Kaavad/Painted Mobile Shrines of Rajasthan

This portable temple shrine was carried from village to village by the Kavadiya Bhatt, the itinerant priests and genealogists who narrated regional epics and hero-god stories to his village audience. The recitation proceeds from the frontal panels to the inner until the tale is completed whilst the Bhaat pointed to the appropriate illustrations on the kaavad with a peacock feather. the last panel being opened at the sanctum sanctorum granting the gathered viewers a darshan, a glimpse, of the deity represented.

At Bassi in Rajathan, Artisans of the Kumawat caste make the kaavads – its basic structure made of wood, with multiple folding doors, each of which is vividly illustrated sometimes with several stories as the Kavadiya Bhat could be the priest of different clans or the subject story could be more appropriate for a particular date or festival.

The Kaavad – is now being largely produced for the urban markets – as what is truly endangered is the Kavadiya Bhat and his connect to the craft.