Storytelling with Kaavad

A Paper by Nina Sabnani, who has done extensive research on the Kaavad tradition

"The Kaavad offers an identity to all the communities that are connected to it. Each community has multiple identities but in this specific one concerning the Kaavad they are all related. The makers get their uniqueness as they are the only ones who make them and were created to make them. They depend on the tellers to some degree to continue making the Kaavads. The tellers get their professional identity from the very name and depend on their patrons to continue the tradition. The patrons 'recognize themselves' and their ancestors in the images that the Kaavad mirrors. The myth in a way explains the reality and reinforces the dependence and synergy."

The Kaavad is a portable wooden temple/shrine that has visual images on its many panels that are attached together. These panels open and close like doors simulating the several thresholds of a temple. Visuals of gods, goddesses, saints, local heroes and patrons are available on the doors and walls. The portable temple is made by the Suthar (carpenter) community in Mewar for the Kaavadiya Bhat (storyteller) from Marwar who brings it to his patron's houses in Rajasthan.

The Kaavadiya Bhat periodically brings the shrine to his patron's house to sing praises of his ancestors. He also recites the stories especially ones that relate to the patron saint of the community concerned. The Kaavadiyas (storytellers) and their jajmans (hereditary patrons) consider the Kaavad as a sacred shrine which demands certain rituals like listening to genealogies, epic stories and making donations. It is believed that listening to stories purifies the soul and reserves a place for the devotee in heaven.