Lyrical Wall Art

Lyrical — 23 museum-grade prints that set the mood. Kalighat Pat grew up in 19th-century Kolkata, painted by migrant patua (chitrakar) scroll-painters who settled near the Kalighat Kali temple and sold quick watercolour souvenirs to pilgrims. Working on mill-made paper with a bold single black brush outline and soft 'boneless' shaded strokes on a plain ground, they painted gods and goddesses alongside what is often called India's first modern social satire — sharp, affectionate caricatures of the colonial 'babu' and the hypocrisies of Calcutta life. The rasa lila is Krishna's circle dance with the gopis of Vraja on an autumn full-moon night, in which he multiplies himself so that each gopi dances with him alone — the central image of bhakti devotion to Krishna. Cheriyal scrolls come from Cheriyal village in Telangana's Siddipet district, painted for generations by the Nakashi artist community on a signature red ground and unrolled by travelling balladeers who sang the Krishna leelas to village audiences. The Raas Lila is Krishna's circle-dance with the gopis of Vrindavan, in which — by legend — he multiplies himself so each gopi dances with him alone; it is celebrated especially on Sharad Purnima. The raas is central to Vaishnav devotion and beloved in pichwai, the cloth-painting tradition of the Pushtimarg (Vallabh) sampradaya centred on Shrinathji at the Nathdwara haveli-temple in Rajasthan.

Updated 22 Jun 2026