Did you know that the Chitara families of the nomadic Vaghari community in Gujarat began creating the artful Chandarvo or Mata-ni-Pachedi (behind the Mother Goddess, literally translated) paintings as a form of worship since they were prohibited from entering temples for belonging to the lower caste? These cloth paintings featuring different forms of Mother Goddess or Mata acted as temporary outdoor shrines. The 300-year-old art, passed down generations, is only practised by 50-odd artists from the community today. Among the foremost is the 45-year-old Ahmedabad-based Jagdish Chitara, who will present his first solo exhibition, titled Chandarvo: Painted Shrines of Mother Goddess, starting Sunday.

A painting uses forest animals as motif