Airavat – Hand-painted Wooden Phad Wall Plate yellow Indian wall art cylindrical crown rising above this

cylindrical crown rising above this sculpture's face is unmistakably Balaji — the form of Vishnu worshipped at Tirupati

traditionally performed at night using hand-painted leather puppets lit from behind a screen

Its hexagonal form and fine detailing make it a distinctive gift for someone who appreciates classical Indian court art

and then hand-painted with a fine brush — only the pigment choice has been updated for a more contemporary jewel-tone interior

Rajasthan's royal courts once commissioned artists to paint their deities the way they painted their kings — in fine linework

Airavat – Hand-painted Wooden Phad Wall Plate yellow Indian wall art cylindrical crown rising above thisA white elephant strides across a fiery orange backdrop, richly caparisoned in green and gold cloth, carrying two crowned riders this is Airavat, Indra's celestial mount, painted in the bold, narrative style of Rajasthan's Phad tradition. Phad painting developed as a form of scroll storytelling, historically unrolled and sung aloud by travelling bards narrating epic legends, which is part of why the compositions read with such dramatic, theatrical