Ancient intellectual Indian rogan art by Ashish Kansara

Ancient intellectual Indian rogan art by Ashish Kansara is a Rogan silk painting artist from Madhapar, Kutch, who specializes in Rogan painting.

Biography

Ashish Shantilal Kansara was born in 1975 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. His father’s name is Shantilal Jamnadas Kansara and mother’s name is Kaushalya Shantilal Kansara. Ashish Kansara is only a 9th grader from Meghdoot Vidya Vihar Gujarati Medium School. After listening to an interview in All India Radio, about Rogan art, Ashish Kansara started learning Rogan art when he was in 10th grade and he left the school.

Ashish Kansara’s father, Shantilal Jamnadas Kansara, was a rickshaw driver by profession and sadly passed away in 2004. His grandfather, Jamnadas Vastaram Kansara, was an artist skilled in the traditional Rogan art form during his younger years. However, due to changing circumstances, he eventually transitioned to a more stable career, taking up a position in a textile mill in Ahmedabad, where he worked for the remainder of his professional life. Ashish Shantilal Kansara learned Rogan art from Ashok Bhai from Patan, Gujarat. He started working professionally in Rogan art when he was 19 years old (1994/95). He worked with the traditional lehenga and 4-metre short sari, which is a traditional wedding dress for the Bharavad and Rabari communities.

Ashish Kansara took a hiatus from Rogan painting in 2001, after the Kachchh earthquake, as Rogan art lehengas and saris lost demand. After some years, he started Rogan art again, this time focusing on other type of Rogan art painting products, such as home decor, wall pieces, dresses, wallets, kurtas, and blouses and Rogan art saris.

Rogan Silk Painting

Ashish Kansara’s Rogan painting is unique in that he creates portraits and Rogan painting of gods. He has created paintings of Shri Rama, Shri Swaminarayan, Ganesh, Shiva Parvati, Radha Krishna, Shri Jagannath, and Hanuman. His well known piece is Tirupati Balaji. Ashish Kansara has also painted for Muslim community, such as the Kaaba, and painted for the Jain community, Shri Mahavir.

Rogan Chhap

Ashish Kansara also does Rogan art prints; it is now rare to see Rogan art prints doing with thick castor oil paste. Same paste used in Rogan prints which one used in Rogan painting. Rogan art print done with brass Biba (Mould) (see image) and wooden stick. Brass Biba (Mould) made by Aari cutting. Different designs of Brass Biba (Mould) are made through Aari cutting (See video). After that, first, Rogan paste is filled in a brass Biba (Mould) and is put on cloth with pressure of a thick stick. The brass Biba’s design is now on cloth as a print. (See image) This technique is known as “Rogan Chhap” (Chhap means print). Also called as Roghan Nirmika Chhap. (Nirmika is a Sanskrit word, Nirmika means creation).

How to make Rogan painting paste

Rogan painting paste is produced by boiling Linseed oil or castor oil for 7 to 8 hours and then adding pigment Color and chowk powder, the resulting Linseed oil or castor oil transform into thick paste. The cloth that is painted is usually a dark color, which makes the intense colors stand out. In Rogan painting, the pattern is applied using metal blocks with patterns carved into them. In Rogan painting, elaborate designs are produced freehand, by trailing thread-like strands of paint off of a wood stylus. Frequently, half of a design is painted, then the cloth is folded in half, transferring a mirror image to the other half of the fabric. After that it decorates with small dots and lines.

Personal life – Rogan Art Painting By Ashish Kansara

Ashish Kansara now lives in Gujarat’s Kutch Madhapar is a very small village in Kutch. Ashish Kansara’s wife, Komal Kansara is also a Rogan artist. She learned Rogan art after her marriage. Komal teaches a small group of women to make Rogan art. There are 130 women in the group who are now working for Ashish Kansara.

References

1. “કચ્છની ભા તી ગળ રો ગા ન કળા ના કલા કા ર આશિ ષ કંસા રા સા થે સુરેશ
   બિ જલા ણી ની વા તચી ત”. All India Radio.
2. “રો ગન ક્લા નો દેસ વિ દેશ મા ડંકો “. VTV Gujarati News and Beyond.
3. “चुना व के बी च कच्छ में देखि ए रो गन आर्ट की कला | Rogan painting”. News18.
4. “Kutch: દેવી -દેવતા ના આવા ચિ ત્રો તમે ક્યા રેય નહીં જોયા હો ય!”. News18.
5. “ભગવા ન રા મનો દરબા ર કેવો હતો ?, કચ્છી કા રી ગરે રો ગા ન કળા વડે બના વી અદભૂત કૃતિ “. News18.
6. “મા ધા પર ના કરી ગરે રો ગન ક્લા ધ્વા રા તૈયર કરી યો રા મ નો દરબા ર”. Sandesh news paper.
7. “રો ગા ન કળા વડે બના વી રા જા રા મ દરબા રની કૃતિ “. News18
8. “મા ધા પરનાં કલા કા રે રો ગા ન કલા થી ભગવા ન સ્વા મિ ના રા યણને સજાવ્યા “. News18.
9. “મા ધા પરના રો ગા ન કા રી ગર દ્વા રા રો ગા ન કલા વડે ભગવા ન સ્વા મિ ના રા યણ ની કૃતિ બના વવા માં આવી “. Kutch Care TV News.
10. “રો ગા નમાં ભગવા ન સ્વા મિ ના રા યણ”. News18 Gujarati.
11. “સ્ટી લની પેન્સિ લથી નહીં , પણ લા કડા ના બી બા વડે થતી અસલી રો ગા ન કલા ; રો ગા નનું છા પકા મ લુપ્ત થવા ના આરે”. News18.
12. “રો ગા નનું છા પકા મ લુપ્ત થવા ના આરે”. News18 Gujarati.
13. “Artists doing rare Rogan Art in Gujarat’s Kutch”. Odisha Tv.
14. “રો ગા ન કલા ને એક-એક બી બા વડે પિ તૃસત્તા માં થી આઝા દ કરે છે આ મહિ લા કા રી ગર, દેશ વિ દેશમાં તેમની કલા ની માં ગ”. News18.
15. “Rogan Art by Ashish Shantilal Kansara”. craftcentres. 3 March 2022.