With mass produced glossy posters replacing hand-painted posters during festivities, this Chitrakar couple wonder how long it will take before they paint their last poster Kathmandu The Chitrakars of the Newar clan are responsible for creating religious artworks needed for various festivals in the Valley. From painting on paper to working as mural artists in temples, they create diverse artworks. But modernity has affected the work of these traditional painters. The paper paintings, required in festivals like Gaijatra, Nag Panchami and Laxmi Puja among others, are being replaced by printed posters, thus threatening this ancestral occupation of Chitrakars. Very few remain today who have been continuing the legacy of Chitrakars. The legacy ‘Chitrakar’ means painter in Nepali. And couple Aasta Bahadur (77) and Mina Chitrakar (68) have been continuing the legacy of Chitrakar for more than four decades. Usually it is the male member of the Chitrakar family who creates paper paintings required during festivities. But this couple is an exception as both husband and wife have dedicated themselves to paint religious motifs on paper. Interestingly, Mina was involved in this profession long before Aasta Bahadur. She recalls how she used to visit temples during festivities to sell paintings made by her father. “Even when I was young, I preferred travelling around to sell those paintings rather than being confined in the kitchen,” reveals Mina, who got married to a Chitrakar family. Unlike her father, her husband’s family did not work on religious paintings. “Instead, my husband was a painter for the government then, and he used to be away from home most of the time,” divulges Mina. This didn’t keep Mina from continuing her father’s legacy. Soon after her marriage, “to utilise my free time and earn some pocket money”, she started painting religious paintings on paper. “The skill I had developed not only gave me confidence, but also helped me earn money to buy a house,” shares Mina. She has been making paper paintings of different sizes for festivals. For that she uses wooden blocks with designs carved on them — she prints those designs on paper and fills the drawings with colours like red, green, blue, pink and yellow. Aasta Bahadur dedicated himself to this traditional artwork after retirement. Mina is an extrovert, while Aasta Bahadur is an introvert. They complement one another, and thus have been working together, keeping alive this profession. “We won’t stay quiet till our hands can work. We will continue doing this work,” says Aasta Bahadur as this work “not only keeps us engaged but also reflects on who we are, though our children often ask us to stop working hard at this old age”. Concerns and hurdles While this elderly couple has been giving continuity to this ancestral profession, they are worried this profession will end with them as their children are not interested in it. The lack of interest in traditional work could be because the hard work does not pay off, as per Aasta Bahadur. “It needs lots of effort to create paintings on paper. But the price we get from selling them is much less in comparison to our efforts.” And it is also a seasonal business — they get to sell these paintings during specific festivals only. “As the work is not available throughout the year, completely relying on this profession will not be sufficient to support our family,” he adds. It is not only lack of interest of the younger generation, even the demand for such traditional artwork has reduced. “These days paintings used during Nag Panchami and Laxmi Puja have been replaced by cheaper yet durable glossy prints, and they are easily available,” veteran traditional artist Lok Chitrakar, who learnt art by creating paper paintings for religious occasions, elucidates. The market for paintings required during Gaijatra is better as compared to other paintings like during Nag Panchami and Laxmi Puja, as per Mina as “those glossy posters have not replaced the paintings required during Gaijatra yet.” As the poster version of religious paintings have replaced most of the traditional paintings, it is not easy even to sell those works in the market. Mina elaborates, “If we sell our paintings to the stores, we have to sell at a cheaper price. So, we sell such traditional paintings ourselves on the sidewalks of places like Maru, Ason, Jaisidewal, et cetera.” Selling something on the streets is not an easy job for anyone including this Chitrakar couple. “In Ason, there is a local committee that allows us to sell our paintings even during the day during the festive season after charging certain amount. But in other places, the Metropolitan officials make it difficult — every year we argue with them to let us sell our products during the festivals,” she says of their problem. They have a group called the Chitrakar Samajh. “They invite us to take part in several activities like picnics and other cultural activities, but they are not concerned that this traditional work is on the verge of disappearance,” Mina expresses her concern, further questioning, “If we stop working, who will produce such works?” That is why Mina feels “an urgent need for a proper management body that could lead people like us who love their work, help us carry on with our inherited work, and preserve it for the future generations. And if you give your effort, you can still earn a decent amount of money from this work.” Better hopes “It has only been 10-15 years that the posters have replaced our paintings during Nag Panchami. But for Gaijatra, the demand is high for our work and we sell a good number of headgears (where the paintings of cow made by Chitrakar are pasted),” Aasta Bahadur expresses. And Mina is excited about the paintings sold for Laxmi Puja during Tihar as well. She states, “During Tihar young people come asking for our products, though there are those printed glossy posters. This makes me feel proud and good as some people still appreciate the traditional art form.” Meaningful motifs The Chitrakars prepare a headgear made of bamboo during Gaijatra. Then they paint a cow’s face on the paper and paste it on the front of the headgear. At the back, a paper with the painting of Lord Ganesha, along with colourful paper flags and fans are pasted. Explaining these diverse motifs painted by the Chitrakars, cultural expert Dr Chunda Bajracharya elaborates, “In Hinduism, Lord Ganesha is worshipped for luck. That’s why the image of Ganesha is there. And due to lack of actual cow required in the Gaijatra procession, the tradition of using children as symbol of cow began. And these children put on the headgear with the image of a cow pasted on its front.” During Nag Panchami, poster/paintings with motifs of snakes, half-human half-snake forms, Lord Krishna sitting or standing on multi-headed snake, insects, frog and more are pasted on the front door of a house. In the background, green hills, trees and water bodies are seen. Among others, paintings of eight interlocked snakes, Naag worshipped by Naag Kanya and Lord Krishna on multi-headed Naag are popular during Nag Panchami, according to Sarada Chitrakar, Vice-Chancellor of Nepal Academy of Fine Arts. About the significance of the motifs used, Dr Bajracharya explains, “The images and motifs used in the paintings for Nag Panchami signify the importance of environment. The use of frogs, insects, water and greenery suggests the ecology where the snakes live. And these images reflect the then society.” The Naag Stotra on the painting is believed to help pacify snakes and get blessings from them, as per Lok. They have to be made by people from the Chitrakar caste because it is believed that the paintings of Naag made by Chitrakars have divine power and one should use their paintings to gain divine protection, as per Dr Bajracharya. In the paintings required during Tihar, one can find motifs of Goddess Laxmi, Lord Kuber and mystical being Khyak. About the motifs used, Dr Bajracharya elaborates, “Art is the reflection of society and the motifs used in paintings of Laxmi with traditional utensils like Jwolan Nhyakan (metal mirror with fire flames) and Sinamu (container for vermilion powder) are unique, that are not found in posters made in India. These utensils are used by Newars reflecting their culture. And Lord Kuber and Khyak symbolise the protector and carrier of Laxmi’s treasures respectively.”