Sanjhi is the Braj tradition of ritual paper-cutting devoted to Krishna, reaching its height in the Vaishnava temples of Mathura and Vrindavan during the 15th and 16th centuries. Artisans use tiny custom scissors to freehand-cut extraordinarily fine, bilaterally symmetrical stencils — khaka — depicting Krishna, lotus blooms, peacocks, cows, and scenes from the Raas Leela.

The finished stencil is negative-space filigree: lace-like openings where the cut-away paper once was. Laid over water or mounted against a dark ground, the pale cutwork appears to float and glow, transforming humble paper into a devotional icon of extreme technical restraint and symmetry.