggle to the bone: a fair price for a hand-painted pichwai keeps the next generation in the studio rather than in a print shop.
Fitting pichwai into your journey
A Nathdwara morning: leave Udaipur early, stop at Eklingji for the morning prayers, attend a darshan, then walk into Chitron ki Gali. Back by lunch.
A Mewar week: our Mewar Lakes and Temples journey includes a morning like this, with Kumbhalgarh and the lakes.
- A sacred journey: our Sacred Rajasthan journey links Nathdwara with Pushkar, Ajmer and Ranakpur.
- Where to stay: RAAS Devigarh, in an eighteenth-century hill palace at Delwara between Udaipur and Nathdwara, or the lake hotels of Udaipur such as the Taj Lake Palace.
- When to come: October to March for comfortable mornings. Janmashtami and Annakut are extraordinary but very crowded, and the painters are rushed before them.