Hingan - Votive terracotta painted plaque
Hingan- or the votive terracotta painted plaques of Molela, Rajasthan, India are craft works of Asawala sub castes of the Kumhar caste in Rajasthan. Votive terracotta painted plaques produced by the terracotta artisans of Molela are actually hand modelled hollow relief of Hindu deities, especially of the neo-Vaishnava deity, Dev Narayan. Made from clay, mixed with rice husk and donkey dung in required proportion, the plaque is sun dried and baked in an indigenous kiln before it is painted with mineral colours and eventually coated with a local made lacquer, called 'jala'. Several tribes in Gujarat and Rajasthan travel for more than 200 km once in a year to buy these plaques from Molela and bring them to their villages. These deities are installed and worshipped for 3 to 5 years in the shrines located in their villages till they are replaced by the new ones. Terracotta artisans from Molela are the only community entitled to meet this requirement of the tribes. This system has provided sustenance to the traditional craftsmanship for several generations.
Source IGNCA Inventory of ICH, Janapada Sampada Division, IGNCA
Contributed by Aditya, CEE Ahmedabad
Phad Scroll Paintings and Their Narration
Traditional phads from Rajasthan are large paintings on cloth portraying the epic lives of village gods, usually protectors of cattle. Vegetable colours are used on cloth and paper. Vibrant colours and bold lines, two dimensional treatment of figures, and the entire composition arranged in sections, are characteristic of these paintings. Shahpura in Bhilwara and Udaipur are the main centres.