Kavad

Painting and performance have been allies of story-telling tradition in India since more than 2000 years. The Kavad tradition is a lesser known storytelling form of Rajasthan. Kavad is a craft object something like a portable shrine with multiple folding doors or hinged panels, each of which is painted with representations of epics and myths. Thus, Kavad is a storybox as well as 'god-box'. The artists of Kumavat cast live in Bassi in Rajasthan and are known all over the world for their craftsmanship in making a range of carved and painted objects. It is the Kavadia Bhatt itinerant priests, who use the Kavads to narrate epics at the same time pointing towards the appropriate illustration on the Kavad panels. The Kavad opens up to reveal multiple folding doors, each painted with brightly coloured deities and episodes. Most Kavads follow the same general format: illustrations from the great epic, the Ramayanạ, on the series of panels towards the left side and Krishnạ lila episodes on the right. The local myths and patrons are delineated towards the end. The climax of the story arrives with the darsana of the deities, who are usually 3 dimensional figures in frontal position. The painting style is rather folkish though closer to Mewar style.