Description
Picchwai painting of Shrinathji surrounded with cows on the occasion of Gopashtami. Krishna (Srinathji) the eternal protector of cows and therefore known as Govind is shown among cows. Krishna humbled Indra by shielding residents of Vraja and its cows under the hill Govardhana, which he lifted on his little finger, and thereby rendered ineffective the torrential rains Indra cast upon Vraja. Thereafter Lord Krishna was revered by Indra and he named him Govinda – the protector of cows. Surabhi, one of the celestial cows, also offered abhishekam to Lord Krishna.
The days is celebrated as Gopashtami in India and Hindus worship cows together with Lord Krishna. This Pichwai painting is about that event. The Pichwai painting is rendered on a cotton cloth and framed in an ornate hand-painted border. All colours are natural colors obtained by grinding natural stone of different hues. Real and pure gold paint or gold foils are used in traditional Pichwais as and when needed in subjects. For example in jewellery, dresses, borders, outlines etc.
The word Srinath is a combination of two words ‘Sri’ and ‘Nath’. Sri means Lakshmi (consort of Lord Vishnu or Krishna) and Nath means Master. So ‘Srinath’ is a name of Krishna which means Master or Husband of Lakshmi. The suffix ‘Ji’ is commonly used at the end of names in North India, Rajasthan in particular, to ascribe respect to the person being referred to. Pichwai paintings only have Srinathji for their theme and the scenes painted are mostly from Srinathji’s loving sports in Vrindavan with Gopis and cowherds.
Pichwai art emerged when the cloth-sheet serving as a background behind the statue of Srinathji was beautified with Rajasthani style paintings created by devotee-artists. In-fact the word Pichwai is a derivative of the Hindi word ‘Peeche’ which means Behind.
The painters, in their dedication to Srinathji went on creating new background cloth-sheets painted with various themes for different occasions. The discarded sheets were preserved and thus started a whole genre of Rajasthani art called Pichwai and alongside emerged a team of devoted artists who would dedicate their art in service of Srinathji and keep painting for generations that continues till date. Many of these artists are still ardent devotees themselves and lead a very simple life.
Srinathji’s temple is located in Nathdwara, a small town in Rajasthan. The elaborate set of customs and procedures of offering loving service to Srinathji were founded by Vallabhcharya, an ardent devotee of Srinathji, great Sanskrit scholar and a philosopher. He founded the ‘Pushti Marg’ of devotional service to Lord Krishna wherein the Supreme Being is conceived of not as all-powerful, hard to access Brahman of the Vedas but a small, loving child in want of his devotee’s loving service.
Srinathji is therefore pampered with choicest of delicacies, rich garments by doting devotees throughout the day with elaborate rituals and procedures. All our Pichwai paintings for sale are rendered on cotton cloth and hand-painted by traditional Pichwai artists.
Special Comments
All sizes are approximate.
Weight mentioned is only for calculation purposes, actual paintings are very light otherwise. Though large-sized paintings may weigh slightly over 500 gms.