Khodiyar Mata Handmade Painting

Product Description:

Mata ni Pachedi” is a sacred art form of Gujarat on canvas depicting a story. The central feature of the shrine cloth is the commanding presence of the Mother goddess Durga, who is believed to have a hundred forms and is depicted along with other mythological characters. Origins of ‘Mata ni Pachedi’ go back almost 300 years. People of the nomadic Vaghari community of Gujarat were barred from entering temples. The community then made their own shrines with intricate cloth paintings depicting the Mother Goddess. Ours is the only surviving family practising this traditional craft. At home, it is a family affair and we work together on these paintings - preparing the fabric, making the dyes, drawing, painting and fixing. All of our dyes are made from natural materials – madder and alum for red, henna for orange, pomegranate and mango extracts for yellow, indigo for blue, iron and molasses for black and so on. Myrobalan (a tropical tree with nuts) extract, herbs, tamarind seeds, and castor oil are used in the dyeing process. The drawing and motifs are done by hand (unlike block prints), using bamboo twigs while we use brushes to fill the colors in. All artwork is done on pure cotton cloth and no frame. Size : 11*15 (in inches)