Sanjhi Paper Cutting

Brief if the ART

This art is rooted in the folk culture of the region. It was taken to its glory by the Vaishnava temples in the 15th and 16th century. Sanjhi came to be regarded as a highly refined art form practiced by the Brahmin Priests and Acharyas. Presently, the art of Sanjhi paper cutting is practiced by only a select few and remains a living tradition only in some of the temples of India.

Sanjhi art to attract Krishna. ‘Sanjhi’ is a word derived from word like “sajja”, “ Shringar”, and “ sajavat” which all means ‘decoration’. Sanjhi paintings made at a particular time in the year for the pleasure of Krishna’s eyes. Sanjhi known in Braj as a second form of Shri Radha.

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History of the Artisan

I am six generation of this work, my grandfather father do at this work

Vijay Kumar and his two brothers, Ajay Kumar and Mohan Kumar, belong to the family of Shri Narayan Das Verma, their grandfather, who was a master craftsman in the art of sanjhi. Originally from a tradition of gold craftsmen who designed gold jewellery and did gold inlay work, he had turned to paper art. In his time the art was grounded, spatially and conceptually, to Mathura and Vrindavan, to Radha and Krishna and the episodes of their life in Vrajabhoomi. Demand was almost entirely local, from the temples and also for domestic use. For sanjhi stencils, The only outside demand was from visitors to Mathura who were mainly from Gujarat and typically followers of the Pushtimarga sect for whom of course sanjhi is an important form of worship.  His father designed 'mehndi chaapas' and then he made designs for Bindi. These were available only at their shop, in the market. His grandfather would keep a bottle of powder colour at the shop for girls who came to put bindis, so he came to be known as 'design bindiwala'.Though there was the diversification of the product to new uses, the design vocabulary was essentially the traditional one, and Vijay Kumar and his brothers grew up learning this vocabulary and the techniques from their father. We are six generation of this work, my grandfather father do at this work