The famous Basohli painting from Jammu & Kashmir’s Kathua district has obtained the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

Basohli painting

• Basohli (formerly Vishwasthali) is a town in Kathua district in Jammu &  Kashmir.

• Basohli painting has a great history, uniqueness, speciality and has been prominently preserved in various international museums. The artists are making the same style of painting in Basohli and surrounding villages.

• Basholi paintings have peculiar characteristics. They have perfect geometrical patterns, bright colours and glossy enamel. 

• The figures in the paintings are shown clad in rich costumes, and large bulging eyes give unique individuality to these paintings. 

• The popular themes of the Basohli paintings are the portraits of local rulers, the Hindu gods, figures fiom Hindu mythology. Radha-Krishna, Madhava-Malati love themes and themes from the Bhagavata Purana.

Benefits of GI tag

• A Geographical Indication (GI) tag is used for an agricultural, natural, or a manufactured product (handicraft and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory. Typically, such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially attributable to the place of its origin.

• The GI tag helps producers get the premium price of the product as no other producer can misuse the name to market similar goods.

• Darjeeling tea, Tirupati laddu, Kangra paintings, Nagpur orange, and Kashmir Pashmina are among the registered GIs in India.

• The other benefits of GI registration include legal protection to that item, prevention against unauthorised use by others, and promoting exports.

• There is a proper process of registration of GI products which includes filing of application, preliminary scrutiny and examination, show cause notice, publication in the geographical indications journal, opposition to registration, and registration.

• It is a legal right under which the GI holder can prohibit others from using the same name.

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