All in the family

The Chitaras have been passing down the secret art of Mata Ni Pachedi through generations for more than 400 years now

- REYA MEHROTRA

According to the Mahabharata, Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna, learned war skills in his mother’s womb. Kirit Chitara, from Vasna in Ahmedabad, tells us that similarly, Chitaras too acquire the art of Mata Ni Pachedi in their mothers’ wombs as it is in their DNA.

The Chitaras are one of the few communities in India that have been passing down the secret art of Mata Ni Pachedi generation after generation for more than 400 years now. The children of the family begin their training at the age of 10 in their family workshop—a quaint room with a large table in the centre. The result is a block-printed or an exquisite hand-painted Mata Ni Pachedi dyed in natural colours, each narrating a story. Sun motifs, goddesses, animals and cattle are the most common Mata Ni Pachedi patterns.

The lore goes that when the Vaghari tribe (nomads settled on the banks of the Sabarmati river) was denied entry into temples, they started painting pictures of goddesses and their stories on a piece of cloth, not just as a form of protest, but also as a form of devotion and worship. Now, equipped with social media and several collaborations, they are going global with the art-form. Resultantly, Mata Ni Pachedi artworks have found a place in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and the Rajkot International Airport, among others. Also called the ‘kalamkari of Gujarat’, the art is taught to those who marry into the Chitara household as well. The daughters, however, are not considered the official artists of Mata Ni Pachedi as they get married into other families, yet they can assist the other Chitaras in creating the art.