Vahanvati Mata, Mata ni Pachedi painting by Dilip Chittara

Vahanvati Mata is the patron saint of sailors so her vahan has his hooves planted firmly on a boat with flying sails and drifts on waves teeming with aquatic life. She goes by other names—Shikotar, Harsiddhi—and is worshipped by seafarers and traders, and Rajputs as well as Vaghris. (Source: Sarmaya)

Mata ni pachedi literally means “behind the mother goddess”, and is a cloth that constitutes a temple of the goddess. When people of the nomadic Vaghari community of Gujarat were barred from entering temples, they made their own shrines with depictions of the Mother Goddess on cloth. This ingenuous solution is believed to be the origin of Mata ni Pachedi, the sacred art, which is now revered by all.

DETAILS

• Size:  24 inches by 36 inches
• Price is for unframed painting and painting would be sent without a frame
• Mata ni Pachedi by Dilip  Chittara
  
• The image shown here is representative to help visualise the painting in a home setting and not an actual framed image