Dr. Bharat Bhushan

The picturesque Bani Valley of Kathua is nowdays catching the attentionof tourists and adventure lovers because of its beauty , strategiclocation and pleasant atmosphere all through the year . However, duringsummers, the beautiful Bani valley of District Kathua in J&K experiencesflow of tourists,adventure lovers & others who like to beat the heat &enjoy the natural environs of Bani-Sarthal area. Situated at a distance of165kms from Lakhanpur, Bani is a four & a half hours journey viaMahanpur, Basohli & Sheetal Nagar.

The glaciated valley of Bani can be accessed from Himachal Pradesh also viaBanikhet-Kheri Dam, (Hut Maska). It is one & a half hour journey fromDalhousie,Himachal Pradesh.

Once at Bani, the tourists are moved by the beauty of the spot. The lush greenmeadows of Dhagger, Roulka, Doulka, Sarthal, Chattergala, Banjal & Duggan, notfar-off from Bani, are captivating & invigorating also. The visitors visit theseplaces & find themselves in the midst of Mother Nature, in pollution free sur-roundings.

The murmuring streams & gushing ice-cold waters of Kharkal Nallah, Sarthal,

Lowang Nallah at Lowang-Kharwah & river Sewa in Bani add to the beauty &Charm of the area. The soothing sounds which emanate from seven falls atKharkal near Lowang (enroute Sarthal) & the panoramic view of the valley belowcatches fancy of the visitors who love to stop for a while, appreciate beauty ofKharwah, Lowang, Nakhnoli Mata Shrine, Sarthal & Chattergala. Chattergala isthe link point between Sarthal & Bhaderwah.The famous Kailash Kund Yatrafrom Bani & Duggan passes from Chatter-gala.

Bani has a rich culture & heritage.The people celebrate festivals collectively.Every year a three day extravanza is organized in Bani from 25th June to 27thJune . Called as Bani Mela, it attracts large number of visitors. WrestlingCompetition (Shinj) is the main attraction of 3-day Bani festival in whichwrestlers from Punjab, Haryana, J&K & Delhi participate with enthusiasm. Onemay be young, the other may be old -all make beeline to Bani Mela Ground to seeShinj Mela & enjoy the joy rides there. The children love to shop & eat at make-shift shops in the Mela. Several other festivals and fairs are also celebrated inBani- Sarthal area-"The land of folk lore and festivals."

GETTING THERE- Regular buses ply from Jammu & Kathua to Bani & back.Early morning journeys are preferred.One can hire taxi also.

WHERE TO EAT - Enroute Lakhanpur-Sarthal Development Authority has

Way-side Amenity at Thein village. It has a Tourist Reception Centre "HolidayHome" at Satwain, equipped with ten Air conditioned rooms.The tourists canstay here for night & enjoy the view of majestic Ranjit Sagar Lake.There are alsoprivate eat- points enroute from Lakhanpur to Bani. People make it a point to stopat Mahnu Village and relish Burfi & Khoya.

WHERE TO STAY- PWD Rest House Bani, Forest Rest House Bani, NationalHydro-electric Power Corporation Rest House at Sarthali near Bani are avail-able.Private Hotels are also available. A Yatrika Niwas of Lakhanpur SarthalDevelopment Authority in Shakti Mata Shrine,Bani has two halls wheretourists/pilgrims can stay.

SHRINES IN & AROUND BANI- Shakti Mata Shrine in Bani,Jodian Wali Matanear Banjal,Dolay Wali Mata near Dhagger ,Dhajji Mata Shrine on Bani-Sarthalroad near Chandel are held in high esteem & pilgrims throng these shrinesthroughout the year. However massive rush is seen during Navratras in theseShrines.

OTHER PLACES OF TOURIST INTEREST - Khajjar, Duggan, Challa, Siarra, Gatti& Bhandar are other places near Bani which are worth experiencing.

(The writer, a KAS Officer is presently Chief Executive Officer,Lakhanpur Sarthal DevelopmentAuthority)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 10, 2016 INTERNET EDITION : www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazineOn a mission in....................PPaaggee 44 RReeaall EEdduuccaattiioonn .....Page 3

LAND OF FOLKLORE AND FESTIVALS

Tell us something about yourself, Sona.I was born to the renowned family of Padhas of Basohli, the youngest among

three sisters and older to a brother. My ancestors were personal physicians to thelocal rajas. Padha Kunj Lal, my great grandfather, was presented several invalu-able Basohli paintings by the contemporary raja. The raja also got his portraitmade by the court artistes as a royal favour. Our ancestral house still treasuressome of those paintings and visitors from India and abroad come frequently toview them. Ever since my childhood, I held a fascination for these paintings andnursed a wish to paint in that style. So when I passed my XII class, I just wouldnot budge from my insistence on joining a diploma course in Basohli Painting atthe Government Handicrafts School, which was opened in the town in 1983.Thanks to my Guru, Shri Lalit Kumar Dogra, who is now settled in Kathua andencouragement of my family, it was a matter of time – and effort –before I pickedup the nuances and subtleties of the art. Destiny gave me Dheeraj Kapoor, myhusband, who also is a talented practitioner of this art. Wide recognition too hascome our way: I was awarded by the State government in the years 2009 and2011; Dheeraj too got the first prize for a miniature in 2010. We have held exhi-bitions at the Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi….It looks like a rewarding career for Dheeraj and you…

(Laughs). Yes, it is. When my husband or I look at a finished piece after daysof labouring on it, or hear a word of praise from a discerning viewer, we feel aninner glow of warmth which I cannot describe in words. But if you are talking ofa reward in monetary terms, it is next to nothing. Think of the material used. ABasohli painting requires hard-to-find Veasli paper or even ivory sheet, specialbrushes made of squirrel hair, feathers of Kalmunha bird and colourslabourously derived from dried-up leaves, flowers, beetle wings and khadiyaearth. For ornamental purposes, we use 24-carate gold and pure silver. Thenconsider the deftness and precision required to produce one miniature portraitin which you can single out each single hair of a subject with a magnifying glass.And how do you reckon that indescribable element of a painting which elevatesit to a work of art? In return, the money we get is hardly enough to pay my son’splay-school fee. Little wonder that my husband and I, in spite of being Stateawardees and all that, have to go for regular jobs – he is a manager with a pri-vate firm and I teach at a public school – for a living. In fact, and this is theharsh truth – all the contemporary Basohli painters – the chacha-bateeja duoof Sohan Singh Baloria and Surinder Singh Baloria, Dharam Pal, Sushil Padha,Shakeel Ahmed Raza and Arun Dogra – have to take up regular employment.To Basohli painting which should rightly have been our calling, we can devoteonly a little time that we spare from the worldly cares of making both endsmeet.

You said something about the precious paintings gifted byBasohli rajas to your ancestors. You could have made a whole lotof money by selling a few of them to connoisseurs.

‘’If wishes were horses...!” That is our priceless heritage, our family’s pride.You know, even Dr MS Randhawa has acknowledged in his book BasohliPainting that my great grandfather, Padha Kunj Lal, possessed a grand collec-tion of Basohli miniatures. Then came a request from J&K government for loanof the choicest amongst these paintings for public display in an art gallery. Ourfamily was too glad to oblige. End of the day what happens is that the govern-ment intends to fop us off with a measly 5 lakh rupees for the entire collection,

which can easily fetch us many many times over in the open market. We areleft to fight this case in a court of law.Tell me how a lay person can recognise a Basohli painting.

Oh, that’s easy enough. The most obvious feature of a Basohli miniature isits deep red border. The colours used in the painting are red, yellow and blue:red for love and passion; yellow for the sunny climes of the land of Dogras andtheir cheerful disposition; and blue for who else but Lord Krishna, the EternalLover. You will find depiction of pomegranates, flame of forest, mangoes etcetera – trees that we find around us. Trees, fruits, foliage and birds are usednot merely as decoration but also to evoke emotions. One instance is the con-vention of weeping willows to represent the pangs of a lonesome nayika. In por-traits, gold and silver is used to embellish dresses of the subjects. The charac-ters have receding foreheads, almond-shaped enlarged eyes and well-propor-tioned bodies. Women wear tight fitting choli-ghaghra-diaphanous sari ensem-ble, while men are shown in a jama with a sash round their waist…Jama for men and choli-ghaghra-sari for women – that is not thetraditional way Dogras dressed themselves!

You are right. Actually, that is how the Mughals dressed themselves. InBasohli painting, the subjects are mostly Hindu dressed up in Mughal fineryand discovered in Mughal interiors.That’s intriguing – the Mughal connection.

There is nothing mysterious about it. Basohli painting is one of the out-comes of the harshness of the Mughal Empire under Aurangzeb and the revival

of Vaishnavism in the 17th century. Artistes began to flee from the Mughalcourt to find quarter with Rajput princes of small kingdoms in the Himalayas.There is this charming tale of a 12-year old Raja Sangram Pal of Basohli invitedto the Mughal women apartments as the queens wanted to see the boy-kingrenowned for his handsomeness. Sangram Pal was asked to cover his eyes witha blindfold before entering the female quarters, as was the royal custom. Butwhen he was brought to the presence of the queen, she ordered him to removethe piece of cloth from his eyes, as a man’s beauty lies in his eyes. The point isthat a few artistes from the Mughal court must have come in contact with Rajasof Basohli and encouraged to settle in our town to apply their art in full free-dom. The result is for all to see – a beautiful mixture of the Mughal aestheticsand Hindu sensibilities.Do you have any suggestions to restore the glory of Basohli painting?

Yes, I do; only if there was someone to listen. First, treat Basohli Paintingas an art and not just a handicraft. A Basohli miniature is intricate and as fine-ly done as any other work of art. But more than that, it is a coming together ofthe finest in Hindu and Muslim aesthetics. J&K Academy of Art, Culture andLanguages should shed its highbrow attitude and promote Basohli painting atthe national level to make it more remunerative and attract new talent. I amtold the government has made some makeshift arrangements for display of ourpaintings at Lakhanpur. What artiste worth his name would consider keepinghis or her prize paintings with some semi-literate caretaker in a dusty, cheerlessroom? Could not the authorities have come up with a better idea, such as ask-ing the Department of Tourism to do something about it? Second, there is apressing need for augmenting the training facilities for the young. The oneinstitution in Basohli, that was founded in Basohli at the initiative of Mr ParvezDiwan, IAS, when he was SDM there, is now thirty-two years old.

There is none other which imparts instruction on Basohli painting. Whycan’t we have institutions similar to Vanasthali of Jaipur, Rajasthan or ShantiNiketan of West Bengal, where young minds come to partake of their heritage?If that seems too ambitious, let the Fine Arts College have a faculty of BasohliPainting. Third, the State should facilitate regular and more frequent interac-tion between the professional artistes of Basohli painting with the aspiring artistsby supplementing annual camps organised by the Kala Kendra.

Art thrives on patronage. Basohli painting flourished with the encouragementof rajas. Now it is the turn of the State Government to preserve and propagate it.

‘No Government patronage for Basohli paintings’Suman K Sharma

It is a chilly afternoon. Humongous clouds deter a tepid sun from coming

out in the open. Inside the drawing room, a few pink and yellow roses

standing in the flower vase valiantly try to spread cheer and warmth.

30-something Sona Padha enters with her three-year old son, Atharva, in

tow. She has the looks of your next-door neighbour who struggles to

keep a brave front in these hard times. An acclaimed practitioner of the

centuries-old Basohli style of painting, the soft spoken Sona lets her

angst seep through the conversation. Her main worry is that not much is

being done to save this exquisite form of art that has brought Jammu on

the world map of painting. Excerpts:

I am told the Government has made somemakeshift arrangements for display of our paintingsat Lakhanpur. What artiste worth his name wouldconsider keeping his or her prize paintings withsome semi-literate caretaker in a dusty, cheerlessroom? Could not the authorities have come up witha better idea, such as asking the Department ofTourism to do something about it?