Mudwall Painting

People in Punjab believe in invoking God’s blessings by pleasing the Gods and Goddesses through art, craft and beauty. Chowk Poorana, or mudwall paintings present in almost every other humble household in the villages of Punjab is one such art that has been passed down through generations. Punjabi women are known to paint their mudwalls with beautiful pictures of the scenes from epics and mythology. They also paint festivals and dance forms on their mudwalls, especially during auspicious occasions. They believe that painting on the wall is one way of warding off the evil eye and appeasing the Gods and Goddesses. Also these beautiful and intricate mudwall paintings are testimony to the belief in beauty, decoration, power and energy that women are bestowed with.

Hand printing

The Cchimba community in Punjab has always been known for their beautiful art of hand printing on cloth. The white cloth, provided by the customers is dyed with dyes obtained from vegetables, plants and stones and then hand-printed by the Cchimbas. Hand printing is now done on cloth for daily wear, handkerchiefs, prayer cloth, bed covers and shamianas. Traditional dyes have now been replaced by aniline dyes since they are cheap and require much less labour.