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Photo: M.Karunakaran

Colourful: Jangid displaying his creations.

The Kavads are made by a group of hereditary craftsmen from the town of Bassi — in Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan — where this tradition goes back to 400 years.

Dwarka Prasad Jangid (9829492503) is an award winning craftsman. He had come to Chennai to participate in the Crafts Bazaar organised at the Kalakshetra by the Dastkari Haat Samiti (6/105, Kaushalya Park, Hauskhaz, new Delhi, 110016) and the Kalakshetra Foundation.

From the way he answers your questions and whips out glossy photographs to illustrate his point, you know the Samiti’s exhibitions have helped him come a long way, in terms of both distance and marketing skills. “The Kavad unfolds like a book, madam,” he tells you proudly. And explains how traditional story tellers, the Bhats, carry these Kavads from village to village. They set them down, perform a short purification ceremony, the villagers gather around and it is time to recount tales.

Dwarka Prasad is surrounded by Kavads ranging from one foot to three, apart from other creations in wood — doe eyed puppets clad in colourful Rajasthani costumes, mirror frames and wooden dolls. But Kavads are his speciality. Each is painted in bright colours — red, blue, green and yellow. We are entranced by the rather precariously balancing Dwarapalakas painted on the outer doors while the inner sides portray devotees clad in typical Rajasthani attire.

The central figure is of Lord Vishnu reclining on the lotus. In the innermost sanctum, the Puri trio of gods – Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra — is a constant. The paintings are more defined in the bigger pieces while they are endearingly lumpy and basic in the smaller ones. “Here is the story of Rama and on the other side is portrayed the story of Krishna,” explains the master craftsman.

“There were no mandirs (temples ) in some villages in the past and the baats would take the shrines around from street to street and even from house to house,” explains Dwarka Prasad who has been engaged in this craft for 30 years.

“Formerly the Kavads were quite large. But now they are reduced in size to be accommodated into showcases and also to enable them to be transported by ‘Angrezi log.’ These are also sought after by Indians in big cities. We have done well at this fair in Chennai,” says Dwaraka Prasad, his face glowing. “We also paint stories of Lok Devtas such as Tejaji, Papuji and Dev Narayan,” he explains with a benign smile.

But Dwaraka Prasad’s tour de force is the huge Kavad he made for the Dastkari Haat Samiti’s project for the United Nations to interpret the Millennium Development Goals Programme. To carry home the message of eradication of poverty and to propagate awareness in the fields of health and education, he fashioned a Kavad in which he depicted the need for collaboration in the fields of medicine, technology and environment. Stiff quaint figures clad in Indian and western outfits also convey the message of peace and goodwill. And instead of the Sun which usually forms the crest of the Kavad, the logo of the U.N. crowns this structure. He carefully produces the photograph and it is certainly impressive.

“I make Kavads ranging in height from 10 cm to 1.5 metres. The U.N. one was 90 cm high. My brothers too are engaged in this craft. After the men fashion the pieces from mango or sheesham wood, the women of the house help in painting them. We make a 90 cm high figure of Devi which is carried during the Teej procession. I won the State award on January 26,” he beams. He is a great one for pictures and shows me one where all spruced up, he is standing with the other awardees behind the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje. “I have plenty of awards and certificates at home”, he adds for good measure.

There are 25 families making Kavads in Bassi.

It takes four to five days to make a piece which can sell from Rs.250 to Rs. 2,000 depending on the size and detailing.

There are 25 families making Kavads in Bassi.

They keep the tradition going as they believe that discontinuing it will bring misfortune to the family.

Story tellers were paid in cash as well as in kind such as grain.

Some of the Kavad makers migrated to Udaipur.

Today Kavads are also made on secular themes.

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