Long narrative scroll paintings from Rajasthan, traditionally unrolled and sung from at night to recount the deeds of local folk deities.
भीलवाड़ा, राजस्थान · Bhilwara, Rajasthan
Painted on long cloth scrolls, sometimes over 30 feet, phad paintings depict the stories of regional folk heroes and deities, Pabuji and Devnarayan among the most commonly depicted, in continuous narrative sequence rather than a single scene, meant to be read alongside a sung oral performance rather than viewed silently.
A phad is traditionally never sold or displayed without the performance tradition, phad reading or bhopa singing, that goes with it, treating the object and the oral narrative it supports as two halves of the same craft rather than separable pieces, though contemporary phad artists in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, now also produce standalone paintings for a wider market.