About The Craft

Sanjhi is the ancient art of paper stencilling practised across Mathura and Vrindavan. The term Sanjhi is derived from Sanjh or dusk. It is related to the ritualistic practice of unveiling the rangoli in the temples with chanting at dusk. The beauty of Sanjhi lies in its delicate designs and elaborate picture motifs. Most of the designs are compositions narrating tales related to Krishna. The craftsmen use small fine custom-made scissors to cut the stencils and then use the stencil to create the images. The rangolis were made using coloured pigments, flowers or stones.

About The Artist

Mohan Kumar Verma was born in 1971 in Mathura where he currently resides. He started when he was just 11 and now, more than three decades later, Mohan Kumar Verma is one of the few remaining custodians of Sanjhi, the centuries-old craft of turning paper into objects of art. The fourth-generation craftsman from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh is attempting to give the ancient art a contemporary twist by using mirrors, frames and more intricate designs.