BHOJ PATTAR

Bhoj Pattar is a pre paper writing medium. Long before the Chinese invented paper, Buddhist monks used Bhoj Pattar to record the precious sayings and thoughts of Lord Buddha. Today in the Buddhist temples and monasteries across Asia, devotees and monks thumb through the self same sacred tomes in search of wisdom of The Enlightened One. Bhoj Pattar has a millennial life span.

Rasheed Butt is the only artist to employ this medium to transfix the jewels of Islamic calligraphy. He accidentally hit upon it, when some years ago a friend brought him a wonder parchment. He dipped a piece in water, smoked it dry, stretch-pressed it and then carefully selected a portion to write out the powerful Quranic verse of The Chair. The result was incredible, even for Rasheed Butt.

High in Himalayas, the mountain people use layers of Bhoj Pattar as insulation material in ceilings of their homes. It has amazing water resistant qualities. Come autumn, Bhoj Pattar bags are filled with ghee and buried some ten feet in the ground. Three to four years later, the bags are excavated. They are in excellent condition, while the ghee has transformed into a tonic that keeps humans warm in those glacial climates.

Rasheed Butt selects pieces of Bhoj Pattar with great care. His criteria are stern. Usually for every square foot of the parchment he uses, he discards twenty, sometimes thirty. Texture is the important thing. Once treated the Pattar should not change, neither its heavenly hues nor its matchless texture.