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Kaavad is a portable wooden temple/shrine. has visual narratives on its multiple panels that are hinged together. These panels open and close like doors simulating the several thresholds of a temple. The visuals are those of Gods, goddesses, saints, local heroes and the patrons.
A medium of story telling painted and illustrated wooden device,bassi rajasthan 20 th century A.D. ‘Kaavad Banchana’, an oral tradition of storytelling is still alive in Rajasthan where stories from the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana are told along with stories from the Puranas, caste genealogies and stories from the folk tradition. The Kaavad tradition is approximately a 400 year old tradition (Lyons, 2007) although like several oral traditions in India, its origin is located in mythology or attributed to a mysterious power. Historical evidence of portable shrine exists in some religious texts (Jain, 1998) but there are no clear references to the Kaavad
â–Ş Entire families of artisans came together to create these story
boxes. These families would travel with the main narrator or sutradhar bringing stories to remote hamlets. The storyteller would face the audience standing by his Kavad for a colorful rendition of Hindu myths. The stories unfolded in delectable stages with all the fanfare of a show.
▪ The colour stones are acquired from the local shops. The same
colour stones are also used in Phad paintings and Nathdwara pichhwais. The colour stones are powdered and mixed with some amount of water and gum, then applied with brush. ▪ Gum is used to make colour paste viscous enough to stick to
the wood. The gum along with appropriate amount of water is mixed with powdered colour. The gum was earlier brought by the Bhils who bartered gum for food or money. Now the gum/Gond is easily available in shops. The craftsperson buys gum available with the tribals. Non availability of gum sometimes causes them to buy from shops. ▪
The kaavad makers known as Suthars or Basayatis reside in Nalla Bazaar in village Bassi, approximately twenty five kilometers from Chittor.
Jajman or patrons who commission as well as consume these stories.
Suthars although not limited to the makers of Kaavad but it does give them a status of a higher caste whose ancestry is connected to the Gods themselves.
There are three main communities involved in the Kavad tradition. First is the Suthar community that makes these colorful wooden boxes or Kavads. Second is the Kavadiya Bhat who uses it to tell stories. The third is the Jajman or patrons who commission as well as consume these stories.
▪ The Kaavadiya Bhat
periodically brings the shrine to his patron’s house to recite his genealogy and to sing praises of his ancestors. He also recites the stories. ▪ The Kaavadiyas (storytellers)
and their jajmans ▪ Consider the Kaavad as a
sacred shrine which demands certain rituals to be followed, listening to genealogies, epic stories and making donations.
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-Yash Shah