Mata-Ni-Pachedi

Known as the Kalamkari of Gujarat, ‘Mata-ni-Pachedi’ translates to “behind the Mother Goddess.”  Using bamboo sticks dipped in natural dyes, artists from the once nomadic Vaghari tribe in Gujarat, create incredibly intricate paintings on cloth, to depict various forms of the Mother Goddess, flora and fauna. Some motifs are also block printed, and then filled with natural dyes by hand. 

Forbidden from entering temples several centuries ago, owing to their caste, the nomadic Vaghari tribe took to textile art, by creating sacred paintings of the Mother Goddess Amba, that they could worship while on the move.