Kavad Art: Bassi and Beyond

Satyanarayan Suthar is one among a handful of Kavad artists rigorously continuing the traditional practice of fashioning and painting a unique story telling device called a Kavad.

The temple has its own aura which people of all ages enjoy. Satyanarayan, the artist, has a special interest in it.

The temple ceiling has been painted by Satyanarayan and his co-workers. This kind of work, although commissioned and paid for, is also done as a sacred duty.

The art work on the pillars and walls reflect the latent skills in otherwise nondescript places all over India.

Scratch the surface, look a little deeper, you will find an art form emerging from local hands, surviving and often succeeding in a world not of their making.

Bassi has narrow streets, and dusty alleyways.

Standing out is Satyanarayan’s shop where he proudly displays on its frontage, an enlarged photograph of him receiving an award for the excellence of his skill from the President of India.

Satyanarayan Suthar has done the illustrations for the book he proudly displays.

He has a quiet, neat corner in the interior where the only sign of modernity is a computer.

These shops also sell dolls and toys.

The Bassi craftsmen also make various wooden shrines to display the image of a deity in the prayer room of a private home or small temple.

Puppets and assorted wooden artefacts serve as souvenirs for tourists.

Finer works are generally only produced when commissioned.

The red contemporary Kavad was one piece among 150 hand crafted objects made with guidance in contemporary design for an exhibition of scripts and calligraphy on craft and art.

Based on the style of the traditional Kavad, it told the story of the artist’s journey from his village to the city.

This Kavad made by Satyanaran Suthar stood out wherever it was displayed as part of the Akshara exhibition – in Delhi, Mumbai, Cairo and Paris.

The Akshara Exhibition at Singapore from December 2017 brought another commissioned order for Satyanarayan Suthar from the Indian Heritage Center, under the aegis of the Government of Singapore.

He was asked to represent old and new linkages between India and Singapore, where many Indians live and work.

The Kavad specially designed and made for Singapore uses the same traditional colour palette of blue, red, yellow, green, white and black, but arranged in different proportions from the traditional ones.

Historic events, professional occupations of Indians in Singapore, landmarks and the integration of language and cultures is laid out in a contemporary way, with proportions changing and fewer panels than a traditional kavad.

Historic events, professional occupations of Indians in Singapore, landmarks and the integration of language and cultures is laid out in a contemporary way.

Historic events, professional occupations of Indians in Singapore, landmarks and the integration of language and cultures is laid out in a contemporary way, with proportions changing and panel numbers changing.

This blue Kavad is another milestone in Satyanarayan Suthar's career.

Dwarka Prasad Jangid is another Kavad artist who is versatile and imaginative when given new subject matter to depict his story through artistic images.

He can be seen here painting a forest scene on a fibre glass tiger.

He has used his art to experiment with new forms and materials, like in the fibre glass tiger which tells a story of the animals in a jungle.

The art and craft of Bassi is now travelling across the world to important cities and institutions.

At bazaars and exhibitions in cities, the kavad attracts attention and customers who know very little about this tradition in Rajasthan.

The craftsmen have become storytelllers themselves, communicating the Kavad tradition to new markets.

Read more about the traditions Kavad Art and Storytelling here:

- Show and Tell: Myths, Legends and Alphabets
- Kavad Art: Carpentry and Painting