Kaavad Tradition of Rajasthan : A Portable Pilgrimage

The Kaavad of Rajasthan is a portable shrine with multiple doors that fold into themselves. The Kaavadiya Bhat or the storyteller journeys with this brightly painted wooden box to the homes of his patrons, to recite their genealogies and regale them with the stories of the pantheon of deities painted on the shrine. It is a tradition that binds communities in common memory and mythology. Where did it come from? What is its fate in the world today? Exploring a panel at a time of this curious mnemonic device, the author, of Kaavad Tradition of Rajasthan, Nina Sabnani, leads us on a journey to uncover the myths and mysteries of this unique oral-storytelling tradition.

Nina Sabnani

Nina Sabnani is an artist and a long-time story teller, who uses film, illustration and writing to inform her audience. She graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Vadodara and received a master’s degree in film from Syracuse University, NY, which she pursued as a Fulbright Fellow in 1997. Her doctoral research at IDC was on Rajasthan’s Kaavad storytelling tradition. After teaching for two decades at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Nina has made Mumbai her home. She is Associate Professor at the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Mumbai.