According to legends, some 800 years ago, God Devanarayan appeared on his horse in the dreams of a blind craftsman. The God Devnarayan (sometimes referred to as Dharmaraj) was the craftsman’s Kuldevta. The God promised to bless the craftsman with eyesight and in return the latter would have to make a terracotta figurine of the deity. In addition, the God assured the craftsman of transgenerational prosperity if all his posterity took up this as their profession. Next morning the craftsman realized that the promise of the God had come true and, as asked, he sculpted the God’s figurine. All his successors followed the suit and devoted their lives to handcrafting figurines of the God Devnarayan and many other religious, mythical and non-mythical creatures, including the snake-God Nagdev, Goddess Durga. These folktales and traditions help us walk the journey from the past to the future.
In the present day, the Maru community, considering themselves as the posterity of that craftsman, continue this centuries old tradition. The Maru community lives in Molela, a small village in Rajasthan. Like the millions of villages dotting rural India, Molela also camouflages as any other brown-soil humdrum settlement, until explored further. A small village inhabiting about 30 families, Molela is the sole hub and proprietor of this craft. All of these 30 families practice this craft. A part of the Rajasmand district, Molela is situated on the banks of the river Banas. The Kumhars (potters) of Molela make an assortment of devotional plaques, large panels depicting rural village scenes and smaller items such as temple bells and domestic ware but it is the hand-modelled, hollow relief votive plaques that they are most famous for. These products make for extremely charming visual narratives of their customs and everyday life.
The craftsmen use the mud from the river banks to prepare the Molela clay. Two main types of earthenware clays are extracted from the river bed; a pure clay and a sandy clay. The dry clay is beaten and then sieved with a wire mesh to separate the stones and other impurities. Then the clay is mixed with 5 -10% donkey dung to make it ideal for building the plaques and other sculptural pieces. The clay is then kneaded into a dough of the right consistency. This dough is then rolled out into the shape of a domed rectangle, beating with an instrument called pindi, then smoothed with another instrument called patiya. This forms the base of the figurine. All the motifs are crafted and placed on top of this base. The product thus formed is first sun-dried and then burnt in kilns. Stacking and firing takes almost a full day to complete.
Originally, the craftsmen made use of only natural colors – like natural stone and mineral colors- to paint the figurines and other sculpture in bright colors. Palewa is the clay slip and makes different colors when mixed with other elements- silver is made with Palewa and water. The red color is made when Geru (Red soil) is added to the mixture. As the binder, they use a vegetable gum called Dawrigund collected from the trees. For shine, they apply a lacquer coat which is locally called a Jala. Varnish was never used because it is of inorganic material which is prohibited for use on Gods. Only one family makes the Jala in the entire region. White color is powdered Mica (quartz rich rock), turning a greenish white after firing. Black is produced by the mixing of carbon and water. The carbon is scraped from bread pans and burnt coconut skins. Slips are mainly used on the functional wares while the icons are painted with water colors after baking the sculpted figurines. But over time, these traditions have undergone some changes and synthetic paints are also being used.
This art primarily catered to the tribal communities. Every year between January and March, communities coming from close and far, arrive at Molela in a customary procession to buy figurines of their deities. They prefer bright colored figurines and there are tradition-sanctioned specific colors to depict each God. The craftsmen use orange for the Goradev and blue for the Kaladev. Each group is accompanied by a priest (bhopa) who helps to choose the appropriate image of a particular god crafted in Molela clay work art. While in trance, the priest leads the procession to a nearby river, where the deity is worshipped before returning home for installation in the shrine, accompanied by feasting, ceremonies, and prayers. It is traditional to change the votive plaques every three to five years. Customers usually purchase several, many depicting the same god.
But with the advent of technology and commercialization, these craftsmen have widened their customer base. More and more individual families are selling their products online. Their produce fetches them a great fortune in international markets. This has not only helped them prosper but also made Molela art a lucrative and attractive profession for the young generations too. The youth, after completing their schooling, consciously choose those subjects (like B.Com or marketing) for their further studies which will help them systematically in growing their tradition.
One of the pioneers of this craft form, Mohanlal Chaturbuj Kumhar has been practicing and teaching ‘murtikala’ to his family and other people in the village for decades. Both his sons, Dinesh and Rajendra, are actively involved in this craft. Mohanlal ji has been awarded several prizes and national/ international recognitions for his contribution to ceramic tiles of Rajasthan. He also won the prestigious Padmashree award in 2012.
This tradition of Molela can be seen as a synchronization of the past and the present to secure a prosperous future. This 800-year-old craft is promoting India’s Make in India scheme while helping the Micro, Small and Medium business to thrive.
Lavanya is an undergraduate student, majoring in history, from Hindu College, University of Delhi. A staunch intersectional feminist and environmentalist, she can always be spotted surrounded by people and engaging with dogs. She is deeply in love with Indian mythology and is unabashedly proud of being a jack of all trades.
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