Block-printed and painted using mineral colours on cloth. The painting is divided into 11 horizontal rows, featuring linear parades of priests wielding knives, sacrificial goats, devotees rich and poor, horse-drawn carriages, musicians, birds and animals regal and ritual. Seated on a goat in her temple, in the centre of the fifth row, is Meladi Mata. Below her is Jogani Mata on a tree. c.1940. Artist unknown. 73 x 105 inches (185 x 266 cm). Mineral and vegetable colours. Private collection. Source : https://www.sunitanair.in/Sanjay-Chitara-s-Mata-Paintings
In order to become truly one nation and one people we need to understand the rich strands of our culture. The arts of India are among the greatest aesthetic achievement, and Gujarat had a very rich textile tradition.
In this blog, we focus on the kalamkari work of Gujarat, the form of a backdrop to the mother goddess, the literal meaning of Mata ni pachedi and the canopy of mother goddess, called as Mata no Chandarvo
The temple cloths are made as votive offerings during the time of Navarathra, the nine-nights festival celebrated after the rains. The vaghari community, who were denied access in to temples due to their caste, made these backdrop or canopy for mobile temples. Exactly like Thangkas, the buddhist scrolls.
The Vaghari community have the surname of chitaras (painters). Mata ni Pachedi usually depicts mother goddesses as mataji, mostly with the use of black, maroon colors. The Bua, or the the priests of the goddess, praises her with songs and also have a round earthen pot with barley shoots. This pot is immersed on the ninth day, after taking it in a procession. Peasants, tribes offer these cloth to her when their wishes are fulfilled.
Visat mata on her Vahana, Source : Sahapedia
This multi-colour temple cloth of recent times is in the kalamkari style ( and I can see the similarity of thanjavur kalamkari and thombais here), surrounded by block printed floral motifs. The center figure is the avenging goddess riding on a buffalo, and from her crown springs sprouting corn. She is depicted as having multiple hands and weapons – sword, spear, dagger, trident, arrows etc.,
The Cloth of the Mother Goddess
https://tarabooks.com/shop/cloth-of-the-mother-goddess/ In her form as Bahuchara, she is four armed – sword, spear, bell and cup of blood
Tara books has made a beautiful handmade cover and textile book on this art. They got the blocks done specially for this, and the book has a special cloth cover too. A group of tailors in Chennai created the panels of the book using cotton cloth, and the main cloth panel in this books was done by Mr. Dakshinamurthy, who works with Kalakshetra now. This book was also displayed in a special vitrine at the V&A Museum in London, as part of the India Festival,
Technique used
Natural materials used for drawing and dyeing, for example black kasim made out of rusted iron fermented with jaggery
Very fine outlines and filling of colors done with kalam (brush)
Rock dust, red earth, lime, turmeric are used as a base for the colours
Predominantly wooden blocks are made as outline in the cloth, and the colours are filled in for black and red (Iron and alum are used for black and red)
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