Kalyan Ram Joshi

Place: Bhilwara

Born: 1969

Biography:

Kalyan Joshi is a Phad painter from Bhilwara, Rajasthan, India. He was born in 1969 and comes from a family of Phad painters who have been practicing this form for almost 700 years. He started working with his father and guru, Shree Lal Joshi, at a young age. Kalyan Joshi has experimented with new stories, contemporary style painting, and line drawing. He is the founder of the Ankan Artist Group and regularly conducts workshops across India to keep this style of painting alive. He has also made Rajasthan's 1,000-year-old Phad paintings trendy through masks and clothing. Kalyan Joshi is an award-winning artist and prays over a blank stretch of canvas with a mixture of love, reverence, and hope. He is considered an icon of Hindu nationalism and of the agitation to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya.