Puran Singh Jhala

The artist Puran Singh Jhala comes from, and still lives in, Chuda, a small town in Saurashtra, Gujarat, India. He studied Fine Arts at Maharajah Sayajiroa University of Baroda and graphic design at National Institute of Design, in Ahmedabad. In 1978, he joined the Nehru Foundation (which became the Centre for Environment Education or CEE) as a graphic designer and was involved in various projects pertaining to coral technologies.

Puran Singh Jhala has worked as a graphic designer for Nehru Foundation as well as illustrating for ‘Indian World Catalog’. He has experimented with rural technology, making drawings for an Ahmedabad magazine.While in some of his paintings he has documented antique Indian Graphics. On cloth he has made a ‘Ramayana’ from an antique (120 year old) book of lithographs and has preserved Indian heritage Puran Singh’s Jhala’s artistic endeavours have been deeply influenced by the myths, legends, folklore, arts crafts and textiles of his region of Saurashtra.

The artist has had 22 shows in smaller towns of Saurashtra like Chuda, Limbdi, Chotila, Saylaetc. And also in cities such as Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, and Mysore. . He frequently uses pure bright colours to fill his exquisite drawings. One series, of which, is of parrots and butterflies.

Ed.