Tokyo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday gifted a wooden hand-carved box with Rogan painting to his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida during his meeting with him in Tokyo, Japan.

Rogan painting is an art of cloth printing practised in the Kutch District of Gujarat. In this craft, paint made from boiled oil and vegetable dyes is laid down on fabric using either a metal block (printing) or a stylus (painting). The craft nearly died out in the late 20th century, with Rogan painting being practised by only one family.

PM Modi had earlier gifted a traditional Rogan painting to the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II during his three-day Europe tour this month.

The word 'Rogan' comes from Persian, meaning varnish or oil. The process of making Rogan painting is very laborious and skilful. Artists place a small amount of this paint paste into their palms.

At room temperature, the paint is carefully twisted into motifs and images using a metal rod that never comes in contact with the fabric. Next, the artisan folds his designs into a blank fabric, thereby printing its mirror image. In effect, it is a very basic form of printing. Previously the designs were simple and rustic in nature but with the passage of time, the craft has become more stylized and now is regarded as a high art form.

This craft is a form of surface embellishment and practised for over a hundred years, but now by only a single family in Nirona, Kachchh. A special paste made of castor is used in this craft. Castor seeds are hand-pounded to extract the oil and turned into a paste by boiling, Coloured powder diluted in water is then mixed with this.

The pastes of different colours yellow, red, blue, green, black and orange are stored in earthen pots with water to prevent them from drying up. The kalam, an iron rod, flat at both ends, is used to paint half the design with the support of the fingers of the left hand. It is then impressed on the other half of the cloth by pressing the two halves together. As they were inexpensive substitutes for embroidered textiles, they were popular alternative textiles for clothing.

PM Modi Gifts Sanjhi Art Panel To US President Biden During Meeting In Tokyo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday gifted a Sanjhi Art panel to US President Joe Biden during his meeting with him in Tokyo.

Sanjhi Painting is a tradition of art that originated out of the cult of Krishna and flourished in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is in Vraja, or Vrindavan, the homeland of Lord Sri Krishna, that this art of Sanjhi painting reached its pinnacle.

Sanjhi is the art of hand-cutting designs on paper. Traditionally motifs from Lord Krishna's stories are created in stencils. These stencils are cut freehand using a scissor or a blade. The delicate Sanjhi is often held together by thin sheets of paper.

This intricate Sanjhi Panel is famously based on the theme of Thakurani Ghat from Mathura by a National Awardee.

This art painting is rooted in the folk culture of the region. It was taken to its glory by the Vaishnava temples in the 15th and 16th centuries. Sanjhi came to be regarded as a highly refined art form practised by the Brahmin priests. Presently, the art of Sanjhi painting is practised by only a select few and remains a living tradition only in some of the temples of India. One of these temples where Sanjhi painting still survives is the Radharamana temple of Vrindavan.

PM Modi Gifts Gond Art To New Australian PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday gifted his newly elected Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese a Gond Art painting during his meeting with him on the sidelines of the Quad Leaders' Summit in Tokyo, Japan.

The historical evolution of 'Gond', also known as Pardhan painting or 'Jangarh kalam,' comes from a community of around four million people spread all over central India, Gonds have a recorded history of 1400 years.

Gond paintings are one of the most admired tribal art forms. The word 'Gond' comes from the expression 'Kond' which means 'green mountain'.

These paintings, created by dots and lines, have been a part of pictorial art on walls and floors of Gonds and it is done with the construction and re-construction of each and every house, with locally available natural colours and materials like charcoal, coloured soil, plant sap, leaves, cow dung, limestone powder, etc.