Molela Plaques

Dinesh Chandra Kumhar

A community of renowned potters from Molela in Rajasthan yielded some of the first craftsmen who began to explore themes other than religious iconography, in their work, using traditional techniques. They produced unique murals involving relief work and terracotta. The pioneering Padma Shri Mohanlal Chaturbhuj Kumhar from this community, has been practising and teaching ‘murtikala’ to his family and others in the village for decades. These plaques have been crafted by his son Dinesh Chandra Kumhar, who has evolved his own individual idiom and created a form of imagery that improvises on the theme of villages transforming into towns.