Indian Art, Culture & Heritage18 Concepts & Facts

Mata Ni Pachedi GK Facts, Overview & Study Guide

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Mata Ni Pachedi (literally translating in Gujarati to *'Behind the Mother Goddess': Mata = Mother Goddess, Ni = belongs to / of, and Pachedi = backdrop or cloth wrapper worn or hung behind a deity) is a 300-year-old sacred narrative hand-painted and wooden-block-printed cotton textile tradition indigenous to Gujarat, most famously practiced along the banks of the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad and Kheda districts. Popularly celebrated by art historians as the 'Kalamkari of Gujarat' (due to its technical affinity with Andhra Pradesh's Srikalahasti freehand bamboo-pen Kalamkari and Machilipatnam block-printed Kalamkari), Mata Ni Pachedi was born out of caste exclusion and subaltern devotion: centuries ago, when the nomadic, denotified Vaghari (also called Chunara or Devipujak) community was barred by orthodox social hierarchy from entering permanent stone Hindu temples, they created portable cotton cloth temples. By hanging two vertical side canopies (Pachedis) and an overhead cloth awning (Chandarvo) around an open sacred space, a Vaghari family could erect an instant sanctum to worship the Mother Goddess (Shakti / Devi) wherever they camped. Iconographically, every Mata Ni Pachedi is a densely populated cosmic mandala centered on a monumental image of one of the 100+ regional manifestations of the Mother Goddess (Mata)—such as Meldi Mata (riding a goat), Bahuchara Mata (riding a rooster), Khodiyar Mata (riding a crocodile), Vihat Mata (riding a buffalo), Momai/Dashama (riding a camel), or Vahanvati Mata (seated on a sailing ship, protecting seafarers)—flanked by registers of worshipping devotees, musicians playing Dakla drums, sacrificial animals, flora, fauna, and scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Traditionally, the entire cloth is executed using strictly three sacred colors on unbleached handspun cotton (Khadi or Madarpat): White (the natural cotton ground, symbolizing purity and Sattva), Black (outlines symbolising protection against evil and Tamas), and Deep Maroon-Red (symbolizing the earth, fertility, blood, and Shakti / Rajas). Master artisans (most notably the internationally acclaimed Chitara family of Ahmedabad, led by Padma Shri Bhanubhai Chitara, Sanjay Chitara, and Jagdish Chitara) prepare all pigments purely from organic and mineral elements: Black (Kat) is fermented for two weeks by boiling rusted iron horseshoes/nails with sugarcane jaggery (Gur) and tamarind seed flour (Kachuka), while Maroon-Red is developed by painting Alum (Phitkari) mordant and boiling the cloth in Alizarin / Madder root (Manjistha) before washing it in the flowing waters of the Sabarmati River. In March–April 2023, the Geographical Indications Registry (Chennai) officially awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) Tag to Ahmedabad Mata Ni Pachedi*.

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Literal Gujarati Meaning: *Mata (Mother Goddess) + Ni (of) + Pachedi (backdrop cloth / textile enclosure), literally meaning 'Behind the Mother Goddess'*.

Popular Art-Historical Sobriquet: Universally known as the 'Kalamkari of Gujarat' because artisans combine wooden hand-block printing for border outlines with freehand painting using a bamboo/date-palm stick pen (*Kalam*).

Creator Community — The Vaghari (Devipujak / Chunara) Tribe: Created ~300 years ago by the nomadic Vaghari community of Gujarat; denied entry into upper-caste stone temples, they wove and painted portable cloth shrines (Pachedi walls + Chandarvo ceiling canopy) that could be folded and carried on their backs.

Traditional Geographical Heartland: Practiced predominantly in Ahmedabad (along the banks of the Sabarmati River, which is essential for washing and oxidizing the mordanted cloth) and Kheda / Nadiad districts of Gujarat.

Geographical Indication (GI) Tag Recognition (March 2023): Officially granted the Geographical Indication (GI) Tag by the GI Registry (DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry) in March 2023.

Diplomatic Gift by the Prime Minister of India (2022): Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted an exquisite Mata Ni Pachedi textile artwork crafted by Padma Shri Bhanubhai Chitara to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during the 2022 G20 Bali Summit.

Padma Shri Award Recognition (2023): Veteran master artisan Bhanubhai Chunilal Chitara of Ahmedabad was conferred the Padma Shri (2023) in the Art category for preserving and globalizing Mata Ni Pachedi.

Strict Traditional Three-Color Palette (White, Black, Maroon-Red): Traditional Pachedis use only three sacred colors: (1) White (unbleached Madarpat cotton background = Purity/Truth), (2) *Black (Kat) (bold figure outlines = Protection/Kala), and (3) Deep Maroon-Red (Lal) (goddess robes and background = Cosmic Energy/Shakti*/Blood).

Step 1 of Making — Scouring & Harda (Myrobalan) Treatment: Raw cotton fabric (Madarpat) is first boiled to remove starch and soaked in a solution of **Harda (Myrobalan / Terminalia chebula fruit powder), whose natural tannic acid** turns the cloth yellowish-ivory and prevents black ink from bleeding.

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Step 2 of Making — Fermented Iron-Jaggery Black Dye (Kat): The black dye is 100% mineral-organic: artisans submerge *rusted scrap iron / horseshoes in water with black sugarcane jaggery (Gur) inside earthen pots buried in the sun for 15 days; the resulting ferrous acetate solution is thickened into a paste by boiling with tamarind seed powder (Kachuka), reacting instantly with the Harda tannins on the cloth to turn permanent jet-black*!

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Step 3 of Making — Bamboo Kalam & Teak Wood Blocks (Biba): Borders and repetitive motifs may be stamped using carved *teakwood blocks (Biba), while the central Mother Goddess and narrative figures are hand-painted using a split bamboo or date-palm twig brush (Kalam)* wrapped with cotton fiber.

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Step 4 of Making — Alum Mordant & Alizarin Boiling for Maroon-Red: Everywhere the artist wants Maroon-Red, they paint a transparent solution of *Alum (Phitkari* — Potassium Aluminum Sulfate,

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) thickened with tamarind seed flour; when the entire cloth is later boiled in a copper vat of Alizarin / Madder root (Rubia cordifolia / Manjistha) and Dhawda flowers, only the alum-mordanted areas chemically turn deep crimson-maroon**, leaving the rest white!

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Step 5 of Making — Flowing River Washing & Sun Bleaching (Sabarmati River): The boiled cloth is washed vigorously in the flowing waters of the Sabarmati River to remove excess paste and laid out on wet riverside sand under the scorching Gujarat sun, which bleaches the background crisp white while deepening the maroon and black.

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Distinctive Iconography — The Goddess's Vahana (Animal Mount): Because the Vaghari community worships over 100 local forms of the Mother Goddess, the specific identity of the Devi in a Pachedi is immediately recognized by her *animal mount (Vahana): Tiger/Lion (Ambaji / Chamunda), Rooster (Bahuchara Mata—patron deity of the Hijra/Kinnar community), Crocodile (Khodiyar Mata), Goat (Meldi Mata), Camel (Momai Mata), Buffalo (Vihat Mata), or a Sailing Ship (Vahanvati / Sikotar Mata*).

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Role of the Bhuva (Shamanic Priest) & Dakla Drum Ritual: During the nine nights of Navratri, a new Mata Ni Pachedi is installed in the temporary shrine while the hereditary medium/priest (*Bhuva) enters a trance accompanied by the hourglass-shaped Dakla* percussion drum and narrates the stories painted on the cloth.

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Comparison with Other Indian Painted Narrative Scrolls: Compare across states for UPSC Prelims: (1) Mata Ni Pachedi = Gujarat (Vaghari community, Shakti/Devi, 3 colors); (2) Phad Painting = Bhilwara, Rajasthan (Joshi painters, Bhopa–Bhopi bards singing Pabuji and Devnarayan with a Ravanahatha fiddle); (3) Kalamkari = Andhra Pradesh (Srikalahasti hand-painted & Machilipatnam block-printed); (4) Pattachitra = Odisha (Chitrakars of Raghurajpur, Lord Jagannath) & West Bengal (Patuas singing Pater Gaan); and (5) Cheriyal Scrolls = Telangana (Nakashi painters, red background).

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Adaptation into Multi-Color Contemporary Art (Sanjay & Jagdish Chitara): While ritual shrine Pachedis strictly keep the 3-color (black, red, white) rule, master artists like Sanjay Chitara (National Awardee) introduced natural *Indigo blue (Gali), Turmeric/Pomegranate yellow (Haldar), and henna green*, elevating Mata Ni Pachedi into international museum galleries (Victoria & Albert Museum, London).

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essential Prohibition During Painting & Ritual Disposal: Artisans observe strict ritual purity (removing footwear and refraining from alcohol/meat while painting the Goddess's eyes—Chakshu-daan); when an old ritual Pachedi wears out, it is never thrown in the trash, but respectfully *immersed (Visarjan) in the Sabarmati River*.

Subject Specialist Commentary

Analytical perspective & practical exam advice from the Master10 academic board

Educator's Insight

Imagine being told 300 years ago that your community is forbidden to step inside any village temple. Instead of giving up their devotion, the nomadic *Vaghari (Devipujak) community of Gujarat picked up unbleached cotton cloth, bamboo twig brushes (Kalam), rusted iron boiled with jaggery (for black), and alum with madder root (for deep maroon-red) to paint portable folding cloth temples along the banks of the Sabarmati River! Known as Mata Ni Pachedi ('Behind the Mother Goddess') or the 'Kalamkari of Gujarat', this sacred textile art received the GI Tag in March 2023*.

For UPSC Prelims (Indian Art & Culture), examiners love matching Scroll/Cloth Paintings with their States and Communities: (1) Mata Ni Pachedi = Gujarat (Vaghari / Chunara community, Chitara artists, strictly Black, Maroon-Red & White after Harda + Iron-Jaggery + Alum-Alizarin dyeing); (2) Phad Painting = Rajasthan (Bhopa priest-singers, Pabuji/Devnarayan); and (3) Srikalahasti Kalamkari = Andhra Pradesh (Swarnamukhi River, Hindu epics).

Mata Ni Pachedi GK Facts, Overview & Study Guide

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