Do You Know About Kavad That Serves As A Temporary Temple In Chittorgarh, Rajasthan?

The Kavad art which finds it Rajasthan dating back to 400 years is credited with creating a mobile story-telling device that sometimes serves as a temporary temple. It is constructed 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 generational legacy of Kavad-manufacturing in Rajasthan

The community of Kavad makers use the surname Suthar and others add Jangid to their name to signify that the community are Jangid Brahmins, descendants of the Lord Visvakarma, considered the divine architect of the universe and supreme God of the arts. They work as both carpenters and painter

The storytellers of the Kaavad or the Kaavadiya Bhats are a community of tellers who inhabit areas around Jodhpur, Nagaur and Kishangarh districts of Rajasthan, India. Inherent to the traditional art form of Kavad, this community distinguishes itself from other Kaavadiyas who are water-carriers (those that carry Ganga water or Ganga jal). They use the term Bhat to signify this divide. 

Being the living speakers hence guardians of history, Kaavadiyas travel around reiting mythical, fantastical, folkloric, and historical tales to their listeners (jajmans). An interesting point to note here is that jajmans are hereditary listeners/adherents who carry forward the tradition of Kavad through patronage and collaboration.