Mobile Temples Of Rajasthan – Phad Painting With Pradeep Mukherjee & Shamsher Khan

A 700-year-old storytelling legacy passed down over generations, Phad finds its origins in Shahpura district, near Bhilwara, Rajasthan. Phad means narrating, reading out or singing a musical rendition from such paintings. The Bhopa and Bhopi community of nomads wandered from one place to another singing such tales to villages. To take you through the elaborate and intricate process, we bring to you the prestigious artist Pradeep Mukherjee and his student Shamsher Khan, your curators of this special Phad Painting Art Experience straight from Udaipur.

Phad is a type of scroll painting that narrates elaborate religious stories of local deities and gods. Created as a form of travelling or mobile temples, these traditional illustrations were carried by priest-singers of the Rabari tribe. The painting would be unrolled or unfolded after sunset, and the performance in front of village members would last into the night. This is perhaps why the paintings are called ‘Phad’, which means ‘fold’ in the local dialect.

Did you know? Phad paintings were unrolled and performed as a narration by the Bhopas and Bhopis in front of the locals as a source of income for the former and as a source of entertainment for the latter.

Pradeep Mukherjee, India’s first Miniature Phad Artist and recipient of the prestigious Shilp Guru Award, is known to do the unconventional. He is the first outsider to be taken under tutelage by the Joshi families of Bhilwara, the only ones to specialise in Phad Painting for over two centuries. In 1980-82, he created a series of 108 Phad Paintings on Ramcharitmanas. He has painted the entire 292 shlokas of the Gita Govinda on a single cloth.

At present, he resides in Udaipur and paints with his student, Shamsher Khan, who has been with him for the past twenty-five years. Shamsher has himself won State and National Merit Award and matches Pradeepji in the passion towards Phad. Immerse yourself in this one-of-a-kind art experience as an amalgamation of Miniature Painting and Phad Painting. Take home a souvenir and memories of a lifetime. 

EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

• Take a cultural trip to the miniature world of Phad paintings
• Get a live demonstration of the entire process 
• One-on-one conversations with the award-winning artist
• Co-create a cherished memory 
• Take home a little piece of Udaipur with you
• Be assisted by Rajasthan Studio team
• Small Group Sizes
• Sanitised Studio