Kavad Craft

Description

About the Craft::The Kavad is a mobile story-telling device that sometimes serves as a temporary temple. It is created by combining the skills of carpentry, painting and narration. As separate professions, the carpenter is called a suthar, an artist is a chitrakar, and a story teller is a bhat. The Kavad makers combine the work of the carpenter and artist, while the Kavadia Bhats do the narration. The Kavad is made only in a village called Bassi, in Chittorgarh District of Rajasthan.The wooden painted Kavad is one of India?s many cultural traditions built on storytelling. For this, devices had to be created. Kavads are made from the wood of the mango or semla trees. Stories range from mythological tales of Ramayana and Mahabharata to devotional stories and even feature stories about everyday life.
About the Artisan: Dwarka Prasad Jangid is a renowned kavad artist from the Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan. He learnt the art of making kavads from his father and grandfather and is carrying their legacy forward. Dwarka Prasad sells his Kavads with his unique style of narrating the stories captured in every piece of craft. He has represented the State of Rajasthan at the 65th Republic Day parade in 2014 when he was given the opportunity to create a 25 feet kavad for the Rajasthan tableau.