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ShareMumbai: Ever heard of mandana, the popular folk art meant to grace the floors and walls of rural Indian homes, being used to adorn objects d'art? Well, now you can see these beautiful floor designs adorning T-shirts, umbrellas, gold coins, wooden artefacts and glass objects.
Giving this unique folk art a modern twist is 42-year-old artist Lakhi Chand Jain, a resident of Kalwa, Thane.
"The art is unfortunately on its way to extinction as the folk artists do not get due recognition and nowadays, there aren't many earthen homes to practice this art," reasons Jain about his effort to revive the art.
Mandana is a folk art that adorns the floors and graces the walls of rural homes in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. "There is a separate mandana design for every occasion -- birth, wedding, festivals like Diwali and Holi and also in case of a death in the family," informs Jain, a recipient of several awards including the National Award in 1996.
"The colours used to draw the mandana paintings are made from natural pigments such as geru (red mud which imparts a brownish red colour), yellow mud, hirmich (crimson powder) and khadiya or white lime paste," explains Jain, a former faculty member of the BD Somani Institute of Art and Fashion Technology. Jain has been practising this art from the age of six. He learned it from his paternal grandmother. It also made Jain travel to the interiors of Rajasthan and study authentic mandana that the villagers drew. Heread Sanskrit texts to get more knowledge on the subject. "I was touched to see that despite the poverty in the villages, people still drew these designs with great fervour," he says.
The five elements used in mandana have their own peculiar shapes -- earth is depicted through a square, water by using a circle, air by using a smaller circle or crescent and fire by using a triangle.
There are two types of mandanas -- Akruti Pradhan (based on figures and non-living objects) and Valhari Pradhan (based on living objects).
In an effort to spread the intricacies of the art, Jain undertakes workshops too.
He has recently introduced a course in the BD Somani Institute called 'Indian arts in fashion' which combines folk art and fashion.
"It is my way of saving this dying art," says Jain.
