ABSTRACT
India being a diverse country has huge amount
of arts and crafts. Each community practices their
own different craft. These crafts are their
hereditary crafts which they’re practicing since so
many years. But due to lack of awareness among
people, some of the crafts are dying.
Crafts are of various types which includes crafts of
stone, grass, fabric, clay, metal, wood, etc.
Taking one such fabric craft which is on the verge
of extinction, MATA NI PACHEDI into consideration
and studying the whole process of making it. This
thesis aims to understand the whole process of
making the craft and identify the cluster of
community practising this craft and problems
faced by the craftsmen in their workspace and
redesign it according to their comfort.
Taking case study of a workspace of one such
craftsman and redesign his workspace according
to his needs.
WHY
People are hardly aware about this craft being
practiced in our country . Also the craftsmen
practicing this craft work from their home. So to
design their place where they can work as well as
live keeping their workspace and private space
different.
WHAT
Understanding the whole process of painting the
fabric in MATA NI PACHEDI and re-design their
workspace applying concepts from this craft.
HOW
By identifying a cluster practicing this craft and
then understanding the whole process of making
this craft by documenting it. And then taking a
workspace of one craftsman as a case-study and
re-design it according to his needs and inspired
by MATA NI PACHEDI.
MATA NI PACHEDI

•Mata-ni-Pachedi is a traditional art of painting the image of

goddesses on a piece of cloth found in the temple which is of a
multicolored animated images of gods and goddesses,
devotees, followers, flora and fauna with a narrative story.

•The term Mata-ni-Pachedi originated from Gujarati language,

where Mata means ‘goddess’, ni means ‘belongs to’ and
Pachedi means ‘behind’

•When people of the nomadic Vaghari community of Gujarat

were barred from entering temples, they made their own shrines
with depictions of the Mother Goddess of different forms on to
the cloth.

•The unique feature of this temple-hanging is the product layout

of four to five pieces of Mata-ni-Pachedi erected to form a shrine
for the Mother Goddess.

• Traditional Mata ni Pachedi is a rectangular piece of fabric

used as a canopy in the place of ceiling in a nomadic shrine
which houses the main mother goddess image at its center.

•The rectangular fabric is divided into seven to nine columns

followed by a narrative format which is made easier to interpret
and impart the stories within the space created through layout
work on the cloth.

• Maroon (red) and black were the only colors used with the
surface of the cotton material as the third color. Black is majorly
used as the outlines for the icons and the motifs meant to repel
malevolent spirits and intensify spiritual energy. White considered
being the color of purity that contacts with ancestral spirits and
deities. Maroon (Red) color of blood (rakta) associated with the
goddess and believed to possess the healing powers.
MATA NI PACHEDI
•Bhuvo or bhuva were the priest who performs the rituals,
Jagorais the singers who interpreted the pachedis and Chitaras
the artists who paint the shrine hangings.

• The Chitara community draws on the fabric and fills the images
by hand.

•Central image and surrounding figures vary in size and position

as per the artist’s creative imagination.

•According to the artisans, if there is more work to be completed,

the entire family gets involved in the work- preparing/making the
fabric, drawing and applying colour, filling, boiling, washing etc.

•Children in the household slowly start joining the family

profession and are involved in filling the colors and in all the
activities done around them.

•Wooden blocks are eventually replaced for sharper drawings.

Hand drawn Mata ni Pachedi are done side by side but it is more
labour intense and more expensive than the block printed ones.

•The paintings depict and worship goddesses such as Ambika

Mata (goddess of motherhood and family), Khodiyar Mata
(protector against physical disabilities), Meladi Mata (goddess of
the farmlands), Bahuchara Mata (goddess of fertility), who is
worshipped by the transgender community, and Hadkai Mata,
who offers protection from rabies.

•They appear in paintings seated on their vahanas (vehicles),

such as the tiger, crocodile and rooster.
Motifs On The Cloth

The centre of the textile depicts the

Devi-Mata in her mighty form,
mounted on a tiger enshrined by a representation of Mount
Kailash.Being the destroyer of evil, in her multiple hands she holds
weaponsof destruction while looking fierce and commanding.
Deities and commoners surround her with admiration and awe.

Sword: in her hand symbolizes eradication of vices teaching us

to discriminate and eradicate our evil qualities.

Conch: in her hand symbolizes happiness. We must perform our

duty happily and cheerfully and not with resentment.

Tiger: symbolizes unlimited power. Mata riding a tiger

indicates that She possesses unlimited power and uses it to
protect virtue
and destroy evil.

Sun: the presence of the celestial body in the top corner is

indicative
of the continuity of life.

The other gods depicted on this textile - Ganesha seated

appears on the top of the textile, Krishna dancing on the serpent
Kaliya is just below Durga Mata on the tiger. Rama and
Lakshmana are hunting the golden deer for Sita and Hanuman
carrying the Sanjeevani Mountain appears on the right side of
Durga. These motifs narrate scenes from Hindu epics. The
remaining motifs are of her followers celebrating her victory.