Sanjhi, the traditional paper craft of Mathura, is on a revivalist curve as fashion and interior designers are using the motif in modern creations. By Shrabasti Mallik

The legend has it that Radha used ancient paper craft to decorate walls of her house to commemorate her love for Krishna. Not just this, sanjhi is the craft of paper cutting which was used to adorn Vaishnava temples. It flourished in Mathura where craftsmen adorned temple walls with cut paper. People also used it as stencils to make coloured patterns on floor and water.

What started off as a devotional offering and thrived across cultures soon faded away owing to the fragility of paper. As a result, artisans were forced to look for other ways to keep the art alive. But now the forgotten craft is making a comeback with a lot of contemporary artists and designers using sanjhi motif or pattern to create innovative designs. They are impressed by its intricate details and minute cuts.

Today sanjhi might have lost much of its sheen within Mathura, the place of its origin, but the ancient craft is quietly finding other avenues. The art is now being used in designs — both fashion and interior — and is also inspiring patterns for utility items like coasters, mirrors, wall hanging and room separators.

Fashion designer Sahil Kochhar created his Spring Summer 2015 collection titled Dhoop-Chaon in a bid to popularise and encourage the art. He found it difficult to replicate the intricate details on the garment so he used motifs and panels. “We made our own fabric by stitching patti’s (several pieces of cloth). We cut pieces of traditional sanjhi motifs like peepal trees, leaves and birds and used them in the line,” said the designer who learnt the basic techniques from artisans from Delhi Haat. Inspiration has no limitation, he said and added that as a designer he looks for ways to fuse traditional aesthetics with modern fabric.

Similarly there are a number of interior decoratives inspired by the sanjhi art. For instance, there are mirrors with borders of sanjhi work or curtains with patterns cut on them. One may also marvel at how it can be used in a room separator. Designers have made a double glass pane separator with intricate sanjhi works in the inner walls. Ram Soni, one of the artist who has continued with this traditional craft since years, said, “We do our sanjhi work, sometimes with layers of paper and sometimes on a single sheet of paper. This not only promotes our work but people are also coming to know of sanjhi, which is of prime importance.”

Mohan Verma is from one of the two families that still practise the craft in Mathura. He said that it takes years to master the art. “Anyone can learn a skill but it takes generations to learn a tradition,” said the fifth generation artist whose sanjhi work is part of an exhibition organised by the Delhi Crafts Council at The lodhi Hotel. “It took me 25 years to bring perfection to my art. It is very precise and you have to be very careful. It demands all your attention because if you make one tiny wrong cut, the entire work is destroyed,” added the artist whose two brothers are also involved in the craft.

With time, the craft declined because it was unable to generate  revenue and craftsmen resorted to other means of livelihood. Twenty five years ago, the Delhi Crafts Council took an initiative to revive the languishing art and motivated remaining few artisans to continue with their work. Over the years they have given the craftsmen a platform to showcase their craft at the national level and have also showed them a way to adopt sanjhi in other forms of art.

The exposure to new ideas and concept has helped Soni to develop modern motifs and patterns to suit the taste of the changing generation. While his expertise lies in the peacocks, Krishna, Radha and landscape of Vrindavan, his modern patterns are inspired by nature, trees and animals. “An artist has to struggle to live and we are no different. The ultimate objective is to keep sanjhi alive even if it means to combine it with other art forms. We could have never imagined that sanjhi could be collaborated with pichhwai style of painting so well,” said the artist, whose exhibit include 15-ft yard of cloth with the pattern of a tree cut on it.

The popularity of the craft is now encouraging the two families of Mathura to take up more work. Verma recollected, “When the tradition of making sanjhi for temples diminished, people looked for other ways to earn livelihood but our family continued to run the business because we were passionate about it. Now, people come from all places to learn this craft and we do not charge any money.”

last year, through the Agha Khan Foundation, Verma trained 25 girls from Nizamuddin and he is looking forward to training children from a school in Chilkapur in Chandigarh. “Our forefathers used to say that we must create awareness about sanjhi. Money is not everything, all we want is the art to flourish,” he added.