Bhopal Tribal Art & Textiles
Gond canvases and zardozi purses, gathered in Madhya Pradesh's capital.
Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, is a gathering point for the state's tribal and courtly crafts rather than the origin of a single one. Pardhan Gond and Bhil artists from Dindori, Mandla, Patangarh and Jhabua live in or regularly visit the city, painting in the dotted and dashed styles of their communities and selling through galleries and the tribal museum. In parallel, the old city's Muslim artisans make the batua — a soft drawstring purse — along with caps and pouches worked in zardozi and zari, a legacy of the Bhopal Begums' court.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Also Known As
Gond art, Jangarh Kalam (the Gond painting style), Bhopali batua work
Craft Type
Tribal painting and metal-thread embroidery
Practising Community
Pardhan Gond and Bhil artists resident in or visiting the city; Muslim karigar families of the old city for the embroidery
Materials
Paper, canvas, acrylic and poster paint and ink for the paintings; velvet, silk and satin, metallic zari, dabka, salma, sequins and beads for the embroidery; cord and metal frames for the purses.
Known For
Gond and Bhil painting on paper and canvas, and the Bhopali batua zari purse
Where It's Made
Bhopal city — the tribal museum, Bharat Bhavan and the old-city embroidery lanes; source villages in Dindori, Mandla, Patangarh and Jhabua
Time to Create
Days to weeks per painting; days per embroidered purse
GI Status
Not registered as a group; Gond painting has been proposed for GI protection
Process Steps
Preparing the surface
Paper or canvas is sized for painting; for embroidery, velvet or silk is laced tight onto a wooden frame.
Drawing the outline
The Gond or Bhil painter lays a firm black outline of the composition — a tree of life, animals, a deity, a village scene.
Filling with colour
The areas are filled with flat, bright, unshaded colour following the outline.
Adding the signature infill
Each colour field is worked over with rows of dots, dashes, commas or seed marks in the artist's community and personal style.
Transferring the embroidery design
For the purses, a perforated stencil prints the floral motif onto the framed fabric.
Couching the zari
Metal thread is laid on the surface and tacked down, and dabka and sequins are stitched in to fill the motifs.
Making up the batua
The embroidered panel is cut, lined and stitched into a drawstring purse or pouch with a cord or metal frame.
Technique Glossary
Gond painting
A contemporary tribal art of the Pardhan Gond community using patterned infill over bold outlines.
Jangarh Kalam
The Gond painting style named for its founder, Jangarh Singh Shyam, who first took it onto paper and canvas.
Bhil painting
The tribal painting of the Bhil community, built from bold figures covered in multicoloured dots.
Batua
A soft drawstring purse, the signature embroidered accessory of old Bhopal.
Dabka
A tightly coiled fine metal spring cut into short lengths and sewn on like a bead in zardozi.
Adda
The wooden frame on which fabric is stretched taut for metal-thread embroidery.
Bharat Bhavan
The Bhopal multi-arts complex that helped bring tribal artists into the city's cultural life.
A Craft Through Time
1819–1926
Rule of the Begums
Four women rulers patronise embroidery and fine crafts in Bhopal state, seeding the batua tradition.
1982
Bharat Bhavan opens
The arts complex draws tribal artists to the capital and gives Gond and Bhil painting a public platform.
1980s
Jangarh Singh Shyam
The Pardhan Gond artist, based in Bhopal, turns Gond wall painting into a gallery art and trains a following.
Late 20th century
A market forms
Galleries, the tribal museum and craft fairs make Bhopal a place where the state's tribal art is bought and commissioned.
21st century
Gond art goes global
Gond painters exhibit internationally, and the style is widely licensed and, at times, imitated.
Present
A craft crossroads
Bhopal serves as a hub where the state's tribal paintings and courtly embroidery are made, sold and commissioned.
Did You Know?
Bhopal was governed by four successive Begums between 1819 and 1926 — their patronage is why a landlocked city is known for delicate courtly embroidery.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.