the lost cult of wandering bardsan insight into the
TRANSCRIPT
THE LOST CULT OF WANDERING BARDS.......AN INSIGHT INTO THE
SPECTACULAR TRADITIONAL TEXTILE OF PABUJI KI PAR
A term paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirement of the award of Degree
in
Bachelor of Design
through Under Graduate Bridge Programme
Indrajit De
Semester –II
Batch 2010
Under the Guidance of
Ms. Monika Gupta
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY
KOLKATA
2
DECLARATION
I, Indrajit De, hereby declare that the Term Paper entitled “The Lost Cult of Wandering
Bards.......an insight into the spectacular traditional textile of Pabuji ki Par” submitted towards,
partial fulfillment of the requirement of the Award of Degree in Bachelor of Design through
Under Graduate Bridge Programme is my original work and no part of the paper has been
copied from any other paper or any other work carried by someone else which has been
submitted for any other degree/ award. However, any material taken from any other published
source has been suitably referred and acknowledged at various places.
Name of the student
UG Bridge Programme 2010
Semester: II
NIFT Kolkata
Date: 06-06-2011
Place: Kolkata
3
CERTIFICATE
FROM GUIDE REGARDING COMPLETION OF WORK
This is to certify that the Term Paper entitled “The Lost Cult of Wandering Bards.......an insight
into the spectacular traditional textile of Pabuji ki Par” submitted towards, partial fulfillment of
the requirement of the Award of Degree in Bachelor of Design through Under Graduate Bridge
Programme by Indrajit De, is his original work under my guidance and the paper is based on
the research done by him.
_____________________
Ms. Monika Gupta
Professor
NIFT Kolkata
Date: 06-06-2011
Place: Kolkata
4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This is to express my heartfelt gratitude to my mentor Ms. Monica Gupta for her timely
assistance, expert guidance and direction, that helped me in finishing this project report which
otherwise would have been quite impossible to accomplish.
I am thankful to The Development Commissioner of Handicrafts, New Delhi for granting their
kind co-operation and support for collecting of all the required informations.
I take a privilege to thank Mr. S. A. Razzack, Assistant Director, O/o Development
Commissioner (Handicrafts), Market Service Center, Hyderabad, for giving his encouragement
and support for writing this paper.
I would also like to thank the NGO, namely, Village Development Society, comprising of Mr. S.
R. Hari, Executive Secretary, Mr. Shiva Ramakrishna, Project Officer, Mr. Rami Reddy,
Executive Member and Mr. Basha, Cluster Manager along with all the artisans who formed the
very core of the development programme.
My heartfelt thanks to Ms. Sangita Shroff, Director IICD, Jaipur and Mrs. Sangita Sharma,
coordinator Craft Development Centre, Jaipur, for their relentless help and support towards
completion of this report.
Finally, I would like to thank all the other mentors, my teachers at NIFT Kolkata, seniors and
batch mates as well. They have been very cooperative, friendly and supported me in various
ways. Along with their guidance they have also given me confidence and motivation for
completing my report in time.
_____________________
Indrajit De
Semester: 1
UG Bridge Course 2010
NIFT Kolkata
Date: 06-06-2011
Place: Kolkata
5
ABSTRACT It is not uncommon to hear of India’s cultural marvels, unique local traditions and unmatched
contributions to handmade art works. Yet, only when one goes beyond these fancy sounding
words to really explore India’s majestic heritage is one exposed to how rich our inheritance
truly is. One such work of art, born in the land of folklore, Rajasthan, is the Phad paintings.
These are huge paintings done on cloth, and depict stories of the local deities and gods. Phad
paintings are unique because as per traditions, a thirty feet long and five feet wide work is
done only by using natural vegetable colors. Additionally, material like squirrel hair is also
used. The essence of these paintings is that they are completely natural. Yet, this has, in
recent years, proven to be detriment to the popularity of Phad paintings because of a scarcity
of these natural colors. Preserving this wonderful form of art is the biggest challenge faced by
the craft community of India.
Since the Phad paintings depict the different episodes, these paintings are customarily
opened or unrolled only after sundown, in conjunction with the all night performance. This
could be one reason for these paintings to be called Phad meaning folds in Rajasthani dialect.
The word Phad is possibly derived from Sanskrit word patt. Every available inch of the canvas
is crowded with figures with the flat construction of the pictorial space. While the figures are
harmoniously distributed all over the area, the scale of figure depends on the social status of
the character they represent and the roles they play in the story. Another interesting feature is
that the figures in the paintings do not face the audience; rather, they face each other.
Various projects have been launched as part of the urgent global initiative to document and
make accessible endangered oral literatures and exquisite textiles before they disappear
without record. Many schemes were established in early 2009 to support scholars and
community researchers engaged in the collection and preservation of all forms of oral
literature by funding original fieldwork, and by providing training in digital collection and
archiving methods.
It is with great pleasure that I continue the quest for the right conditions for the survival of this
tradition with this contribution of the research paper on the spectacular Rajasthani
performance tradition of Pabuji ki par. I have drawn on the ethnographic training and visual
skills to explore the historical, cultural and socio-economic roots of this vivid pictorial narrative
while at the same time foregrounding the important and often overlooked role of the woman’s
voice in the epic performance.
6
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Introduction 7
Research objective 8
Research Methodology 9
Literature Review 10
CHAPTER II
The Bhopa/Bhopi communities of Rajasthan 12
The painted scroll or ‘Phad’ in the epic of Pabuji ki par 13
‘Picture showmen’: pictorial narrative in India 14
The Pabuji ki par tradition 16
The offertory or arthi 17
Modes of performance: gav and arthav 18
The par as whole 19
The role of the Bhopi in Pabuji ki par 21
The epic and the Phad: what is said and what is depicted 23
Diversity and variation in performance: the words and music of the epic 23
The epic of Pabuji and the Ramayana 24
Pabuji the God 25
Chapter III
Identification of the Issues and perspectives related to Par 26
Recommendations and Possible solutions 29
Conclusions 31
Limitations 32
Scope of further study 33
Glossary 33
Bibliography 35
7
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Pabuji, a medieval Rajput hero from the deserts of Marwar, is widely worshiped as a folk deity
capable of protecting against ill-fortune. The principal form of worship entails the night long
singing of Pabuji’s deeds by bard-priests or Bhopas/Bhopis. This takes place in front of a long
hand painted or embroidered textile piece, or Par/ Phad, which functions as the temple of the
deity and depicts those same deeds. The deeds are painted on long rectangular cloths that
may be 15 feet to 35 feet long by 5 feet wide. With the painting rolled up on two shafts of
bamboo, the Bhopas travel from village to village with the intent of singing the liturgical epic
of the life and death of the hero god. This performance is the principal ritual of the cult of
Pabuji. There are only two temples actually dedicated to Pabuji, which are located in his native
village of Kolu. So rather than the worshipers coming to the temple to honor their deity, the
bringing of the par paintings to the villages represents, in a sense, the temple coming to the
worshippers.
Fig.1: Pabuji ki par
During a period of six-month’s tenure as a craft consultant in Rajasthan, I witnessed two
‘husband and wife’ performances of the vernacular epic known as Pabuji ki par against the
backdrop of the par/phad (or painted scroll), one at the Amber Palace outside Jaipur and the
second in the Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur. While both performances were intriguing, the
second was particularly rich. We in the audience could hear a high-pitched melody and volley
of words, but despite scanning the faces of the drummer, the male instrumentalist cavorting
about the stage and that of the woman standing rigidly before us (his wife), we could discern
no moving lips. Who was singing? Finally, when the husband responded with an audibly
enthusiastic refrain: “Oh really?” it was clear: his wife, staring deadpan and motionless at the
audience, was the principal performer of the tale. In the world at large, women performers of
folk epics are relatively rare. Studying the Pabuji ki par, therefore, offered a unique opportunity
to investigate gendered epic traditions and ‘women’s epics’ as a distinct sub-genre.
The voice of rural women in Rajasthan is seldom, if ever, heard and my research sheds light on
their perspectives and the socio-religious worldview of women of the adivasi Bhil tribe, a poor,
lowcaste minority in Rajasthan, often denied basic rights and entitlements. Pabuji ki par is not
an unstudied folk epic. Some Western linguists and literary historians including Elizabeth
Wickett, John D. Smith and Janet Kamphorst have tended to concentrate on linguistic aspects
8
as well as the interpretation and translation of historical and literary manuscripts of the Pabuji
epic, either in the version composed exclusively by men (Pabuji ki mata) or in Smith’s case, a
bhopa’s (or male singer) performance of the epic. According to the Indian scholar, Rustom
Bharucha, who published a compendium of the works of the most prominent Rajasthani
folklorist, Komal Kothari in 2003, no one had studied the text and meaning of the epic from
the vantage point of the bhopis (or women performers), despite their significant role in
maintaining the tradition (Bharucha, 2003: 114). It is known that men are formally
indoctrinated in epic recitation as boys, but women are only allowed to sing after beginning to
live with their husbands (to whom they are married as children). As Bharucha noted, ‘How a
woman learns all the lines of the Pabuji epic... remains a mystery’.
There was an urgency to record and understand this tradition. These oral traditions that
celebrate the lifestyle and valiant deeds of nomadic communities are now under considerable
threat from television and the demands of the tourism industry to transform the mode of
performance of the epic into a more accessible form. The bhopas of Rajasthan, who used to
ply the pastoral migratory routes of the Raikas or Rabari tribes telling their tales, are now
more sedentary. Their livelihoods are in jeopardy as their main patrons, the nomadic
communities of the Thar desert, find their traditional pasture lands encroached upon by
developers and their precious water resources diverted into private ownership. As the
incidence of drought increases and the ecology of the Thar is subjected to the adverse impacts
of climate change and urbanization, many performers are moving to towns, aiming to perform
in tourist venues. However, competition is stiff amongst bhopas to secure ‘gigs’ in folk festivals
or to become members of folk troupes travelling abroad. In addition, other sources of
employment have presented themselves to young women. As primary school education
becomes more available, current trends indicate that over the next few decades, families from
tribal communities will increasingly opt for an urban, cash-based livelihood, leaving behind
their precarious and impoverished nomadic existence. The continuity of this tradition and its
transmission from generation to generation, as with many oral traditions, is also imperiled by
the advent of literacy and the desire of the rural poor to access more urban services. Cash
based employment has become the new economic imperative, and for the bhopa
communities, tourism is the new magnet.
At present only 14 traditional bard priests remain faithful to this artform around the village of
Kolu near Udaipur in Rajasthan. Hence it is really call of the time that this textile based
artform be studied and documented before it falls prey to the rapid modernization and sheer
neglect on our part towards our folk and rural traditions. With this intention the term paper
attempts to document the epic narrative tradition as well as the interesting details about the
textile, paintings involved as well as the words, music and the par itself.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
Primary Objective:
To study and document the traditional Rajasthani performance of Pabuji ki par.
Secondary Objectives:
To explore the historical roots of this vivid pictorial narrative tradition.
9
To learn about the different icons in Pabuji ki Par.
To understand the stories and meanings of incidents depicted in Phad paintings and
their social as well as religious contexts.
To explore and establish the important and often overlooked role of the woman’s voice
in the epic narrative performance.
To find out the root cause of the decline of Pabuji ki Par performances in the 21st
century.
To assist in retrieving an important element of rapidly vanishing folk culture in India.
To advance the public understanding and appreciation of a number of contemporary
themes, such as the distortion of indigenous culture and the loss of functionality of
traditional cultural practises.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1) According to nature of data
A qualitative research based on the statistical data, historical and mythological facts,
feedbacks and opinions collected mainly from the traditional Bhopas, art historians and textile
curators.
2) According to coverage
A micro level investigation will be performed and investigation subjects i.e. the bard-priests to
be identified from the village of Kolu, Jaipur and Shekhavati in Rajasthan.
3) According to application
Basic research will be carried out to gather authentic information about traditions and rituals
governing the performances of Pabuji ki Par in Rajasthan. Further attempts will be made to
understand the underlying problems faced by the Bhopa community and its direct or indirect
effects on the future of Phad painting traditions.
4) According to the place where it is carried out
Data will be collected from published articles in national and international journals, as well as
other available documents at various libraries.
Further field trips will be made to interact with the Bhopas and Bhopis to understand the
making of the traditional textile in detail, their problems, rituals, beliefs etc.
5) According to the Research Method used
A historical research will be carried out on the traditional narrative style of Pabuji ki Par and
the informations gathered will be analyzed and interpreted to pin point the underlying
10
problems faced by the craft community as well as to devise methods and ways to tackle the
same.
6) According to the time frame
Single time period research from March to May 2011.
7) According to purpose of the study
A detailed descriptive study of the informations gathered through available documents,
websites, field studies etc, will be carried out. Data derived from the surveys will be analyzed
through comparition charts and the results as well as recommendations will be included in
this report.
LITERATURE REVIEW
In 1970s a fieldwork was carried out, and this report is based on the findings of that survey. At
that time the tradition described in this report appeared to be in robust health. There were
many performers of the epic of Pabuji active in different regions of Rajasthan. Sometimes epic
singers who were unknown to each other would meet as a result of working for the survey and
it would be of great interest to overhear them discussing the similarities and differences
between their versions of the narrative. There seemed to be little fear for the future of the
tradition, particularly since the epic performance was not merely a form of entertainment, but
considered a religious ritual.1
By the time the survey results were compiled and published in 1991, things were already very
different. On travelling back to Rajasthan it was found that most of the Bhopas had given up
the profession of performing, and instead had taken up work such as pedaling cycle rickshaws
or sweeping out the temples: they told that people are no longer interested in hearing the epic
performed. Even Bhopos who were active are turning increasingly towards the tourist trade for
their income, and were singing Hindi film songs rather than episodes of the epic.
Ten years later the situation deteriorated even further and a documentary released in 20022
depicts a largely deracinated tradition, in which the performances for the devotees of the deity
Pabuji take place ever more rarely, while the bhopos are compelled to play and sing for
tourists, or even to provide “exotic” entertainment at smart urban restaurants, in order to earn
enough to eat. With the handful of 14 bard-priests remaining in Rajasthan, it is now clear that
the epic performance is rapidly dying, and even some Bhopos acknowledge this.3
In the world at large, women performers of folk epics are relatively rare. Studying the Pabuji ki
par, therefore, offered a unique opportunity to investigate gendered epic traditions and
‘women’s epics’ as a distinct sub-genre.4 The voice of rural women in Rajasthan is seldom, if
ever, heard and my research sheds light on their perspectives and the socio-religious
worldview of women of the adivasi Bhil tribe, a poor, lowcaste minority in Rajasthan, often
denied basic rights and entitlements.
Pabuji ki par is not an unstudied folk epic. Some Western linguists and literary historians
including John D. Smith and Janet Kamphorst have tended to concentrate on linguistic aspects
as well as the interpretation and translation of historical and literary manuscripts of the Pabuji
11
epic, either in the version composed exclusively by men (Pabuji ki Mata) or in Smith’s case, a
bhopa’s (or male singer) performance of the epic.5
Bharucha, who published a compendium of the works of the most prominent Rajasthani
folklorist, Komal Kothari in 2003, no one had studied the text and meaning of the epic from
the vantage point of the Bhopis (or women performers), despite their significant role in
maintaining the tradition (Bharucha, 2003: 114). It is known that men are formally
indoctrinated in epic recitation as boys, but women are only allowed to sing after beginning to
live with their husbands (to whom they are married as children). As Bharucha noted, ‘How a
woman learns all the lines of the Pabuji epic... remains a mystery’ (2003: 113).6
12
CHAPTER II
THE BHOPA/BHOPI COMMUNITIES OF RAJASTHAN Performers of the epic are found across the vast expanse of the Western Thar desert region
from Jaipur to Shekhavati, and from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer. As members of the adivasi Eastern
Rajput Bhil tribe of Rajasthan and its sub-group known as Nayak, these musicians define
themselves as bhopas or ‘devotee performers’. They are a distinct caste named after their
profession and implicitly of higher status than Bhils who live in remote forest areas in
Rajasthan (and other states of India) who continue to pursue traditional farming livelihoods.
Bhopas and bhopis perform the epic of Pabuji as a divine vocation. The performance tradition
of Pabuji ki par is a function of their ancestral heritage and the tradition is passed on from
generation to generation.
Fig.2: Bhopa in the middle of performance
Bhopa communities marry only with each other. Young girls, would-be bhopis, are pledged in
marriage to young men aspiring to become bhopas at a very early age. At this point, they enter
into their life partnerships as performing duos. ‘Empowered by the blessing of Pabuji’, as they
describe it, they begin to entertain audiences, and once they are able to sing the epic in high
pitch and volume, they become (as they describe themselves) ‘earners of their own bread’,
assured of enhanced social and economic status within the community. Until the
independence of India in 1947, bhopas worked as itinerant musicians moving within a domain
or regency of up to ten villages, controlled by a thakur or zamindar, the title given to a feudal
ruler of an area of Rajasthan. Since then, bhopas have become more sedentary and have
established homesteads in dhanis, i.e. small enclaves of nomadic tribal groups, often situated
13
at the edge of towns.
Bhopas still travel to other villages when invited to perform by patrons, most often Raika or
Rabari camel-rearing nomads, and may resort to a nomadic lifestyle at certain seasons of the
year if patrons are in short supply. Bhopas declare that they adhere to their ancestral tradition
and therefore still do not perform for patrons, against whom there are injunctions, including
Meghwal, cobblers who deal with the flesh and hides of dead animals, and concubine caste
(Sansi) dancers, among others.
Bhopas are called to perform the epic in a community if animals become ill or die. On these
occasions, the performers are believed to invoke the spiritual presence of Pabuji. Devotees,
and occasionally bhopas, may become possessed by the spirit of Pabuji during these
performances and ‘read’ the cause of supernatural afflictions and pronounce healing
remedies. Bhopis are never possessed by the Rajput deity, Pabuji; their counterpart deity is the
female goddess, Mataji.
THE PAINTED SCROLL OR ‘PHAD’ IN THE EPIC OF PABUJI KI PAR
Fig.3: Details of Phad painting
The epic performance mode known as Pabuji ki par or ‘Pabuji of the painted scroll’ is the most
prominent of the several performed epic traditions.
As is evident from the name, the painted scroll or Phad is a red textile on which the principal
characters, turreted castles, fantastic animals, horsemen and myriad battle scenes from the
epic are depicted along a series of horizontal planes. The scroll is a vital element in the
performance as it embodies the historical and spiritual tradition of Pabuji and portrays his
exploits. Devotees also believe that it is a living temple of their deity and once they have
performed the ritual offerings, censing and prayers, that Pabuji descends from heaven and is
14
present in the Phad. In ritual performances, the veiled bhopi stands singing to the left of the
Phad, sometimes illuminating the scroll with an oil lamp, while her husband bhopa stands to
the right, strumming his ravanhatta (a two-stringed stick fiddle) and occasionally re-enacting
the events being described. Despite this vivid recreation of events, in recognition of its
symbolic and strategic importance to the performance, bhopas and bhopis describe their
vocal, musical and kinesic renderings of events on the scroll as ‘reading the phad’.
Most phads seem to follow conventional schematic formulations in their representation of the
hero’s battles and famed encounters. Pabuji is placed in profile as the focal point of the scroll,
flanked on the right by his courtiers, and below by the prominent prancing mare, his re-
incarnated mother, Kesar Kalmi. According to Smith’s analysis, each phad in principle
comprises one hundred different scenes or clusters, displayed in synoptic rather than
chronological order and stretched along four to five meters of cloth, one and a half meters
high. Despite the convention, however, the phads featured in the four documented
performances reveal a certain degree of variation, both in the style and content of scenes
depicted, and in the artistic style and license of phad artists. The visualization of characters
would seem to vary from area to area. The scroll and its myriad scenes are well-known to
performers and to the audience, and yet despite its ritual importance to the epic, the majority
of bhopas make only cursory reference to the scenes on the phad, appearing to treat it more
as a backdrop than, as some researchers have suggested, a mnemonic. Most importantly, the
phad forms part of the epic’s mythic heritage. Bhopas believe that they have inherited the
phad and the splendid red robe that they wear in performance from their Bhil ancestors,
‘Chandoji’ and ‘Dheboji’, two of Pabuji’s courtiers depicted on the scroll, at the moment of the
god’s ascension to heaven. The story is told that Pabuji gave the cloth on his palanquin to his
courtiers. In his memory, these textiles are treated as sacred and have become integral
elements in the ritual performance of the epic.
‘PICTURE SHOWMEN’: PICTORIAL NARRATIVE IN INDIA
Telling stories from pictures is a practice deeply embedded in South Asian artistic and folk
tradition. Some scholars trace its roots to pre-Buddhist pictorial narrative though ‘picture
showmen’, wandering bards (mankha, magadha) who made their livelihood from telling
religious and moral tales using a picture board, first recorded in India in the eleventh century.
An artisanal caste of itinerant story tellers-cum-teachers subsequently emerged, whose self-
proclaimed vocation was to narrate mythical stories using a pictorial guide (Jain 1998: 10).
Pictorial narrative traditions are found in Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jain literature (in
particular, the so-called pata chitras, a type of religious painting that originated as an art form
in Orissa) and some scholars see analogies in the folk narrative-cum-painting customs
practised by various adivasi tribes and sub-tribes in the central Indian states of Gujarat,
Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Members of the adivasi tribe of Bhilalas in West Andhra
Pradesh, for example, are said to paint creation myths on the walls of their houses and invoke
characters from the story to descend into the wall and reside there for the duration of the
paintings (Jain 1998: 12). These customs and conceptions are analogous to those at the heart
of the pictorial narrative tradition of Pabuji in Rajasthan: the phad is a sacred textile in which
the god may be embodied during performance. As the text of the offertory hymn sung by
Bhanwar Lal reveals, the hero is entreated to ‘come down from his palanquin and receive
arthi’ in order to be present and reside there, in his image, during the performance. His
representation becomes vital, embodied in the two dimensional phad. As a result, the bhopa
and bhopi should not stand with their backs to the phad, and in ritual performance, bhopis are
required to veil their face in deference to the presence of the Rajput, Pabuji, in the phad. In a
15
similar vein, Anna Dallapiccola has noted that people who listen to stories recited by
chitrakathis (literally, ‘picture story-makers’) and who view images of their local deities
depicted on scrolls (as in the Paithai painting tradition of Maharashtra, for example) state that
they do so to derive the benefit of darshan: viewing a divine image, while at the same time,
becoming ‘one’ with it. In other words, the image becomes venerated and simultaneously
embodied through the gaze of the viewer. The desire for refraction and reflection of gaze may
also be visible in other related stylistic variants of the sacred pictorial tradition.
Fig.4: Statues of Pabuji in the abandoned temple, Koriya near Jaisalmer
At the five hundred-year old abandoned shrine of Pabuji at Koriya near Jaisalmer (but also in
evidence elsewhere in Rajasthan), two clay effigies of Pabuji are wrapped in iridescent and
highly reflective, dazzling pink, silver, green and polka dot aluminum foil, perhaps to
encourage the simultaneous reflection, transmission and intersubjectivity of gaze. Other
intriguing complementarities can be found in the mythological scenes painted by adivasi tribes
in India on the walls of houses, and in ancient petro glyphs, many of which can be found in
rock caves of central India and in the Chambal Valley which straddles parts of Rajasthan
(Sawai Madhopur) and Madhya Pradesh.
As both Pabuji and Gogaji, the wily snake god, are depicted on the phad as warriors on
horseback, early representations of equestrian figures are of interest, particularly because
both Bhopas and bhopis wear silver medals of Pabuji astride his horse as the defining emblem
of their devotion.
The technique deployed in this drawing emulates styles used in petro glyphs dating from the
Paleolithic and Mesolithic eras even though that particular painting is dated to what
archaeologists refer to as ‘the historic period’, i.e. the first millennium Bce.
16
Fig.5: Traditional wall paintings
Other more ‘primitive’ depictions of the equestrian Pabuji, including some which appear to
draw upon this unique petro glyph style, can also be seen in the wall paintings of the
abandoned medieval shrine of Pabuji at Koriya near Jaisalmer. Two flamboyant sketches,
drawn in hematite or ochre, show Pabuji sitting astride his horse, while another, situated under
the painting of a gigantic elephant, portrays him in a more geometric form, flanked by the tree
of life and a fanning peacock. Symbols central to the phad are also replicated in adivasi wall
paintings in an area of Rajasthan bordering the Chambal valley: the two fanning peacocks
which face each other in the central upper register ‘crown’ and enclose the regal palanquin of
Pabuji on the phad, for example. In Sawai Madhopur, a pair of facing male peacocks, painted
in glaring white lime onto a dun-coloured mud wall (one in the act of copulation with a female,
plus a random series of growling cats), would seem to form part of the repertoire of symbolic
icons of the Meena tribe’s Mandana folk art tradition.
THE “PABUJI KI PAR” TRADITION
Pabuji ki par is a sacred epic performed in devotion to the patron deity, Pabuji, reputed to
have been a fourteenth century hero. According to the bhopas, Pabuji is revered because ‘he
sacrificed his life to save cows’, the mainstay of their existence. In consequence, Pabuji is
17
worshipped as a local deity by herdsmen, nomads and those who pursue a livelihood based on
animal husbandry in the harsh terrain of the Thar desert. Pabuji is also acknowledged to be a
healer of ailments affecting both animals and the environment, and therefore bhopas ‘read
the phad’ in a village when a patron wishes to invoke the blessing of Pabuji to heal his
animals, to bring the rain or to transform brackish water into sweet. As Patashi Devi describes
the sequence of events, a symbolic offering of food, known as akha, is offered to the deity
himself. This may comprise either a handful of bajra or pearl millet (the staple food of desert
dwellers in the Thar desert, and the only rain-fed crop that can be grown there), gur (jaggery) or
the ritual offering of 51 rupees. By these token offerings (subsequently fed to wild peacocks,
their own domestic animals, or consumed by the family) the bhopa/bhopi duo is invited to
perform the epic of Pabuji. In the performance, the bhopa and bhopi act as priests,
intermediaries and catalysts in the process of incarnating Pabuji’s presence. They do this by
erecting the phad, his mobile temple, and by invoking his spiritual presence through the
performance of puja (offerings of coconut oil and incense). The process of re-corporealisation
of the deity begins with the token offering of food as puja to Pabuji via his devotee, the bhopa.
This offering must be made on a day that ‘Pabuji does not fast’, and thus, specifically excludes
the 11th day of the lunar calendar. The performers receive the offering but it is directly offered
as ‘food’ to the god before being circulated back to his bhopas and their families.
THE OFFERTORY OR ARTHI
“Pabuji; you are great to have come, You are the son of Rao Dhamdal, the royal king, as
powerful as a royal elephant Powerful son of Gaj Dhamdal, as strong as regal Pim.. Defeat
your enemy and protect your dynasty. We offer you an earthenware lamp, incense and prayers
Please come to us and help us’. But a barren woman is powerless.. So adorned in multi-colored
plumes he cannot fly. Greed is evil. Kolu temple is your place of sanctuary, your place of ritual
Pabuji, we pray to you each morning and evening. Napasar and Bilasar are also places we
perform rituals. To you, incarnation of Lakshmana jatti, ‘ascetic deity of the Thar desert’, The
dusky-colored bhopa speaks to Pabuji ‘I pray for you with perfumed sticks of incense each
morning and evening’ Chandaji and Dabaji are the courtiers of Pabuji in this world We pray for
you each morning and evening The fame of this work, Like a light that shines forth, will endure
forever on this planet.”
Fig.6: Pabuji ki Par statue
18
The offertory or arthi is sung by the bhopa to Pabuji (who is believed to be present in the
phad), to a slow but rhythmic pulse. As clearly evinced in the performance cited above, Bhopa
Bhanwar Lal calls to Pabuji to come down from his palanquin to the performance of the phad.
Of all the bhopas’ hymns recorded, Bhanwar Lal’s rendering of the arthi is the most poetic. He
raises the mysterious issue of fertility: ‘a barren woman is powerless’, he sings, and so she
must pray to Pabuji for help. His offertory hymn also sounds a moral note: the rich are
bedecked in glittering costumes but seemingly cannot act to improve the human condition.
They are greedy: ‘greed is evil’, he proclaims.
This hymn embodies a message of advocacy. As becomes clear from the ‘texts’ of the
episodes, this epic enshrines the voice of the poor and articulates a critique cloaked in
metaphor.
MODES OF PERFORMANCE: GAV AND ARTHAV
The Pabuji ki par epic is comprised of two performance modes: gav (song) and arthav
(recitative). The bulk of the singing is done by the bhopi, accompanied by her husband bhopa
on his ravanhatta, and this is the longest and most exciting part of the epic performance. The
bhopi does not merely ‘hold the lamp in front of the screen’, but she designs and moulds the
narrative through her vocal power and emotional force after a musical prompt and
introductory phrase from the bhopa. Singing at increasingly higher and higher volume and
pitch, the bhopi creates an atmosphere of emotional intensity through the vibrancy and timbre
of her voice. As the bhopi sings, the bhopa provides the melodic lead and often strives to
emulate the exploits of the hero, prancing around the stage as if he were a rider on horseback,
or dancing or striding regally, his head erect, as if he were one of his ancestral courtiers at
Pabuji’s grand wedding procession.
The second style of performance is called arthav, a high-pitched or chanted recitative
performed by the bhopa alone. During this section of the epic recitation, the phad, lit by
moonlight and rendered almost incandescent in the light of flickering lamps, acquires
prominence. Standing in front of the scroll, the bhopa declaims and announces the events as
they unfold, but this time, in prose, while at the same time pointing to images and characters
on the scroll with the tip of his instrument. To punctuate his narrative and to sustain the
listener’s attention, he often adds a series of musical flourishes on his ravanhatta. There is a
lull in the flow of the epic during arthav and whereas the performance of gav seems to
embody the emotion inherent in the elaborate conflicts and encounters between principal
characters in the epic, this narrative acts as an interlude and moment of reflection between
the more emotionally charged conflicts around which the epic revolves. Pabuji and his
courtiers are worshipped through images of equestrian figures, sculpted in relief on ancient
‘hero’ stones found scattered throughout the Thar desert and present in his various shrines.
Their representation gives credence to the epic stories and the collective memory of their
exploits is passed from generation to generation. As to why Chandoji and Dheboji are
represented on the phad along with Pabuji, and on the question of why bhopas may have
inherited their divine vocation from their ancestors, Chandoji and Dheboji, Parbo Bhopa
provided an explanation. He told Smith that both Chandoji (Camda/Cada) and Dheboji
(Dhembo) were ‘Rajputs by birth and Nayaks by upbringing’, a factor that would explain their
high status representation on the phad dressed as Mughal courtiers, and account for their
exalted status in the epic. It also makes clear why subsequent generations would claim
descent and seek to emulate them. In the epic, Pabuji is eulogized in a wealth of epithets
19
describing him as ‘King of the Rathore clan of Rajput’ and ‘King of Kolu’, the site of his original
palace and main temple near Phalodi in Western Rajasthan. He is also described as a
‘provider of food’, possibly a more significant marker to his devotees than ‘king’. Pabuji is
honoured as thakur and sardar, titles meaning ‘feudal lord’, as he would have been perceived
in the Middle Ages, as Pal or Pal Balala, ‘Life’ or the ‘Spear of Life’, ‘the foundation stone of
our religion on earth’, and in mythological terms, as the descendant and avatar (living
embodiment) of Lord Lakshmana, the ascetic brother of the god, Ram in the ancient Hindu
religious epic, the Ramayana. The fundamental role of the epic in praising the deity Pabuji is
clear.
THE PAR AS A WHOLE
Fig.7: Pabuji’s Par
A short tour through one small area of Pabuji’s par has served to establish some general
principles regarding its iconographic layout. Following on the fundamental principle that
events are depicted in terms of the place, rather than the time, of their occurrence, we have
seen that:
The par is highly directional: the orientation of characters within one scene very likely
depends on the relative position of other scenes.
Scenes depicted on the par may well be ambiguous: the same scene or the same item
within the scene may stand for different narrative elements at different points in time.
Conversely, there may be multiple occurrences of items within a scene.
The disposition of scenes and figures aims to fill all available space.
20
Space, like scale, is elastic, and can shrink or stretch as desired.
The par is a representation of epic geography, a sort of epic map. The par relies heavily on the
principle of directionality and hence can only function successfully if the various places in
question are located in reasonable positions relative to one another. There is a possibility that
the layout of the major places was initially settled on with some reference to “real” as opposed
to epic geography. At first glance this does not appear at all likely: a map featuring from left to
right, Lanka (modern Sri Lanka), Umarkot (in Pakistan), Kolu and Jaisalmer (about 90 miles
west of Kolu) would admittedly not be a very helpful document. But in fact we know that the
place names associated with several of the major characters in the story have changed over
the last four centuries, and that even today the bhopos recognize that “Lanka” actually stands
for the land to the west of the Indus. Hence geographical considerations are unlikely to have
played the major part in determining the disposition of places on the cloth. Pabuji is the hero
of the narrative and the deity resident in the sacred par: naturally he is depicted in the centre
of the painting. The locations of his enemies are as far away from him as possible, in the outer
darkness at the edges of the cloth. Five scales can be distinguished among the figures on the
par. Running from large to small, they are as follows:
1. The scale used for the central figure of Pabuji alone.
2. The scale used for the central representations of his four companions alone.
3. The scale used for certain major figures in either formal or heroic settings.
4. The scale used for a number of minor figures in formal or heroic settings, such as
remaining courtiers at Umarkot, or Rupnath showing Khinchi’s head to Pema.
5. The scale used for all other figures.
Fig.8: Wall paintings done by Josi painters
21
The traditional skills of painting pars are typically handed down from father to son. Besides
painting pars, these artists also paint other pictures for the villagers and sometimes wall
paintings. A par painting is commissioned by a bhopa, who uses the painting in the rituals
described above. Beginning in the twentieth century, pars were painted for collectors as well.
These pars are of a much shorter length than ceremonial pars. Traditionally, the painting is
done on cotton fabric that has been prepared with an application of a paste of flour and gum
and then polished with a stone. However, this process is not necessarily followed in pars
painted for patrons other than the bhopas. The traditional painting of a par commissioned by a
bhopa is a religious procedure. An auspicious date is chosen for beginning the painting, on
which date an offering is made to Saraswati, goddess of learning and the arts. The first stroke
of the brush is done by a virgin girl who is a member of the painter's family or a member of a
high-caste family. The artist sketches the whole painting in a light yellow color. The colors used
to paint the figures themselves are earth colors, vegetable colors, or indigo. Colors are mixed
with gum and water and are painted one at a time on the cloth. That is, the artist will paint all
the areas that require orange first, then yellow, and so forth. Finally, the artist finishes with an
outline in black. Again on an auspicious day, the final transaction is made between the artist
and the commissioning bhopa. The artist signs the painting in the middle, near the image of
the hero-god. He may include the name of the purchasing bhopa and any patrons, as well as
the date. Finally, the artist paints the pupil in the eye of the hero-deity in order to "awaken" the
deity and the painting. Now the bhopa pays for the picture. Ceremonial par paintings are
designed in such a way that the various areas of the painting correspond to the several places
in the life story of Pabuji (or Devnarayan).
Sometimes a scene in the painting is used to illustrate more than one incident in the hero's
epic. Not surprisingly, the central image in the painting is typically a large-size image of Pabuji
(or Devnarayan). In Pabuji-ki pars, immediately to the right of the hero deity is his court,
consisting of his four principal companions. Somewhat to the left of Pabuji's court is the court
of his brother Buro. Farther left still is the land of Umarkot. At the left-hand edge of the
painting is Lanka. To the right of Pabuji's court is the court of the Lady Deval. At the far right of
the painting is Khinchi’s court. These areas are not immediately contiguous. There are scenes
that fill the spaces between the areas. For example, incidents that happened during Pabuji's
journey from his homeland to Umarkot will be depicted between those two areas on the cloth.
Sometimes there are pictures of deities (Ganesh, Saraswati, Vishnu in various incarnations)
along the top of the par. Given the placements of the images in the painting, the par can be
conceived not only as a picture of various scenes in a story, but also as a geographical map.
Note that this placement of scenes applies to the full-sized traditional pars. Obviously, those
pars of smaller size that are painted for sale to collectors will not contain all the scenes
required in a painting that a bhopa intended to use in a ritual ceremony.
THE ROLE OF THE BHOPI IN PABUJI KI PAR
What distinguishes Pabuji ki par from other versions of the epic (and many other epic
traditions) is the fact that the bulk of the epic ‘song’ or gav is sung by the bhopi. Women
compose and perform the episodes in tandem with their male partners but the ‘voice’ of the
principal character, in most cases, is that of a woman rather than a man. The voices of Kelam
Dé (short for Devi) and the Goddess Deval Charni, for example, are privileged above those of
male characters. The women speak whereas the male heroes remain mute. This would seem
to suggest that the gav section is not only sung by a woman but articulates the concerns of
women who listen to and patronize epic performance. Arthav, on the other hand, chronicles
events of the epic in a more emotionally neutral ‘past tense.’
22
Fig.9: Patashi Devi Bhopi performing in Pabusar
The bhopa and bhopi perform distinct and gender-specific roles. They never sing together;
either one or the other sings. The bhopa performs the necessary devotional rituals before the
performance and sings the arthi. He is also the instrumentalist who provides the melodic and
rhythmic accompaniment to the bhopi, but it is she who sings the episodes with full coloratura
and emotional inflection. Some Western scholars have tended to concentrate on the
mediaeval origins of the text and manuscript versions of the epic of Pabuji rather than its
performed versions and therefore may have ignored the pivotal role of the bhopi. Perceptions
of gender protocols and perhaps, as one scholar of Pabuji told, an inadvertent but evident
‘gender bias’, as well as a focus on documentation of the complete chronicle, may have
obscured this important aspect of this gendered tradition. Parbo Bhopa’s version of the epic,
cited by Smith as a complete text, for example, excludes any renditions by the bhopi. Clearly,
this has influenced the nature of the text, as he himself notes.
The traditional performance modes are indisputable, as Bharucha notes: ‘in the husband wife
rendition of Pabuji ki par, the man sings the first lines of each verse in the narrative, playing
the ravanhatta, while his wife sings the rest of the verse’. In the survey of the Pabuji ki par
tradition across Rajasthan, the same pattern was observed: the bulk of the performance was
devoted to gav, sung by the bhopi, with the bhopa providing a one or two word introduction to
the verse. The arthav section, chanted by the bhopa, constituted less than 25% of the epic.
Parbo Bhopa’s ‘complete text of the epic of Pabuji ki par’ is, therefore, a hybrid, qualitatively
different from the epic as normally performed by a bhopa and bhopi in tandem (Bharucha
2003: 113). Moreover, as observed in the performances, as the belligerent voice of the
audience signals its support or disdain for events unfolding, the tale is transformed from a well
known story into ‘a kind of reality TV show’, in which the audience’s opinion influences the
23
tenure of events. Perusal of the sung ‘texts’ reveals that the bhopis interject many of the
problems of daily life, specifically family relationships and alliances into the epic recitation,
while at the same time praising Pabuji as their divine patron and source of empowerment. In
these outbursts, milk-based metaphors predominate: ‘We scarcely get the whey let alone the
curd!’ say two different bhopis. The singers stress the torment women feel when dowries
promised are not paid; the sadness they endure; how men continue to promise unrealistic
dowries they can never pay to clinch marriage contracts; how people may agree to take on
work in honor of their feudal patron-thakur but feel exploited because they are not properly
paid or treated with respect; how mothers-in-law make snide remarks and accuse their
daughters-in-law of unseemly behavior, often without cause, and so on.
THE EPIC AND THE PHAD: WHAT IS SAID AND WHAT IS DEPICTED
What is fascinating about the epic is what is said (or not said), and what is depicted (or not
depicted) on the phad. Most of the audience knows the saga of Pabuji, and so some factors
crucial to outsiders’ understanding of the story are omitted. However, it is clear that Pabuji’s
exploits do not always appear to be the central preoccupation of the bhopa/bhopi, though his
image dominates the scroll. Rather, Pabuji’s actions often appear tangential (in terms of
narrative emphasis) to what appears to be the more critical roles played by his Bhil courtiers
(such as Harmal Devasi) in performance of their required duties. Moreover, differences in the
way the epic is performed as opposed to visualized in the phad should also be noted. Several
bhopas begin by singing the episode of Gogaji, the snake god, focusing on his devious
character and scheme to secure marriage to Pabuji’s niece, Kelam Dé. These incidents are
featured on the phads but as minor inserts: they are not accorded the central prominence one
would expect from the elaborate telling of this story. Moreover, Pabuji’s feat of making grass
grow is important in the parvaro of his failed nuptials as it bears important witness to his
charismatic power, and yet this does not appear on the phad. His wedding scene is, however,
depicted on the phad, along with the Goddess Deval as a bird, though it appears under-
illustrated in terms of its importance to the narrative. The issue of who will look after her
precious cows lies at the crux of the epic. As their abduction is the cause of the future conflict
that will ultimately lead to the death of the hero Pabuji, this incident might be expected to
command more strategic prominence and size on the phad. Also converse to expectations,
many of the issues highlighted in the oral epic are inherently conflictual and pertain to
negotiations and solutions to various pressing social problems, but these are not portrayed on
the phad: for example, the concern expressed by Kelam Dé for the outlandishness of her
dowry gift. The characters are depicted formulaically with stereotypical physiognomy and in
profile. They are consequently devoid of any distinctive personality features or expressions. It
remains for the bhopi to infuse them with life and contemporary relevance through an
emotionally invigorated gav. While the phad portrays a myriad of social interactions, it remains
emotionally and dramatically neutral. In fact, the ‘reading’ of the phad can be interpreted as
the way in which the bhopis, with assistance from the bhopas, re-incarnate their favorite
characters and their deity through the grace afforded by the empowering presence of Pabuji.
DIVERSITY AND VARIATION IN PERFORMANCE
THE WORDS AND MUSIC OF THE EPIC
The language of the performances of Pabuji ki par is Marwari, one of six dialects of Rajasthani,
at one time linked to the archaic poetic koiné known as Dimgal reputedly used by Charan
24
poets to compose the ancient epic. Some dialectical differences are evident in the
performances, however. The musicians from Shekhavati and Nagaur each speak their own
dialect, distinct from the Marwari spoken by the bhopa/bhopi in Jodhpur, for example.
Understanding the epic of Pabuji requires some tutoring, moreover, even for native speakers
of Marwari. As became apparent during the course of the research project, those unfamiliar
with the formulaic style and language of the epic are not necessarily able to understand the
archaic language of the poetic ‘text’ of the epic of Pabuji. The musical styles of the various
performers also vary considerably, both in tonal quality and in instrumentation. The musical
refrains and fleeting interludes performed by bhopas on their ravanhatta differ markedly from
one another, as do the vocal range and melodic structure of the bhopis’ individual ‘ arias’,
some sweet and some raucous. The remarkable diversity and apparent freedom of bhopas to
compose and develop melodic lines of this tradition across the Thar desert must be regarded
as one of its hallmarks. According to Hari Ram Bhopa, each family would have been assigned
a particular cluster of villages in which to perform. Consequently, there would have been little
possibility of communication between competing families of bards except in marriage
alliances and thus, ample room for creative diversification by bhopas within the area assigned.
Many bhopa/bhopi families have expanded their income base from ritual performances to
tourist venues over the years and this contact with other musicians may also have acted as an
incentive in the development of new melodic compositions.
While the tribes of Rajasthan are adapting themselves more and more to tourism as a main
source of employment, it is clear that over the decades, the highest caliber performers have
succeeded in raising their standard of living and wealth quotient by exploring new domains of
performance, while the less talented have fallen by the wayside and have drifted involuntarily
into the unskilled labour market.
THE EPIC OF PABUJI AND THE RAMAYANA
In the recitation of the epic, we discover that Pabuji is described as Lakshmana, brother of the
god Ram, and a character renowned in sacred Hindu mythology from the epic known as the
Ramayana. This trend of Ramayanisation, or rather, the vernacularisation of classical epics
has been analyzed and debated at length by other scholars including Alf Hiltebeitel (1999)
who has pointed out that these oral epics differ from the classical in that in general they
depict local goddesses and minor kings from the landed classes rather than gods. In the case
of the epic of Pabuji, the main character is, indeed, a Rajput warrior and so, a minor king.
However, his Bhil courtiers, Chandoji, Dheboji and Harmal Devasi, are also featured in the epic
and depicted on the phad as being of equal rank and status as Kshatriyas, members of the
superior warrior caste, even though they are ethnically adivasi and employed as servants to
the Rajput king. Therefore, as Hiltebeitel (1999) has elaborated at length, the distinction in
this folk epic is not only one of depiction of local vs. mythical or national vs. universal
characters from Hindu mythology. In this epic, the status of the low-caste courtiers has been
inverted and transformed so that they, too, now occupy the rank and eminence of Kshatriyas.
The artist has depicted the courtiers on the same horizontal plane as the hero, and painted
their skin the same pale colour. Moreover, the centrality of their acts of valour in the
performed episodes would seem not only to reflect the desire of the musicians to stress this
transformation lyrically, but also a determination on behalf of the Josi caste (traditional
designers and artisanal craftsmen endowed with the right to paint the phad) to represent such
transformations pictorially. What seems apparent now is that bhopas are telling ‘their own
story.’
25
The phenomenon of the ‘vernacularisation’ of the Ramayana—the introduction of important
characters from this sacred epic into the popular oral performance of Pabuji—would seem to
suggest that over the centuries, reciters may have incorporated reincarnations of mythical and
religious heroes from the Ramayana into their stories to add credibility and historical weight to
their hero’s profiles, in keeping with their own view of history. Such a vernacularising process
and attitude to time and historical determinism as we see manifest in this re-emergence of
characters and cosmological events would seem to be entirely consistent with the cyclical
nature of incarnation and reincarnation present in Hindu mythology and religious tradition. As
such, this process is not part of a conscious ‘re-invention of tradition’ (Hobsbawm and Ranger
1992), but may be evidence of a historical trend by disenfranchised groups to politicize and
democratize folk tradition in pursuit of equal libertarian goals.
PABUJI THE GOD
The story of Pabuji presents the hero as something of a brigand: he rustles livestock, engages
in blood feuds, and does battle with his enemies and rivals. Why should such a figure end up
as a god? It may be helpful in answering this question to compare Pabuji with the best known
brigands of present day India. The organized gangs of dacoits enjoy widespread popular
sympathy, and their enemies-the police-suffer widespread distrust. The greatest dacoits, for
example the infamous Mansingh, may literally become legends in their own lifetime, fostering
the people’s “image of dacoity as a meritorious institution”. Indeed, we read that “the dacoit
who must closely duplicate the tactics of revered dacoit figures of the past is capable of being
perceived as a reincarnation of one of the famous warrior heroes mentioned in the sacred
texts”. The resemblance of Pabuji cannot be ignored: the noble bandit achieves the status of
an avatara, an incarnation of god.
Pabuji also holds a great deal in common with a category of minor deities widely worshipped
in Rajasthan, the bhomiyos or junjars. These are local heroes who are venerated after their
death, the classic case being the hero who, like Pabuji, dies in the act of rescuing stolen cows.
The cult of Pabuji is a folk cult, and there is naturally no central figure to speak authoritatively
about the “correct” version of this myth; it is thus inevitable that there should be variation from
bhopo to bhopo concerning its details.
Putting aside “doubtful” incarnations such as Pabuji’s mare and his companions, it is generally
agreed that four figures in the epic story are avataras:
1. Pabuji himself is said to be an avatara of Lakshmana, younger brother of Rama.
2. Jindrav Khinchi is said to be an avatara of Ravana.
3. Pabuji’s bride Phulwanti is said to be an avatara of Ravana’s sister Surpanakha.
4. Deval the Chaaran lady is said to be an avatara of the goddess.
The reason for reincarnation of these figures is that the mythology of Ramayana leaves them
with unfinished business, so to speak, so that it is necessary for them to assume flesh and
come down to earth once more to put their affairs in order. It must be remembered that these
affairs are a part of the endless struggle between gods and the demons, and thus have a
cosmic significance.
26
CHAPTER III
IDENTIFICATION OF THE ISSUES AND PERSPECTIVES RELATED TO PAR
In just one recent month, four skilled and talented traditional artisans in the western Indian
state of Rajasthan died from starvation, and two more committed suicide. They joined the
several score more who have taken their own lives in recent years and the uncounted lot who
have not yet been driven to this act of ultimate despair, but whose lives nevertheless have
been devastated by financial ruin and by the hopelessness of a world in which their skills and
their knowledge, once prized and respected, have become superfluous. These incidences
represent the most extreme example of what can happen when possessors of traditional
knowledge find that their specialized expertise is no longer economically viable.
Walking on a similar line, a few prominent issues related to Phad paintings have been
identified that are threatening the livelihoods of Bhopas and bhopis as well as the Josi
painters from Bhilwara and Shahpura in south east rajasthan:
Informal Skill set
Traditionally the par-method of narrative description has been used by the Josi painters
of Bhilwara and Shahpura in south east Rajasthan only for the pars of Pabuji and
Devnarayan. It has also come to be employed by them in recent years for other
compositions, including pars for “new” deities, but its use does not seem to have
spread any further than this. Major reason for this is the absence of any formalized
system of education and training the skilled artisans. As a result of this the awareness
about the painting style and the appeal of the style has been very limited to the few
core groups of people only. For the same reason the skill sets also varies considerably
from village to village and hence it becomes extremely difficult to maintain a parity in
all the Phad paintings.
Caste Discrimination
Caste was an important tenet of socio-political organization in medieval Marwar and
continues to be important (apparently becoming more and more so) in the region
today. Though the poets of the Pabuji praised their protagonists and versified their
deeds without referring to issues traditionally associated with caste like ritual purity
and impurity, endogamy, the eminence attributed to Brahmin communities and the
classification of Rajput identity as a caste of warriors (Kshatriya). In again emphasizing
this aspect of the traditions, it is not meant to imply that Bhil, Charan and Rajput
identities were at no stage of the described histories commensurate with caste. It does,
on the other hand, seem that this study highlighted that caste was not as important a
framework as constructions of royal Rajput caste status would have us believe. The
same can be remarked about descriptions of Bhil, Charan and Rajput caste identities in
administrative colonial sources, including the travelogues consulted and written by
British, French and other European travellers on yet other journeys through the western
desert regions. Inspite of this the fact remains that the bard priests are themselves
people of the so called lower caste and their target audiences also comprised of the
nomadic Rabari tribes. Craft-specific professional infrastructure—worksheds, storage
space, shipping and packing facilities—is totally lacking for most rural crafts producers.
And social services infrastructure—insurance, pension plans, medical care—is
something beyond hope. In addition to these practical problems, the craftsperson in
27
most cases gets little recognition or tangible reward for extraordinary skill or talent.
This lack of professional respect is at least partially because crafts production in India
is still linked to caste status, and crafts-producing communities, with very few
exceptions, are at the lower levels of the social scale.
Poor Documentation
The Phad painting and the associated night long worshipping of Pabuji is actually part
of traditional Oral folklore. Being part of the oral literature the entire skill sets, tunes,
songs, lyrics, techniques of painting, etc are all taken for granted and not documented
in a proper way.
Urbanization
The rapid urbanization of the cities in India as well as the rural areas have led to a
situation where people are moving away from their traditions and embracing western
lifestyle in a proactive way. The Phad painters depended heavily on the villages and the
nomadic Rabari tribes for their survival. With the tribesmen and women continuously
settling down in cities for better employment and future, this traditional craft is on the
verge of extinction today.
Unstable Demand
It is extremely difficult to tackle the many problems of this textile craft in any remotely
comprehensive way because of its amorphous, unorganized nature. Indeed, the very
nature of the problems can be quite different in different areas and for different types
of artisans and audiences. However the common and most important factor for any
craft to survive is to have a constant and healthy demand which unfortunately in this
case is rapidly dwindling. Education and exposure has changed the way people used to
perceive folklore and hence at present the Pabuji ki Par has been reduced to nothing
more than an exquisitely painted textile art piece.
Imperfect Adaptation
Craft industries form an important sector of the Indian economy, contributing
substantially to manufacturing income, employment, and exports, and the scale of
these contributions is increasing. The part-time, rural nature of much crafts activity also
complements the lifestyles of many crafts workers, provides supplementary income to
seasonal agricultural workers and part-time income to women, and provides
craftspeople with the means to remain in their traditional villages, where alternative
employment opportunities are limited. Many craftspeople themselves express the
strong desire to remain in their traditional profession. And although many are highly
talented and extremely skilled in their own craft form, most are poorly educated or
illiterate and come from caste groups of low social status. Retraining is thus not a
feasible option in most cases. The most viable means to improve their lives appears to
be maximizing the high skill base they already possess. But in the case of the Phad
painters and the bard priests, mastering the craft takes their whole life and with no
takers at the moment they are forced to abandon their craft and traditional practice
and opt for alternative occupations.
Lack of Innovation
One of the major problems is related to the changing context of consumption and
perception; others to the social and economic problems of craft communities; and
others to the basic character of the crafts sector, which is vast, dispersed throughout
India, and totally unorganized. The majority of India's artisans suffer from severe
28
limitations in accessing and understanding viable new markets, as well as in adapting
their products/skills to those markets. In addition, they must deal with the fact that the
markets themselves are in a state of transition. In the absence of a group of listeners or
worshippers of Pabuji, it is of utmost importance that these priests and painters try and
find alternate avenues for their skills rather than let this tradition die an inglorious
death.
Socially and Culturally Disadvantaged Group
The Phad painters and the bard priests both come from a very remote area in
Rajasthan where they are exposed to a low level of education. This coupled with a rural
orientation of the majority of these craftspeople leave them vulnerable to the whims
and fancy of society. Nowadays these priests sing the popular bollywood songs instead
of their traditional music and are subjected to exploitation by all those middlemen who
are their only means of access to distant markets. When they do have the opportunity
to interact directly with a buyer, the problems multiply. The essentially agrarian, rural
worldview of the producer does not mesh easily with the exacting demands of the
international market, and experiments in direct market access often end in total
failure.
Economically Challenged
This textile craft practitioners suffer greatly from lack of working capital and access to
credit and loan facilities. The painters who receive a large order will often not be able to
find the funds necessary to purchase raw material in bulk, or to support the family
while the work is in process. And the irony is that the amounts that could make a real
difference to the crafts producer are often extremely modest. Various credit schemes
are available to craftspeople, primarily through government institutions, but it is
difficult for the uneducated artisan to understand and access these programs, and it is
often impossible for a poor craftsperson to manage the necessary collateral or funds
for required bribes.
A major disadvantage of life in the "unorganized sector" is the total lack of civic,
professional, and social service infrastructure. The individual craftsperson suffers from
all of these problems. Scarce and irregular electricity, lack of good roads, and absence
of transportation facilities are professional problems as well as daily aggravations.
Poorly Protected Skill set
Most traditional crafts in India follow classical traditions, many of which are hundreds,
and even thousands, of years old. Aesthetic forms are often thought of as springing
from a kind of universal, divinely inspired subconscious. Probably because of this way
of regarding aesthetic expression, in India the concept of "copying" has never had the
pejorative connotations that it does in the West. Traditional Indian artists (and this
includes musicians, dancers, vocalists, sculptors, painters, potters, metalworkers,
poets, and many others) do not hold sacrosanct the notion of individual creativity.
Rather, the most important task of the artist is seen to be the interpretation of a classic
theme, rather than the creation of a new one. This is a real and easily observable
cultural perspective, and one that has a profound impact on how one views ownership
of creative expression, or, indeed, creativity itself. At a less philosophical level -
although perhaps partly because of this cultural perspective - design ownership is
seldom recognized or respected at any point in the crafts industry. With traditional
textile crafts, the line between copying and innovation can be thin, and it is important
to note that copying is not always detrimental to the interests of the artisan or the
29
community. If the copy is an improvement in quality or cost, it feeds into and increases
the sustainability of the heritage for the entire community. In markets catering to elite
urban consumers, design ideas sometimes borrow from traditional knowledge, and this
can in some ways also help rather than hurt the interests of the producers by increasing
the recognition of and the demand for that particular expression. But flagrant copying
can also deny the original producers any share in the market rewards, as well as
eventually result in dilution of standards.
Limited Appeal and networking
Traditionally the Pabuji ki par has been created for the Rabari tribe people and the
priest, painters, as well as the worshippers have been a closely knitted community. This
has actually been a curse for the bard priests as the appeal of the craft and its religious
significance is only understood and respected by a few communities only in the entire
country. With the dwindling numbers of the community people and change in their
lifestyle, the direct sufferers are the craftsmen.
Lack of Raw materials
The pars are painted traditionally with natural colors and dyes. The extraction of the
same requires a lot of precision as well as skill level. With the natural resources
stretched to their limits and the prevalent adulteration, the quality of the colors has
gone down significantly.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS The spectacular variety of problems facing the future of Phad paintings requires myriad
solutions. All presuppose, however, that there is a continuing market. Except in a museum
setting, no traditional craft skill can be sustained unless it has a viable market.
Two basic types of solution are required:
• To increase the income of craftsmen, the prerequisites are adaptation of skills and products
to meet new market requirements and improvement in market access and supply.
• To sustain the traditional skill base and to protect the artisans' traditional knowledge
resources, the priority is development and implementation of appropriate IPR legislation.
Recommendations:
1. Given the difficulties of implementing IPR structures at this point, the market adaptation
and access problems are more manageable.
2. In the case of par painters, especially, strongly focused programs involving designers and
technical experts in targeted cluster development programs should be conceived.
3. The Ford Foundation and the European Union, among others, are also developing
substantial new programs to tackle various market adaptation and access difficulties.
4. A comprehensive and comparative analysis of the ways in which they are addressing the
problems is needed. There is little, if any, central coordination among all the organizations
and agencies involved, and few know much about what the others are doing.
30
5. Two promising ways to improve livelihoods while saving skills and knowledge are:
• Adapting traditional skills of phad paintings to new products for changing markets. This
adaptation can be accomplished in many areas in India, including fashion, home
furnishings design, and tourism.
• Repositioning skills and products for upscale markets that appreciate and are willing to
pay premiums for handcrafted quality and character.
6. The potential of this type of adaptation and repositioning is demonstrated by many of the
best fashion designers in India, who are increasingly using the exquisite handwork skills of
traditional textile artists to produce Indian and fusion clothing that is finding an
international market. Some are now branching out into accessories and home decorative
products and are using traditional skills to produce table linens, cushion covers, and fashion
accessories.
7. Some creative interventions in totally different areas, such as tourism, have also been
extremely successful in reclaiming sustainability for traditional craft skills. For example, the
southern Indian state of Kerala is crisscrossed with an intricate network of inland
waterways. These backwaters are spawned a unique lifestyle and material culture. One of
the products of this lifestyle was the kettuvallom, a type of houseboat made from wood,
rope, and jackfruit resin. Originally used for cargo transport, they had become obsolete in
the modern world, and the craftsmen who knew how to make them found themselves
without an occupation. Sensitive development of the concept of "backwaters tourism" has
saved the kettuvallom and its makers. Now used as private floating hotels, they have
become fashionable with high-end international tourists. This is an extremely good model of
a way in which a cultural resource can remain alive within a new context.
8. The problems affecting India's traditional crafts and the artisans who produce them are in
some aspects unique to India and in some ways similar to those facing possessors of
traditional skills and knowledge in general. On a global basis, as traditional lifestyles
disappear, so does much of the traditional craft heritage that was intertwined with them.
New markets, however, are developing for handcrafted goods. These new markets require
adaptation, yet they do offer the means to preserve and sustain much of the traditional
skills, knowledge, and lifestyles of crafts producers.
9. In India, the problems affecting crafts producers are immense. The strength of the
traditions, however, is also immense, as is the creativity with which many of the problems
are being addressed. In one recent project, for instance, several prominent fashion
designers were involved in developing an exhibition of garments made from khadi or hand
loomed cloth made from handspun yarn. Efforts such as these, which show crafts producers
the means in which to reposition their skills, are ultimately perhaps the most effective way
to protect their traditions, their knowledge, and their sense of self-worth. It is also the way in
which our contemporary world can provide the rest of us with alternative experiences to
McDonalds and Starbucks, linking us to a more textured past, in which creativity and the
touch of a human hand enriched the daily experience of life.
31
CONCLUSION
The narrative range of the Pabuji epic is vast and its significance cannot be examined in a
research project that has recorded only the introductory episodes of an epic which may stretch
to many nights in its telling. However, in consideration of the recorded episodes and the
musicians’ own commentaries, it is clear that some conclusions can be drawn about the epic
and its meaning to contemporary audiences. The phad is ‘read’ for the purposes of healing
and as stressed in the performances, Pabuji’s most vital role in the epic is that of healer, a
source of pal or ‘life’, a protector of cows and guardian of the precarious but life-giving
environment of the Thar desert. Devotees become possessed and intercede to bring blessing
from Pabuji, and although many researchers of the epic have suggested that bhopas may
become possessed and act as healers, those interviewed in this research project have
suggested that it is rare for bhopas to play this role. Moreover, they do not have this gift. Only
male devotees may become possessed by Pabuji’s paternal spirit; bhopis’ counterpart deity is
the maternal figurehead, Mataji. In the imaginative and symbolic universe inhabited by Pabuji
and his courtiers that emerges in the performance of the epic (perhaps not surprisingly, as it
takes place in the arid environment of the great Thar desert), Pabuji’s most potent image
remains ‘the garden’. Emblematic of paradise and a state of well-being, the garden is the
idyllic setting in which Rajput maidens cavort on swings, and through the blessing of the god,
trees bloom and grass sprouts. But these images are not only intended as metaphors. Just as
the ‘hero stones’ concretize the memory of Pabuji and his courtiers within Bhil communities,
devotees create gardens in the name of Pabuji. Local herdsmen designate plots of land as
orans or sacred gardens (in which grazing is prohibited) as a votive tribute to Pabuji and his
ability to generate greenery in the barren desert.31 Seen in its wider manifestation, the power
of Pabuji as invoked in the epic thus becomes visible, and the epic and its deified hero gain in
credibility and contemporary relevance. Not unusually perhaps, in the context of this and many
other epic narratives, exaggeration is also one of the epic’s most significant features.
Landscapes and monuments are described in terms of lavish expenditure and grandeur (i.e.
‘nine-lakh’32 gardens and palaces) and women in the epic scenes are often draped in ‘sixteen
and thirty-two strands of jewels’.33 Yet beyond the effusively described décor, mediaeval
pomp and circumstance, is the epic’s most alluring feature: its social commentary. The
conscious intent of the performers to interweave social critique into the historic context and
frame of the episodes is the most striking aspect of the epic. The historical epic of Pabuji ki
par comprises a matrix of ritual and religious elements, stories of mediaeval chivalry and war
which unfold in the frame of a Mughal court, but the social message of the oral epic is clear.
The early episodes of this contemporary version of the epic are more about spinning fantasies
of the imagination and exploring the nexus of caste relations pivoting around marriage
contracts, patronage and labour, and less about conquests and wars, despite the predominant
depiction on the phad of phalanxes of horsemen engaged in battle. It can be argued on the
basis of these performances that within the frame of this historical epic, ostensibly based on
the exploits of Pabuji in the fourteenth century, a reworked, contemporary narrative has
emerged which revolves around local deities who intervene and contrive to help adivasi
communities manage their environment and rise above caste constraints and the
discriminative practices that affect them. The epic reinforces devotees’ belief in the divine
intervention of Pabuji and illustrates how the local gods Pabuji and Gogaji may be called upon
to enact miracles such as causing the grass to grow, healing animals and humans (in the case
of snakebite, intercession by Gogaji) and inducing the monsoon rain. Alf Hiltebeitel has argued
that the interrelationship of contemporary and classical epics is more complex than the simple
transposition of tradition from ‘Great’ to ‘Little,’ or the absorption and transformation of myth
and history from their Classical counterparts (1999: 211). He contends that oral epics should
be analysed as socio-cultural expressions of contemporary significance, shaped by the
32
conceptions and worldview of its proponents, valid for their own sake, and not demeaned as
derivative re-workings of classical Hindu epics. Wendy Doniger, moreover, has set out clear
arguments delineating what she perceives to be the current trend across India: a movement in
which subaltern interpretations of sacred texts, including the Ramayana, have continued to
evolve and develop since independence as a function of gradual changes in Dalit’s perceptions
of their rights of resistance to discrimination (2009: 563- 564). The impact of this socio-
political trend on traditional Indian folk narrative, as manifested in the transformation of the
story of Pabuji from its historical underpinnings to a vernacular epic, appears to form part of a
much wider, transformative process taking place across India and should therefore be
recognized as such.
LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
In India, crafts are one of the major industries of "the imagination" and of traditional
knowledge and skill. India's myriad craft traditions and living craft skills are rare and
irreplaceable resources, generally acknowledged as living links to the past and as a means of
preserving cultural meaning into the future. Both within India and without, large numbers of
connoisseurs avidly collect examples of specific craft genre, and numerous scholarly treatises
and expensive coffee-table books are written on various craft forms. Hand-woven Indian
textiles appear on the ramps in Paris, handcrafted Indian jewelry is sold in the best stores in
New York, and handmade Indian carpets cover some of the most elegant floors in the world.
The craftsmen and craftswomen who create them often have learned their art as a hereditary
profession and are taught from infancy. Some skills are so intricate and so specialized (such
as the famous thewa gold filigree on-glass jewelry or the grinding of local stones and minerals
into paint pigments) that the manufacturing process is a secret still closely guarded by a small
number of families. Others acquire their individual luster through lifelong apprenticeship and
practice. Some are regional specialties, whose techniques, motifs, and materials make them
instantly identifiable; others are found, with some variation, in communities throughout India.
What all the many thousands of beautiful and unique craft expressions in India have in
common, though, is that the weavers, potters, carvers, painters, embroiderers, goldsmiths,
and others who create such beauty with consummate skill and knowledge enjoy few of the
fruits of their labor. Protecting and preserving these skills and knowledge is a major challenge;
ensuring that they provide viable livelihoods for their owners is an even greater one. And the
latter challenge is, of course, a necessary part of achieving the former. The study of Pabuji ki
par was an effort to actually understand and study the art from different perspectives and to
find out the ways in which this artform can be repositioned in the market. This can be the only
means to actually keep the traditional skills in place and create demands for the artform
without altering its traditional roots and context. The remote locations of the artists and the
varied and dwindling skill levels, obviously has caused a few problems. The remaining 14 bard
priests who are actually practicing the craft form are very hard to trace in the Kolu village near
Jodhpur. Due to the advent of television and internet, and in this mobile era the youth as well
as the old are equally trying to be web savvy, and in the process, the traditional crafts are
dying their deaths.
33
SCOPE FOR FURTHER STUDIES
In any discussion of how to protect the inheritors of traditional skills and knowledge, one must
of course face the question of whether traditions and expertise that are no longer naturally
viable should, in fact, be preserved at all. All traditional knowledge are developed in a context
within which it was intrinsically viable. In the natural evolution of societies, it is neither
possible, nor desirable, to preserve every single piece of the past. Some types of knowledge
and skill, however, are clearly worth preserving. These would, minimally, include those that by
virtue of their intrinsic beauty, cultural meaning, or value as a knowledge base represent a
precious resource and also those that may have unrealized potential to generate viable
income and to preserve traditional lifestyles. Crafts form a special category of traditional
knowledge, and many Indian craft forms fit into both of the above categories. The intrinsic
beauty of many Indian craft traditions is obvious to even the casual observer and their
meaning and cultural resonances quickly become apparent to those with even a brief
exposure to Indian history and society. The full potential of the role craft traditions can play in
the development process, and specifically in the generation of income, however, has only
recently begun to be appreciated. In a global context, the International Trade Centre (ITC)
points out that support to crafts has "become a must on the path towards poverty alleviation
and environment protection, two topical and compelling concerns worldwide" (ITC 1999). The
growing interest in the role that crafts can play in the development process has also led to
increasing involvement in this area by a great many international organizations and agencies,
among them the International Development Bank (IDB), the International Labour Organization
(ILO), UNESCO, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and others. The World Bank has also begun to
express new interest in the potential of cultural industries in the development process. In his
foreword to a World Bank exhibition catalog, Culture and Development at the Millennium,
World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn said that many individuals in developing countries
"feel themselves increasingly powerless against the vast forces of global change" (Wolfensohn
1998). This is, in fact, an apt summation of the situation in which most of India's crafts
producers find themselves including the phad painters. Textile craft of phad painting shows
tremendous potential in terms of employment generation and poverty alleviation in India. It
can provide a livelihood, albeit modest, to large numbers of poor people in India, and
especially to the rural poor. Crafts producers often employ skills and complex knowledge
systems that have evolved over long periods of time. Even as the products "globalize"
(reaching an increasingly distant clientele via fairly sophisticated marketing systems),
however, the skills and the knowledge systems remain largely informal, poorly protected,
inadequately documented, socially and culturally disadvantaged, and imperfectly adaptive.
The need for the hour is to reposition the art of phad painting so that the skills can be used in
various other thriving creative fields of fashion, art and design.
GLOSSARY
Arthav: Declamatory recitation as a part of epic performance
Babi, Bhabi: Member of a caste traditionally devoted to weaving.
Bhil: Member of a scheduled tribe. This is also sometimes used to refer to members of the
Nayak (q.v.) caste.
34
Bhomyio: Person who meets a heroic death, often in the act of recapturing stolen cattle, and
then comes to be revered as a minor local deity.
Bhopi: Female co-performer with a bhopo (q.v.).
Bhopo: A folk-priest; in the context of Pabuji, specifically a bard who performs the epic as a
ritual to propitiate the deity.
Chaaran: Member of a caste traditionally devoted to producing poetry, in particular poetry
eulogizing the Rajput rulers.
Chitero: A painter.
Devasi: A synonym for Rebari (q.v.)
Devnarayan: A Rajasthani folk-god worshipped like Pabuji, by means of ritual epic
performance in front of a par. He figures briefly in the epic of Pabuji (“The episode of
Devnarayan”), where the two hero-deities have trial of supernatural strength, won (naturally
enough) by Pabuji.
Gav: singing as a part of epic performance; alternates with arthav (q.v.)
Gorakhnath: A major religious leader of the early medieval period (dates very uncertain),
associated with an ascetic sect whose adherents are known as “split-ear yogis” in reference to
their practice of inserting large earrings in the ear of novitiates
Gujar: Member of a caste traditionally occupied as agriculturalists and herdsmen.
Jat: Member of a caste traditionally occupied as agriculturalists and herdsmen.
Josi: Member of a lineage traditionally devoted to painting pars.
Kumar: Member of a caste traditionally devoted to making pots.
Mata (sing. mato): Earthen drums used by bhopos to accompany epic performance where the
par is not used.
Mino: Member of a scheduled tribe.
Nayak: Member of a scheduled caste traditionally devoted to performance of the epic of
Pabuji.
Par: A long cloth-painting on which are depicted the events of the epic narrative, and in front of
which epic performance takes place. Ritually, the par functions as the temple of the deity.
Parvaro: A narrative episode forming a part of the epic story. Cf.sayl.
Rajput: Member of a caste from which the warriors and princes of rajasthan have traditionally
been drawn. There are many Rajput clans, including the Rathor’s (pabuji’s clan), the
Chauhans, the Khinchis, the Sodhos, the Bhatis, etcetera.
Ramdev: A local Rajasthani deity, regarded as an incarnation of Vishnu.
Ravana: In addition to becoming incarnate as the wicked Jindrav Khinchi, the villain of the
Ramayana also appears in the epic narrative in his own right as ruler of Lanka and owner of
the reddish-brown she-camels that Pabuji takes to give to Kelam.
Ravanhattho: The fiddle played by bhopos of Pabuji to accompany themselves as they sing the
epic.
Rebari: Member of a caste of shepherds and camel-herds. Rebaris are prominent among the
devotees of Pabuji.
Sati: A woman who burns herself to death on the funeral pyre of her husband.
Sayi: A narrative episode not forming a part of the epic story, dealing with help given
supernaturally by the divine Pabuji.Cf. Parvaro.
35
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. The Epic of Pabuji, directed by H.O.Nazareth, broadcast in BBC2 Bookmark series on
December 2, 1992
2. Of Bards and Beggers, directed by Shweta Kishore, Mt. Waverley, Australia
3. Shankaranarayana, T. N. 1995. Folk Narrative and Gender: the Case of Junjappa Epic.
Proceedings of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research Congress. Mysore,
India.
4. Smith, John D. (1991). The Epic of Pabuji: A Study, Transcription and
Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
5. Joshi, O.P. (1976). Painted folklore and folklore painters of India: A study with reference
to Rajasthan. Delhi: Concept Publishing.
6. Bharucha, Rustom. 2003. Rajasthan: an oral history: conversations
with Komal Kothari. New Delhi: Penguin Books India.
7. Barnard, Nicholas. (1993). Arts and crafts of India. London: Conran Octopus. (pp. 76-77)
8. Cooper, Ilay and John Gillow. (1996). Arts and crafts of India. London: Thames and
Hudson. (p. 108)
9. Singh, Kavita. (1998). To show, to see, to tell, to know: Patuas, Bhopas, and their
audiences. In Jyotindra Jain, Ed. Picture Showmen: Insights into the Narrative Tradition
in Indian Art (pp. 100-115). Mumbai: Marg Publications.